Slowing Down...Verse by Verse

This week...thanks to the time provided by Spring Break...I have been working through a few days' of  Beth Moore's David:  Seeking a Heart Like His, a study recently hosted by Women's Bible Cafe.

The more I study, this I know, that if one does not slow down when reading, then the verses just fly by, and much is missed!   Would you ponder with me for a minute (or two)?

When Saul becomes jealous of David, he fled for his life to Nob, where hungry, Ahimelech offered him the bread of the Presence.  My first reaction to David's requesting food (actually five loaves...remember how many loaves Jesus used to feed the hungry?) and then taking this bread of the Presence as...well, as arrogant, even callous, for the bread was placed before God "as a reminder or symbol of the everlasting covenant."  

Moore suggests, though, that this was not by accident, that God used it to reaffirm His presence in David's life, "pledging His presence to David and promising to be his complete sustainer," just as He will sustain us.  He is the Bread of Life.

David must have been feeling a bit out of sorts, having left home, killing a giant, gaining a friend in Jonathan, then...being blasted with Saul's jealousy.  That is much for a young man to handle.  David needed a reminder of who was in charge of his destiny.

I can recall several times in my life when His Presence calmed me, reminding me of the Covenant I have with Him, for "he who believes in me has everlasting life."

• When the doctors revealed my daughter's heart/lung defect...
• When my parents passed...
• When my job became a pit, one I needed, to teach me lessons I could have learned in no other way...

God used the bread to symbolize a continued covenant with David, on which David reflects in Psalm 31:16:  "Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love."  Now, please reread that scripture replacing face with the Hebrew word paneh, which also means presence..."Let your presence shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love."  Ahhhh...he is ever present, isn't he?  

Consider Moore's admonition:  "Keep praying for a hunger and thirst for His Word.  Like David, God doesn't want you feeding from common loaves.  He desires to feed you with the bread of His Presence.  His table is always set." (pg 55)

Yes, I, too, have eaten of the bread of the Presence, and it is nourishing, filling, calming.  I love that He loves me...even me.  Then, that Presence later serves as reminders He will leave nor forsake me.

Yes, verse by verse...and studying commentary and studies such as the one above as I go...results in my being fed.