Latest Commentaries

Jonathan’s reliance on the Lord, his bold plan, and the subsequent panic that struck the Philistines teach that wholehearted faith in God can turn any disadvantage into a demonstration of divine power.

Jonathan quietly left to challenge the Philistines, trusting God’s power to bring about salvation for Israel.

Pursuing righteousness and loyalty produces life, righteousness, and honor, all moving in the same direction.

Israel relied on the Philistines for essential services, paid an oppressive financial cost, and faced military disadvantages, yet still looked to God for ultimate victory.

Saul’s small band overshadowed by the Philistines’ three-pronged raids shows Israel’s precarious state, revealing that only reliance on God offers lasting victory.

Treasure gathers in the wise man's house and disappears in the fool's, because the fool eliminates margin the moment it appears.

A desert is more livable than a house with a contentious and vexing companion.

In God's providential ordering, the wicked end up bearing the weight that judgment had assembled.

Loving pleasure—organizing life around wine and oil—is one of the surest predictors of long-term poverty.

Drift, not rebellion, is sufficient to land a man in the assembly of the dead.

When justice is done, the righteous rejoice and the wicked dread; how a man feels about justice exposes his heart.

The man who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself one day cry and not be answered.

The naive learn wisdom by seeing the scoffer punished; the wise learn wisdom by being instructed.

The wicked man's problem is not occasional behavior but a soul whose appetite is set on evil, leaving no kindness for his neighbor.

A corner of the roof is better than a comfortable house full of unending contention.

The guilty walk a crooked path that constantly doubles back, while the pure walk straight and at peace.

The violence of the wicked finally drags them off, because they refused the justice that would have held them up.

Saul’s impulsive sacrifice at Gilgal and Samuel’s immediate reproach remind believers that trust in God’s perfect timing supersedes any attempts to secure blessings through human strategy or fear—based actions.

Israel faced a massive Philistine threat at Michmash, many fled in terror, and Saul was forced to hold a precarious position with fearful followers in Gilgal.

Treasure gained by lying is vapor in cold air, and what looks like a pursuit of wealth is in fact the pursuit of death.