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1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13
Proper 6B
Comments, Observations and Questions: God’s Regret? This week’s reading begins in an uncomfortable place: with the failure of King Saul — a King appointed by God. And so we are told that God regrets (in some translations, repents from) making Saul king. What are we to make of a God who regrets and/or repents? Folks…
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Proper 6B
This old story about God’s choice of David as the new king of Israel fairly bubbles with contemporary relevance, especially in America. I wrote the first draft of this Sermon Commentary just a few weeks after the inauguration of the Biden/Harris team. The words of Shakespeare’s witches of Eastwick described the national mood perfectly: “Double,…
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Proper 6B
There’s almost always more going on than meets the eye. Whether it’s at a cosmic or molecular level, we just can’t always see what’s really going on. So, for example, the 1973 Watergate break-in initially looked like little more than a clumsy effort at burglary. It turned, however, out to be part of President Nixon…
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Proper 6B
Looks can be deceiving. That’s why God apparently doesn’t bother with them in the first place. “The LORD looks at the heart,” God says to Samuel in I Samuel 16:7, now one of the most famous lines of the entire Bible. And on the opposite end of the Bible (and in the paired Gospel lection…
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