2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This journey we have been taking through David’s years of persecution at Saul’s hands has yielded many great lessons. Today’s message is not merely a repetition of the reminder all of these wonderful chapters have to stick to our covenant agreements, but it is an examination of the consistency we must have in doing so that David displays. With the attack on America that happened on 9-11-01, we are all tempted to go on a witch hunt focused on Muslims, but we must realize that we would be leaving our covenant commitments behind if we did that. Please don’t think for one second that I am not in favor of a proper investigation to uncover the perpetrators or our country taking decisive action against them and the countries that harbor them. However, just as David’s response to Saul’s persecution needed to be God-led, so our response to this atrocity also must have God at the helm. God wanted David to be consistent in his response to Saul, and we are allowed to see that aspect of keeping his covenant agreements in 1 SAM 26.
This chapter opens with some men from Ziph betraying David by telling Saul of his whereabouts. Saul and three thousand of his men went to Mount Hachilah at the edge of the Judean wilderness where David was camped (1-2). When David learned that Saul and his men were approaching, he sent out spies to assure him of that. They located the exact place where Saul, his army commander and uncle, Abner, and the rest of Saul’s men were. The spies reported this information to David upon their return(3-4). David found out that Saul slept in the center of his camp with him men surrounding him. David then asked Abishai, his army commander Joab’s brother, to go with him to Saul’s camp, and Abishai agreed to do that. 1 SAM 26: 7-9 reveals David’s attitude of obedience to God. “So that night David and Abishai entered Saul’s camp and found Saul sleeping in the center of the camp with his spear struck in the ground near his head. Abner and the troops were sleeping around him. Abishai said to David, ‘God has put your enemy in your power tonight. Now let me plunge his own spear through him and pin him to the ground with just one blow-I will not have to strike twice!’ But David said, ‘You must not harm him! The Lord will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king.” Remember that one of the main agreements of David’s covenant with Jonathan is that each man will protect the members of each other’s families. Saul was Jonathan’s father, and thus, under that covenant promise. Also, consider David’s wisdom in denying Abishai’s request to kill Saul from a practical point of view. There was probably no way this could have been done without awakening Abner and the others. That would have led to David and Abishai’s capture and death for sure! That kind of wisdom in the face of this temptation could have only come from God.
David then told Abishai in (11b), “Let’s take his spear and his water jar, and go,’ and that’s what they did. Not a soul awakened as they left, as “the Lord had sent a heavy sleep on them” (12). From the other side of the valley, David shouted to Abner and asked him, “Abner! Can you hear me? Aren’t you the greatest man in Israel? Why aren’t you protecting your master, the king? Just now someone entered the camp to kill your master. You failed in your duty, Abner! I swear by the living Lord that all of you deserve to die, because you have not protected your master… Look ! Where is the king’s spear? Where is the water jar that was right by his head?” (15-16). Saul recognized David’s voice, asking in (17), “Is that you, my son?” David answered in the affirmative and once again asked Saul why he continued to pursue him when he had done nothing wrong. David reasoned in (19), “If it is the Lord Who has turned you against me, an offering to Him will make Him change His mind; but if men have done it, may the Lord’s curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord’s land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods.” David pleaded to Saul not to let him be killed on foreign soil. Once again, Saul’s response like Judas’ in the future [MT 27: 4] would be repentance without remorse: “I have done wrong. Come back, David, my son! I will never harm you again, because you have spared my life tonight. I have been a fool! I have done a terrible thing!” (21). David’s response could surely be considered a prayer in (23-24), “The Lord rewards those who are faithful and righteous. Today He put you in my power, but I did not harm you. Just as I have spared your life today, may the Lord do the same to me and free me from all troubles!” He arranged for the return of Saul’s spear, and left. Saul also returned home.
Faced with the anger that we all feel toward those who persecute the US with senseless and evil attacks, would we use the same obedience to God? Would we each allow God to bring justice, rather than taking it in our own hands? Our Lord is both righteous and just. He will not let this evil go unpunished. We need to consider David’s remarkable example of faithfulness when we decide how each of us will respond to what has happened. Continue following this story of keeping covenant agreements to see how God adjudicates the case of Saul and how Jonathan’s son, Mephibotsheth, is ultimately impacted.
PRAYER: O Lord, how timely your lessons always are for us. As our country faces the worst act of war against it since Pearl Harbor, we are called upon to seek Your wisdom and leadership in determining the true identity of our attackers and the correct course in dealing with them. We know You listen to our prayers. In giving us the lessons of David’s faithfulness to You in dealing with Saul’s persecution, You are reminding us we can trust in Your presence and power to bring justice. From PS 42: 8 and 5: 1, David’s words remind us that You listen to our prayers, “Through each night, I sing His songs, praying to God Who gives me life…O Lord, hear me praying; listen to my plea, O God my King, for I will never pray to anyone but You.” PS 37: 5 shows us David’s faith that You lighten our care and burdens, “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him to help you do it and He will.” You teach us through the Psalmist in PS 119: 10 and 116: 1 that prayer helps us make decisions: “With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments…I love the Lord because He hears my prayers and answers them.” We pray, Dearest Abba, that You will help us to understand the value of the lessons here and that You will guide us to righteous decisions and actions with regard to our enemies. In humility we offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
In 1 SAM 27 and the first two verses of 1 SAM 28, we will find that David and his men spend some time in Philistia and engage in a God-directed deception of the Philistine king, Achish. That will be the subject of tomorrow’s message. God is with us, around us, and at work encouraging us to faithful obedience of Him. That is because his love for us is great enough that He wants to see as many of us join Him in heaven as possible for eternity. We were never promised that the road there will be easy, but we are given the choice to travel that road and the ability to find our way on it by God’s greatest sacrifice ever. That is Christ’s death on the cross. No greater love has ever been shown by any human being. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn