2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The series of events that followed David’s covenant of friendship with Saul’s son, Jonathan have many wonderful lessons for us in them. These lessons from God have been the subject of this latest series of messages which I have been directed to write. God wants us to understand that the covenants we make with Him transcend generations in our own families just as they did in David’s and Saul’s families. That’s hard for us to comprehend in today’s busy world, but it is still true. We as participants in the Covenant of Grace are encouraged to raise our children to lives of faith in Christ, so that they too will enjoy the salvation and privileges of such a relationship. No privilege ever comes without responsibilities. Where the Covenant of Grace is concerned, we reap salvation, God’s friendship, His protection, and a host of other benefits in return for our trust, obedience, and faithfulness toward Him. The cost of discipleship is often great, but the benefits in an eternal sense far outweigh those costs. David and Jonathan found this out and never let the challenges to their faith overcome their willingness to remain righteous as God defines it. The net result will eventually be seen in this series of messages by David’s relationship with Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. I know I keep mentioning this man without yet telling his story. It is my rather shameless way of reminding you that I am working my way toward a very important point, hopefully extracting the lessons God has for us along the way.
1 SAM 23 is the story of how David, with God’s direction saves the town of Keliah. It is a story of battle strategy that reveals this important truth: that when we seek God with a righteous heart, He is truly there to protect us. At each point along the way, David consults God and takes God at His word. The Philistines were attacking Keliah and stealing the harvest. Even when the situation looked hopeless, David knew he could trust God’s words in 1 SAM 23: 4, “Go and attack Keliah, because I will give you victory over the Philistines.” David’s attack of the Philistines was a success just as God had promised (5).
Saul found out that David and his men were at Keliah saying to himself, “God has put him in my power, David has trapped himself by going into a walled town with fortified gates” (7). That is what made Saul decide to lead his troops in an assault against David and his men there. There is a passage in RO 1: 21-25 which is an exquisite description of what is going on here with Saul. See if you don’t agree. “They [the unrighteous] know God, but they do not give Him the honor that belongs to Him, nor do they than Him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. They say they are wise, but they are fools; instead of worshipping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortal man or birds or animal or reptiles. And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator Himself, Who is to be praised forever! Amen.”
In the presence of the priest, Abiathar [the son of the murdered Ahimelech from Nob], David asked God to tell him if Saul and his men were marching to Keliah against them. A loving God at work keeping His covenant promises to this faithful believer replied in 1 SAM 23: 11 in the affirmative. That led to David and his men escaping Keliah and thwarting Saul’s plan (13). David next hid in the hill country of Ziph, but God kept did not turn David over to Saul who continued to pursue him there. 1 SAM 23: 16-18 is where Jonathan enters the picture again, this time to encourage his friend David and renew His covenant agreements with him. When I studied the course, “Experiencing God,” one of the points made in it is that God brings us together in friendships, so that we will support and encourage each other in our faith-in our keeping our covenant agreements with God. Jonathan’s arrival at this point in the story is an example of just that. This is an important function of our relationships with other believers that should not go unnoticed in our busy lives today.
The people of Ziph betrayed David, letting Saul know David’s whereabouts and promising to bring David to Saul. Once again, God intervenes in protecting His covenant partner, David. This time, an attack by Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, forced Saul to abandon his pursuit of David and enabled David to carry on to Engedi [I SAM 23: 14-29]. How ironic that Israel’s enemies are the tool God uses to bring about His will! In examining this story, we need to think about our own attitudes toward the cost of being a disciple, God’s actions when we have been in dire trouble, how righteous our decisions and actions are, the role of friends in our lives, what kind of friend we are, and God’s power to carry out what seems impossible.
PRAYER: O Lord, we need only look at the lives of Christ’s disciples to know that the cost of being a disciple can be great. However, You have challenged us to look at this from an eternal point of view. When we do so, we realize that even the sacrifice of our physical lives for our faith is a small price to pay for eternal joy and fellowship with You in Your Kingdom. As You inspired David to write in PS 46: 1, “God is our Refuge and our Strength, a very present help in time of trouble.” Your interaction during Saul’s long pursuit of David proves the truth of this. You have shown us often in the Scriptures that we will be rewarded for righteousness and punished for eschewing it. Thus, You are reminding us to examine our attitudes, decisions, and actions in light of what You have revealed in the Scriptures to be Your will. If there is a gap here, then we must make whatever changes are necessary in our lives to narrow it. That is what Saul did not do, and he suffered many losses because of it. Dearest Abba, because of the compassion of Your heart, You understand our need for people in our lives who will support and encourage us, people who will remind us to keep our covenant agreements with You. That is why You sent Jonathan into David’s life and why You send friends into our lives who share our faith. We dedicate ourselves to being good friends to them and heeding the messages from You they deliver. You are a supreme, sovereign, and always-righteous Deity. We are truly blessed by You and in humility offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to go on to 1 SAM 24, the story of how David kept His covenant agreement in passing up on many opportunities to kill Saul. This story challenges us to see how we can choose to do what is not natural to us in order to remain obedient to God. Our Lord has given us the heart of faith that we have. Along the way, He has advised us how to fight our battles, deal with pain and illness, and accept His will when loved ones pass off the scene. He is there to be our Refuge and our Strength, just as He is there to alert us to the need to make mid-course corrections, so we won’t get off track in our sanctification. His patience and compassion toward our often bumbling attempts to do what is right is nothing short of amazing. His sacrifices for us, even when we were His enemies, have never been seen before from any other source. That, Dear Ones, is the one and only God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who loves us in ways we can’t even comprehend. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn