***SPOILER ALERT***

seriously.  If you haven’t yet seen this movie, don’t read a single sentence of this post.

Just don’t do it.

Go see the movie and prepare to have your mind bent.

Then come back and let’s chat.

Some of my observations:

• the house they lived in – the lighting was EXACTLY the same as in all of his memories.  And the kids were the same age, and in the same place in the back yard.  Even when he “came home”
• Perhaps when Mol showed up, she was actually trying to wake him up?
• His “reality” was driven by guilt.
• He couldn’t go home – he was trapped.
• He couldn’t do an honest day’s work because his wife killed herself – and he was blamed for murdering her.
• He was coerced at the last possible moment to work for a corrupt corporation which enabled him to avoid jail.
• He had a “savior” just when he needed it to remove him from the claws of said corporation.
• His totem was in the hands of at least 2 other people… and it wasn’t even his totem.
• When they constructed from memory, they built Mol’s childhood house, but not his.
• His father-in-law was in LA waiting for him, but lived in Paris.
• His FIL was not French.
• His wife was
• His mother-in-law sounded like his wife, but lived in the US with his kids – not in Paris with her husband.  Why didn’t they move?
• His crime was so heinous that the US gov’t would pull strings & go past political issues to get him back to the USA from France… but not any other country?  And it wasn’t something that would normally merit that kind of action by the gov’t.  (but guilt would make it seem larger in his own mind)
• his kids knew where he was to call him, but the gov’t couldn’t track him.

These are just a few of the things that have come to mind since last night.

So, do I think he ever fully “woke up” – no.  I don’t think we ever saw his actual reality.  If the top layer were reality, the kids would be in different clothes and would have aged from his memories.  They didn’t.

But who knows just how deep he was at that point?

Is it all just the delusions of a mental patient?

Are any of the characters real?

And for those wondering, I think the kids are the actual totem.  And them turning around doesn’t mean he’s out.  I think it means he’s in even more deeply.

~~~~~~~~

One thing I wondered though… regarding the phone call from the kids.  They sounded older than they looked.  She sounded very much like an 8 year old.  It is almost as if they had been brought to wherever his body was and were tring to talk to him to pull him out.

What are your thoughts?

1 HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!

3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.(A)

5 Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].(B)

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16 For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.(C)

17 My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, justice, and right, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bullocks will be offered upon Your altar.

Psalm 51 – Amplified Version

There is something more important than any outward manifestation of our faith that may show.

Our heart.

We may life the purest life of anyone we know, but if our heart is not pure, our works amount to a pile of crap… literally.

But if our hearts are pure, the offerings of our lives will be met with delight by God.

So I ask, how is your heart?

Is God on the throne, or are you?  Do you covet the things of this world, or do you set them aside in the pursuit of God?

I will admit that often when I look at my own heart, it is a dark place – more often than I’d care to admit!  But God will cleanse our hearts if we ask Him to.  He will cleanse them day after day, moment after moment, all we must do is ask.

And so I ask.

Dear God, I come before you today and ask.  Create in me a clean heart.  Clean house – get the cobwebs out of those dusty corners.  Take the trash to the dump, take the stuff I don’t need to goodwill.  Put the stuff I do need where it goes so I can find it.  I know that I have neglected some rooms of my heart (much as I neglect certain rooms of my house) and they have gotten filled up with so much stuff it’s hard to get in.  I ask that You would clean them out, and show me how to keep from re-accumulating so much stuff.

Then Lord, I ask that You would renew Your Spirit within me.  Fill my life with your peace.  Fill my mind with Your ways and cause my heart to hurt for those that You hurt for.  Help me to see this world through Your eyes – and cause me to be your hands and feet to reach out to them.

Thank you, Lord, that You love me.  Even when I am prideful and arrogant and angry and willful and obstinate and say or do things that hurt others.  Thank you for showing me the areas in my life that need to be worked on.  And thank you for walking by my side as I learn to be more like You.

Teach me Your ways.  Inscribe Your statutes upon my heart that I may not forget them.  Help Your Word to be my daily bread – the food that I need to survive each day – and don’t let me starve any longer.

Draw me close to You.  Break my heart for the things that break Yours.  Teach me humility.  And above all, help me to not get in the way of You.  Help me to point people to You.. only to You.

If you seek Him, He will be found by you. – 1 Chronicles 28:9

Today’s verse is found in 1 Chronicles 28:9

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.”

David has just announced to the leaders of Israel that Solomon will be his successor to the throne of Israel, and is in the midst of telling Solomon about his plans for the temple to God – which Solomon will build.

But David understands the most important part – to know God and serve Him fully. To seek His face above all else.

God sees the heart of man. That is why He chose David to be king instead of Saul – or any of his own brothers. God saw within David a heart that sought Him. Even with all the stuff David did – murder, adultery, pride, etc – God still called him a man after His own heart.
Why?
Because no matter what happened, David repented and turned back to God. Always.
He understood that God wanted relationship. Look at what he told his son –

“…know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you…”

Do you seek God?

Do you know Him and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind?
I must confess that I don’t always. My heart can become very divided, and my mind can be a very unwilling participant in seeking God’s face. But those are the times that I am thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.
Because if we will repent and turn back to God, He will be found. And He will forgive.

Samuel has anointed David as the next king of Israel.  The Spirit of the Lord has come upon David – and He is there to stay.

So what now?

Samuel goes back to Ramah.  He has done what God told him to do.  But what about David?

First, he goes back to tending his father’s sheep.

But…

When the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David, it left someone else.

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

The Spirit left Saul, and in it’s place the devil had some fun.

Saul was tormented.  Saul no longer had the Spirit of God upon him.  Saul was no longer God’s chosen king over Israel.  Saul just… was.

His servants were concerned for him – enough that they sought ways to fix the problem.  And their solution enabled David to come to the palace and begin preparations for becoming the king God wanted him to be.

¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” ¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” ¹⁹Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Saul needed someone to play music.  He needed something to take his mind off all of the things around him that were causing him anxiety.  He needed to find peace, and God used David to provide that peace for him.

There are so many details that are overlooked by this passage.  What must David have thought when he was summoned to the palace?  What must Jesse have thought, given the fact that his youngest son had been anointed king?

It is obvious that David was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  He came to the palace, he played for the king, and he became beloved by the king.  If David had been spouting off about being the next in line, Saul would have not kept him around.

We don’t know how much time had passed between Samuel’s visit and David being called to the palace.  All we know is that the servants knew of him.  They knew that he was a skilled musician with good stage presence who knew how to hold his tongue – and he had courage in the face of danger.

We don’t know how dark Saul’s moods were at this point, but apparently his servants knew that someone who scared easily wouldn’t cut it.  They needed someone with bravery and courage.  I also wonder if they wanted him to have boldness to say what needed to be said in the best way possible.

He became Saul’s armor-bearer.  Saul requested that David stay with him, and David got a front row seat to running a kingdom.

He could not have gained a better opportunity to see what his future could look like as king over Israel.  He could not have gained that kind of education in any school, and he would never have seen it if all he did was tend the sheep.  And he became a familiar face around the palace.

God may have rejected Saul, but He still used him to bring about His purpose in David.

Now we are getting to the good stuff.  1 Samuel 16:5-13.

