26 v.19 - There are a number of occasions when the LORD stirred up individuals. [1 Samuel 26:19 1 Kings 11:14 2 Chronicles 21:16 36:22 Ezra 1:1 Haggai 1:14] Rather than wondering how He does that we should appreciate that, in the case of faithful men who respond to His word, He is willing to work to encourage those who first respond to him, As we read elsewhere 'draw night to God and he will draw nigh to thee'. [James 4:8]

27 v.1 - David's flight to the Philistines through fear of Saul is a re run of an earlier incident [1 Samuel 21:10] when for fear of Saul David fled to Achish, king of Gath. Rather than reprove David in our own heart on this matter we do well to realise, like David, we often fall into the same problem that we think that we have dealt with.

1 Samuel 26:16-20 The way that David spoke to Saul produced the response (1 Samuel 26:21) 'I have sinned …' This is clearly a case of the soft answer turning away wrath (Proverbs 15:1)

27:6 That Achish gave David Ziklag speaks volumes about the situation in the days of Saul. Ziklag was in the territory of Judah (Joshua 15:1, 31). And should not have been Achish's to give to David.

26:7-11 Abishai was a blood thirsty man with little regard to the things of God. It was he, at a later date, who would have removed Shimei's head also (2 Samuel 16:9)

ch 27 - David's melancholy fear of death at the hand of Saul is typical of one who is depressed by long periods of uncertainty. We should not think of David's flight from Saul as a short adventure. It must have lasted some 12 - 15 years. All that time David feared for his life. He was always under great stress. When we realise this we will appreciate the more the strength of David's character in that he refused to take Saul's life on more than one occasion.

26:19 The 'inheritance of the Lord' that David lamented that he was not abiding in was not kingship. It was fellowship with God in tabernacle worship.

27:1 David's reaction 'I shall now perish by the hand of Saul' should encourage us. Whilst David was a man after God's own heart he had his doubts and times of deep despair - just like us.

27:8-11 David, in his attempt to preserve his life, flees from Saul and takes refuge with the Philistines.  This is an act of desperation as the Philistines were enemies of Israel and unwelcome occupants of the Land of Promise.  David, in trying to walk a tightrope, lies and deceives Achish as to his raiding activities.

26:8      Abishai did not seem to have the same values as David. Here and later – 2Sam 16:9– he wanted to avenge on behalf of david, clearly not appreciating that vengeance belonged to God Lev 19:18, Deut 32:35.

26:11 So all these years that David has been fleeing for his life from Saul he still regarded Saul as ‘the Lord’s anointed’. A wonderful testimony to David’s loyalty to God. There may be times when we have ill feelings towards brethren and sisters. When we think thus do we bring ourselves up by remembering that our brother is called of God?

26:1   This historical event was the reason why Psa 54 was written.

God chooses who will rule: ...the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan 4:32).  David knew this, and, out of respect for Yahweh, did not kill his enemy Saul.  He had the opportunity to do so more than once, and the temptation would have been great. 

However, David knew that if he did kill Yahweh's anointed, he could expect the same treatment, as he was Yahweh's anointed also (Prov 26:27). 

There is a lesson for us here.  The brothers and sisters of Christ are also chosen of Yahweh (1Pet 2:9).  Therefore, out of respect for Yahweh, each one must be treated well and not harmed in any way.  Those doing otherwise will bring condemnation to themselves (1John 3:15).

26:5-7, :13-15 David’s act was not simply an act of foolish bravado to show that he was a better warrior than any of Saul’s men. David was vainly trying to show to Saul that he was not a threat to him. David, even though he had opportunity, did not kill Saul so there was no need for the king to fear David.

26:6 Abishai and Joab were David’s nephews as Zeruiah was David’s sister (1Chron 2:15,16). Asahel was also brother to Abishai and Joab, and we will pick him up later in the story (2Sam 2:18).

26:14 Abner was Saul’s cousin (1Chron 9:36).

26:21,25 After the first incident when David spared Saul’s life, Saul was also contrite and conceded that David was Yahweh’s anointed (Isa 26:21,25).   

27:1 David was aware that he could not trust Saul (Psa 146:3).

27:2 This is David’s second visit to Gath (1Sam 21:10).  As Achish was a generic term for a Philistine king, it cannot be assumed that this king was the same as the one of David’s first visit.  The fact that the king’s father, Maoch, is mentioned here suggests that this Achish could be a different king from the first.

27:6 Ziklag was a town originally given to Judah (Josh 15:31). Later, it was given to Simeon, as Simeon was encircled by the territory of Judah (Josh 19:5).  Ziklag, however, was never occupied by Israelites until this time.  The town was reclaimed by Judah after the captivity in Babylon (Neh 11:28).

27:8 David used Ziklag as a base to rout Israel’s enemies.

27:10 David lied to Achish, as to his activities, so as to appear pro-Philistine. Is anyone keeping score of how many lies David has made since he has been on the run?

27:11 To keep his deception air-tight, David made sure that every person died, in the towns he raided.

26:21 Saul’s response to David’s comments is an example of a principle which is later laid out in Scripture – Prov 15:1

3:6  In using the word ‘backsliding’ Jeremiah is reminding the nation of the words of the earlier prophet – Hos 4:16

V.12 Jeremiah prophesied between the times Israel had been taken captive by Assyria and before Judah had gone into exile, courtesy of Babylon.  Yahweh, in His mercy, sent a message of hope to the north (Assyria) promising restoration for captive Israel. 

Vs.16,17 The permanent restoration of Israel will occur when Jesus returns to rule.

God describes His relationship to the people of Israel in terms of a marriage so that we can readily understand His anger and sorrow at their unfaithfulness. The sin of adultery must be one of the hardest to come to terms with since the sorrow it brings is tied up in love for the adulterous spouse. And so in this symbology we can understand above all others the love and forgiveness of God, His patience and longsuffering, since His wife was not only unfaithful to Him once, but many times.

However, though God's mercy and ability to forgive is limitless, it is not without its requirements. In v12-13 we can see that an important pre-requisite of forgiveness is the confession of fault. When we ask God for forgiveness we should not quickly gloss over what we have done with a general "please forgive me for what I have done". We should acknowledge what we have done and tell Him exactly in what way we have offended Him. Surely if we value our relationship with Him we owe Him that courtesy at least? Daniel's confession is one of the best examples of this (Dan 9:5-6, 10-11).

3:3 The idea of not being ashamed is developed on other occasions in Jeremiah – 6:15, 8:3 and in the contemporary prophet Zeph 3:5

3:1 The law was very clear. Once a wife had been ‘put away’ she could not be married to the same man again – Deut 24:1-4 - however God did not work like that with Israel. Even though they had left Him he was willing to receive them back.

V.3 Yahweh has control over all natural events.  We are sustained by the food which is produced in the fields.  Rain is needed to make crops grow, and it is Yahweh who sends the rain (Job 5:10).  

Without the rain, drought would occur, no crops would grow, and we would starve.  Yahweh uses the lack of rain as a method of punishment.  He will use this method again in the future, when Jesus returns to set up His government.  Those nations that try to evade His leadership will experience drought (Zech 14:17).

3:17 The prophet speaks of a time yet future, when Israel will be restored. The behaviour of Judah, which is styled like that outlined in Gen 6:5 will be no more.

V.2 Israel’s waiting for lovers is likened to the Arab who waits in the desert to plunder those who would pass by.

V.3 The latter rain is the spring rain which comes in March.

V.6 It is supposed that this prophecy is given in the 18^th. year of Josiah’s reign, in 623 BC. If that were so, then it would have been received 4 years after Jeremiah had commenced his prophetic service.

V.8 See Eze 23:4,11.

V.13 There is always forgiveness for God’s people, if they would repent (Eze 14:6).  This not only applies to Natural Israel, but also to Spiritual Israel (1John 1:19).

V.14 There is a special relationship between Yahweh and His people Israel. (Hos 2:19,20).

V.16 The ark with its mercy seat pointed forward to Jesus. It will no longer be required in the temple in the Kingdom, as Jesus will be there.  Also, the division between the Holy and the Holy of Holies will have been taken away (Rev 21:22).

V.17 This will happen in the Kingdom, after the nations have been subdued by Jesus and the Redeemed (Zech 14:16).

V.18 See Isa 11:12,13.

V.25 See Ezra 9:7.

v17 First Principles>Sure Mercies of David>Capital City 
The Capital City is to be Jerusalem. Jer 3:17, Isa 24:23, Mic 4:2,7,8
Jerusalem, rebuilt and glorified, will become the metropolis of God's Kingdom which will embrace all nations. Psa 48:2, Isa 52:1, Isa 60:14, Jer 3:17, Zech 14:16, Matt 5:34-35
First Principles>Sure Mercies of David> For more details go to Isa 55:1-3.

3:2  I suppose Israel just did their evil practices with no thought about the impact it had on others. The prophet reminds them that even the land was polluted. But they might respond that the land was inanimate so could not be polluted. However the land was God’s and had to be cared for just like the community of believers today - 1Cor 3:17

v31 "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?". Jesus had said exactly the same thing in similar circumstances earlier. It was when the disciples were afraid that the boat was going to sink as Jesus slept (Matt 8v26). But this time his rebuke seems a little harsh. Peter had walked on water after all! Peter seemed to have got the message from the earlier incident and had developed real faith in Christ. So why did Jesus rebuke his lack of faith?

But why did Peter do what he did? What good did walking out to Jesus him? Everything Jesus did was for the furtherance of his ministry, and according to his Father's will. Jesus didn't do anything for selfish motives. We can see this by considering why he was unwilling to provide bread for himself by miraculous means (4v4), but in this chapter is willing to do exactly that, because it was for others (v19-29). Jesus walking on the water was so that he could reach them in time to comfort them and help them. He remembered how scared they had been the last time that the sea had been so rough. In contrast, Peter had no reason to miraculously walk on the water, apart from trying to prove the strength of his own faith to his master. Did Peter have pride before a fall? Maybe this is why Jesus rebuked him.

V.13 The statement that Christ withdrew himself to a "desert place", does not mean that he crossed the sea by himself, without the disciples. The disciples were with him (V.15-19;22). What is being said, is that he wanted to get away from the multitude, to be alone with his disciples. The lonely or desolate place to which Jesus and his company withdrew to was in the neighborhood of Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). 

Vs.15,23 Two evening events took place: the feeding of the multitude; and later when Jesus went up a mountain to pray.  The word for evening in Greek is opsios.  There are two meanings for opsios: late afternoon and nightfall.  Clearly, the first evening event was late afternoon (3 p.m. or later). The second evening event was nightfall (about 6 p.m.).                                                

The night was divided into four watches: (1) 6 - 9 p.m. (2) 9 p.m. - Midnight (3) Midnight - 3 a.m. (4) 3 - 6 a.m.  And so, we see that Jesus walked on the sea sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. (v.25).

14:5 Herod would have killed Jesus, but he feared the people. The Jewish leaders would have killed Jesus, nut they feared the people Matt 21:46. Actions should not be performed or withheld because of what others think. Do we ever respond to a situation in a way which reflects our concerns about what others think? Or do we allow Divine principles to always govern our actions?

14:13 When we read that ‘Jesus heard of it’ we cannot but think that we are being told Jesus’ response to hearing about the death of John. However that took place sometime before the events recorded in the early verses of this chapter. Verses :3-12 is a digression.  So did Jesus ‘depart’ on hearing about John or when he knew about Herod’s hearing of the fame of Jesus?

V.13 This verse seems to say that, after the death of John, Jesus took a ship to a desert place alone.  In fact, He urged His disciples to remove themselves (with Him) to a quiet place (Mark 6:31).  After all, the disciples had just buried the body of John, and they must have been somewhat traumatized.

14:7 Herod would have done well to take heed to the wise man – Ecc 5:2 - do we every say things in haste without much thought that we later regret?

V.6 The name of the Herodias' daughter is not mentioned, but Josephus suggests it is Salome.  Salome the Dance of the Seven Veils has become popularized in the art world.

V.20 No  food fragments were to be left.  This miracle, of providing temporal food, mirrors the divine provision of manna in the wilderness.  There too, nothing was to be left over (Exo 16:17-19).  

Vs.15-21 The feeding of the 4000+, like the feeding of the 5000+, was a miracle.  Such a large group of people, in each case, was fed by such a small amount of food.  Moreover there was more food collected as fragments than the original amount of food.  In the case of the 5000+, twelve full baskets were collected, and with the 4000+, seven full baskets were collected. 

It should be pointed out that the baskets (Gr. kophinos) in the 4000+ example were smaller than the baskets (Gr. spuris) in the 5000+ situation.  Interestingly, the larger basket (spuris) was the same kind of basket that was used by Paul to escape (Acts 9:24,25).

The fact that more food was returned than given out is a reminder that whatever is given out by the Lord returns to Him as increase (Isa 55:10,11).  The Lord expects the same principle to apply to our efforts.  Consider the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30).

V.36 Touching the hem of Christ's garment was sufficient for healing. The example of the woman diseased with an issue of blood also comes readily to mind (Matt 25:20-22).  The Greek word translated hem is kraspedon which implies a border or fringe. 

Malachi also makes reference to this when he talks of Christ: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (Mal 4:2).

The word, wings, in Hebrew, is kanaph which means extremity or edge, particularly of a garment, and thus, a hem.  Kraspedon is equivalent to kanaph. 

Israelites had to wear blue on the borders (kanaph) of their garments (Num 15:38).  This color represents heaven, the throne of Yahweh, from whence emanates all commandment and power.  Thus, the heavenly power to heal is embodied in the blue border of the garment.

14:15-21  The feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in all four gospel narratives. – Mark 6:35, Luke 9:12, John 6:4 – It is the only miracle recorded in all four gospel narratives.