Last night for FHE we talked about setting things aside and giving up obsessions. This morning I prayed for the strength and courage to do just that. I know I cannot do it alone, nor am I meant too, so I turned to the Lord to help me through it!
1 Samuel 26-27
When I was a kid I remember watching a cartoon where the main character had to make a decision and on one shoulder was a miniature angel whispering in his ear, leading him in the right direction, and on the other shoulder was a little devil whispering in his ear, leading him in the wrong direction. The picture of that moment in the cartoon stuck with me. In my life I have often felt the pull of both sides whispering in my ear. It can be difficult to discern who is telling you what when both sides are talking at the same time.
As I read 1 Samuel 26-27, I picture David in the same position as the cartoon character. In chapter 26 it appears that the miniature angel sitting on his shoulder won. In this chapter David has another opportunity to kill King Saul, but he doesn't do it. Instead he takes Saul's spear and water jug and points out to Saul that he is not out to kill him. My favorite part of chapter 26 is found in verses 23-25:
"The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed.
And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.
Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place."
This is the picture of righteousness that I associate with David. He has a good understanding of his place and his relationship with God in this moment. His heart is in the right place. So imagine my surprise when I read the first verse in chapter 27:
"And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand."
This verse has a feeling of despair to it. What happened to David's heart? Why is he now questioning God's ability to lead him through his tribulations? Whose voice is he listening to? Oh that little devil has whispered one to many times in David's ear and he is believing him instead of God!
Have you ever felt like the Lord had forsaken or forgotten you? Have you ever asked God if He really cares about you?
That's how David is feeling. He goes from a victory over taking revenge on Nabal in chapter 25; then a victory over Saul in chapter 26; to being overwhelmed by despair in chapter 27. There is no time frame indicated here, so we don't know exactly how long it has been between theses events. What we do know is that David makes some decisions during this time that seem, well desperate and confusing.
He takes his men and goes to live in Gath under king Achish (vv 2-3). He is now living among the Philistines, the enemy of God's people! And he will live there for 16 months.
It is difficult for me to understand this decision, especially in light of verse 4 where we learn that "Saul sought no more again for him." The other thing that ate at me as I was reading is the fact that no where does it mention David seeking the Lord's advice in this decision. What is happening to our beloved David? It seems like he stopped serving God and focused more on survival. He trusted the enemy for protection instead of trusting the Lord for it…and as a result, he had to scheme, kill, and lie to survive (vv 8-12).
Although it would be easy to condemn David for these actions, there is another way to look at this situation; David was fulfilling God's commandment given to Moses and Joshua to utterly destroy the Canaanites when Israel first came to the promised land. This could be a case of the Lord furthering His work in spite of the decisions made by those that are leading. That would be just like God, to make the best out of our misjudgments!
This was a tough study session for me. I was having problems processing this one. So many questions popped up. It is difficult to know what David was thinking without more details. Maybe that is the point of this chapter. We have to figure out who we are going to listen to and decide which voice makes the most sense. Will we let the little devil plant seeds of doubt or will we let the Spirit touch our hearts and lead us to the truth?
There is a statement I came across in my studies that I kept coming back to:
"When we start to look at God through circumstances instead of looking at our circumstances through God’s eyes, we will lose faith, patience, and courage, and the enemy will triumph."
In the end, I decided that I would look at this situation through God's eyes and give David the benefit of the doubt. We know that he will become king of Israel so it seems wise to trust the Lord's decisions. Score one for the miniature angel sitting on my shoulder!
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