⁵And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” ⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” ¹¹Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹²And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

That’s a lot of young men.  Samuel was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse – but he didn’t know which one.  When God brought Saul before him, he saw a young man that was very tall, well built and handsome.  I guess he assumed he would find another tall, well-built and handsome young man again in one of Jesse’s sons.

But not a boy.

The passage says that David was “ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome” – but it also says that he was the youngest.  Young enough to still be the one out keeping watch over the flocks of sheep.  Young enough to be kept back from battle.  Just barely no longer a child.

I’m not sure I would be ready to place a 12-15 year old boy on the throne of a country – would you?

God wasn’t ready to do that either.

He was, however, ready to begin preparing David for the court.  He used Saul to teach David how to be king – without Saul realizing it for a long time.  He directed Samuel to anoint him as the next king of Israel… and then David went back to watch the sheep.

Somehow this makes me think of Joseph.  He too was the youngest – but the one destined for greatness.  When he told his brothers of his dreams, they set out to remove him.  I wonder how it is that David and his brothers reacted so differently.

The bible never says that David began behaving like everyone needed to give him more honor.  It doesn’t say that he tried to use this anointing to get out of doing chores.

But what does the bible say?

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.

Maybe that was the difference.  The Spirit of God was upon David.  He was being directed in heart and mind.  He was submitting himself to God’s will and God’s timing, and allowing God to prepare him for the role he would eventually fill.

And he went back to the fields and the sheep.

The last post caught us up to 1 Samuel 16:1.

Samuel was grieving over Saul’s disobedience of God, and Saul had gone on his merry little way – not fully realizing the true consequences of his actions.

And then the Lord speaks to Samuel…

¹The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go.”

How often do we need God to say that to us?

Stop dwelling in the past and get on with it!  I have told you want to do, now go!

Samuel knew that God had rejected Saul as king.  He knew that Saul would be replaced.  But at the same time, he was sad that Saul had chosen to walk away from God’s will for Israel… and for him.

It is so easy for me to look at those around me and grieve over choices that they are making.  Choices that will lead to unpleasant consequences at the very least, if not their own ruin.  The hard part is to move on and let God deal with them in His way.  I want to help them!  I want to reach out to them and say “Hey!  Don’t you see what you are doing?  Don’t you see where this will lead?  You need to change direction!”

Sometimes God does call us to do that, but other times He calls us to move on.  To take the next step and get on with what He has placed before us.

The second half of the verse gets even better.

“I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

Yay!  God is telling Samuel what the next step is!  He isn’t left floundering, wondering what he needs to do, where he needs to go.  God has laid out the path before him.

But… Israel still has a king, and Saul doesn’t want to be replaced, as we can see.

²And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

Saul no longer had respect for the Lord or his servant Samuel.  Apparently it was common knowledge that those who crossed Saul, well, let’s just say they didn’t double cross him.  Samuel heard what God commanded, saw the plan God had, but he also had fear of it.

But God comes through again:

And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

God has a plan.  He has already thought through Samuel’s objections and questions – and provided the answer.

What is there in your life that God is telling you to move forward into?  Where is He leading you that you are afraid to go?  He will provide everything you need.  He has the answers you seek, and He will guide you.

That’s one of the great things about God – He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us.  His Word is the lamp to our feet and the light to our paths.

Seek His face.  Spend time asking Him your questions.  But don’t let those questions or your past stop you from following His will for your life.

Which Samuel did.

⁴Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem.

What are you waiting for?  Get your supplies and go.

This week we are studying 1 Samuel 16:1-13.  This is the passage where Samuel anoints David as the next king over Israel – while Saul is still very much on the throne.

The first verse is as follows:

¹The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go.

There is so much in that verse!  First, there is the question – how long will you grieve, since I have rejected him. Samuel was sitting in Ramah, apparently with a great amount of grief and dispair.  Last week we saw that Israel told Samuel they wanted a king – having judges and prophets was no longer enough for them.  After all, the other countries around them all had kings, why not them?  (such a human trait, no?  Wanting to have whatever those around us have.)

So Samuel is rejected by Israel, although it was really God that was rejected.  Saul is chosen by God to be king over Israel, and anointed by Samuel.  At first Saul does great.  He is humble and contrite of heart.  He is scared of the responsibility.  He doesn’t think he qualifies for the job.

Apparently that changed.

Over time Saul grew into the status and enjoyed being King.  He took credit for things others did.  He decided to take Samuel’s position and offer a sacrifice to God before the Israelites.  Don’t misunderstand – he did good things too.  He waged a war against the Philistines and drove them out of Israelite land, temporarily.

But then he chose to disobey God.

God sent him to wipe out the Amalekites.  Why?  Because of the way they treated the children of Israel while they were escaping from Egypt.  Because they were tormenting the small town on the outskirts of Israel.  Because they were the cause of God’s children crying out to Him.

Saul was told to keep nothing and to destroy everything.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Saul and the Israelite army chose to keep the best of the livestock.  He chose to bring Agag, the king of the Amalekites back with him… alive.  And he had turned his back on God.

How do we know this?  How do we know that he turned away from God?

“…for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” – 1 Samuel 15:15b

“But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” – 1 Samuel 15:21

“Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” – 1 Samuel 15:30

What is the phrase that is repeated over and over in these verses?

The Lord your God.

Not the Lord my God, but your God.

Not good, Saul.  Not good at all.

God had make him king over Israel – king over God’s chosen people – and he rejected God.  What he failed to realize was that God had placed him there… and God could remove him as well.

And God could choose someone else to be king over Israel.  Another family to begin a dynasty.

Which He did:

“And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” – 1 Samuel 15:26

And that catches us up to verse 1 of 1 Samuel 16…