11 Samuel 1:1-16
Second Samuel opens with the account of a messenger coming to David and telling him that Saul and Jonathan and many others were dead.
Thinking to gain David's approval and possibly receive a reward from him, this messenger, who was an Amalekite, told David that it was at his hands Saul had died.
He said he had come upon Saul, who was still alive even after falling on his own sword. Saul had pleaded with him to kill him before the Philistines came upon him and mutilated his body while he was still alive.
The young man claimed he did as Saul requested. Some Bible students believe the young man told the truth; others believe he lied, but whatever the correct version is, he took his story to the wrong man.
David had always had a strong aversion to raising his hand against God's anointed. Neither would he permit any of his own men to do it. So when this young Amalekite claimed to have killed Saul, David had him put to death.
David did not want what the Lord did not give to him. He would not take by force what God had promised.
So many of us make the mistake of feeling we have to help God fulfill His promises.
"Thine, 0 Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine ,is the kingdom, 0 Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all" (1 Chron. 29:11).
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Theodore Epp (1907 - 1985)
Theodore H. Epp, a graduate of Southwestern Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, was the founding director of the Back to the Bible Broadcast. He began his ministry as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, where he received his first taste of radio preaching. He moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to establish the Back to the Bible Broadcast, and the first program was heard on May 1, 1939, on a small local station.He served as General Director for the broadcast until his retirement from on-air radio speaking in 1984. He continued to serve the ministry as well as perform other speaking engagements until his death in 1985.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Under Epp's direction, the broadcasts were also noted for music by the Back to the Bible Choir and quartet. Several popular recordings were made by the choir in the 1940s and 1950s. Back to the Bible also had a weekly youth program, featuring a youth choir and serialized adventures with a Christian theme. Both the music and youth program have since been discontinued. Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
Epp was born in Oraibi, Arizona, the son of Russian Mennonite immigrants. His parents were missionaries to the Hopi Indians there. After graduating from Oklahoma Bible Academy, Epp attended Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now, Biola University), Epp received a ThM degree in 1932 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.