Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.

Today's chapters are 1 Samuel 14-16 and Psalm 28 (for Lent).

Saul dooms his kingship through an act of disobedience to God's command. Samuel the prophet reveals the king's sorry state and sets down a "rule" for all time: "Obedience is better than sacrifices." (Saul's excuse was that goods and livestock that had been taken as loot was going to be offered to God). And so the old prophet Samuel is sent to Bethlehem with a secret assignment: He is to anoint a new king for Israel. 

Whereas Saul, son of Kish, had been strikingly tall and impressive, a kingly figure if there ever was one, Samuel himself will be surprised by the LORD's choice from among the sons of Jesse. (As usual, God chooses the least, the last and the lowliest.) We know the story already. And we know that the boy who will be king is a type (prophetic foreshadowing) of Christ the Shepherd, King and rescuer of his people.

Obedience, surrender to God, can be a gift or an extraction. Who are you obeying and why? Is it out of force (slavery) or out of love and recognition of love and beauty (gift)? If our obedience to God or the Church is consistently forced, what is behind that? Fear? Anxiety? A faith that does not yet quite believe in God's goodness? Lent is a good time to address impediments to the love of God that keep us from an obedience that is free, loving and joyful.

Start reading here and here for Psalm 28. 

If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts, and how each book of the Bible has been understood by the Church Fathers and used in Liturgy.