Fri Mar 6

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the words arise and eat.

Reading

1 Kings 19:4-8—It is Enough

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

Elijah asked God to take his life.
Instead, God gave him sleep—twice.
After each sleep, an angel gave him food and drink.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

Where did Elijah go?
Why did he want God to take his life?
Why do you think Elijah needed food and sleep?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors. Today’s notes are from a commentary on 1 Kings by Roger Ellsworth)

With his servant, who must have been exhausted by the fevered journey, left behind in Beersheba, Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness. There he sat down under ‘a broom tree’, which the MacArthur Study Bible describes as: ‘A desert bush that grew to a height of 10 ft. It had slender branches featuring small leaves and fragrant blossoms.’

Under this tree Elijah finally gave expression to the despair that had been churning within him. There he prayed, ‘It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’ (19:4). The man who was afraid of dying by Jezebel’s hand now prays to die by the Lord’s hand! Elijah was at his lowest ebb. As far as he was concerned, the battle was over, and it was time for him, the Lord’s soldier in this battle, to be discharged from service. The flame of faith that burned so brightly at the beginning was now barely flickering.

How the tender grace of the Lord shines in these verses! The Lord did not answer Elijah’s prayer (we should be thankful the Lord does not give us everything we ask for). Neither did the Lord sternly rebuke his prophet. Instead he sent an angel to feed him. This was the third time Elijah was miraculously fed, each time in a different way, and each way designed to bolster Elijah’s faith. The ravens at Cherith brought food to Elijah that they would normally have eaten themselves, and in doing so affirmed for the prophet that the Lord, not Baal, was truly the God of nature.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 88b, 65d

Prayer

Voice your complaint to God. He will listen.
Pray for the hearing of God’s word preached this Lord's Day.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.