One Time... Again

1 Samuel 22:1-4 -  David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; when his brothers and all his father's house heard of it, they went down there to him.  Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Those who were with him numbered about four hundred.  David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come to you, until I know what God will do for me."  He left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

 

David ran from Saul…and he ran from the king of Gath. He hid from his enemies in caves…like the madman he had pretended to be. And while he hid…he cried out to the God he knew was one day going to make him king of Israel. He must have remembered the days he sat with his sheep …and how music soothed them when they were agitated…for some of the most lovely songs in the world were written in some of these caves. The music must have given him strength…and courage…to wait on God’s timing…to wait until all the pieces of God’s plan to be in place.

 

It dawned on me as I considered God’s message to me in this chapter...that I know one of the reasons God said David had a heart after his own.  He took in over 400 men to his hiding places…and provided for them…and probably taught them to pray and depend on God too. They were people that were distressed in some way…or in debt…or discontented about life in general.  They were drawn to this future king…not because they knew he would be king one day…but because they knew he shared their pain.

 

God used this pain to meld them together as a community…of people who loved God…and learn to allow God to provide everything they needed. God used this time to train his future king in not just military wisdom…he trained him how to transfer his skill of caring for sheep…to caring for people. God used this time to teach David to pray as never before.  God used this time to show others how much strength we can find if we rely on God…and not mere man.

 

I admit…that I don’t have God’s heart yet.  I sure haven’t learned how to pray like David…and I still whine way too much about the hard tasks he gives me to do…instead of seeing them as a training ground for some future job.  BUT…I am so thankful that God’s timeline allows me one more chance…to stop and consider just why he has placed me where he has…and what he may be teaching me with every task I see as useless to me in the future.

 

Father…I thank you for this day and anointed scripture that helps me understand that everything you have placed around me is in some way training me for something you need me to do for you.  Help me to stop complaining…and think instead of the anointed words of Paul… “ Do everything without complaining or arguing,  so that ‘I’ may become blameless and pure, a ‘child’ of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which ‘I’ shine like the stars in the universe.”  Help me to be like David…who was God’s light in those caves…drawing all the hurt and broken people to learn of his power to heal and provide.  Amen.

Forgiven Mistakes Become Messages of Healing

1 Samuel 21:7-9 -  Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD;  and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.    And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword?  for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.    And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod:  if thou wilt take that, take it:  for there is no other save that here.   And David said, There is none like that;  give it me.

 

David had been on the road…he had fled from the territory of king Saul….and fled to Nob.   His journey…made without time to pack provisions or weapons …left him hungry and vulnerable…so he sought out the priest Ahimelech.  There in the priest’s presence…he welded a believable story...to ask for food to feed his men…and to inquire about weapons.  He left with the showbread meant for only priests…and the sword he had taken from Goliath …with which he would satisfy his human need for hunger and safety.

 

The scriptures do not tell us if David went specifically to Nob that day…because he knew the sword was there….or if he welded the lies he told before he got there…to somehow justify eating the showbread and taking the weapon.  So we can only imagine the battle he must have faced in his heart before he did such things he knew in his heart to be wrong….for they clearly broke the laws given to Moses that day on the mountain.  There was a punishment of sorts …cause I peeked at the next chapter and found that 86 priests…their mothers…fathers…wives….brothers…sisters…and babies….even the livestock they owned ….they all lost their lives in the retaliation of Saul.  Saul must have killed over 500 people that day in his anger….and David was partially to blame for this waste of human life.

 

Sometimes we want something so badly…we find a way to justify it.  Sometimes satan can even trick us with multiple ways…making the decision even easier. Sometimes…we allow our fear of the moment…or the impatience we have in God’s great plan…to justify and make decisions that are costly on down the road. I am sure that David’s kind heart wept the day he realized the wrong he had done…and how many lives he had a part in ending.

 

But we forget many times that God knew David was going to make this mistake before he made it…and even used it one day as he spoke to the leaders who constantly tried to trap him.   In Matthew 12:1-8 and Luke 6:1-5 it records Jesus’ question to these men that thought they knew God better than his own son.  Jesus said, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. That just confirms in my heart that at some  point David confessed his sin….and God forgave him…even told him, “It’s okay David…I can use that story later when I send my son to earth to save everyone.”  And it comforts my own heart…who could spend days writing down all the mistakes I ever made…and God is still trying to help me remember…so I too can confess and receive his forgiveness.

 

Father….I thank you for this story that reminds me that I am human…and have human needs…. and I thank you for the provisions  you provide to me each day…even the ones you have allowed me to get on my own…without asking you first.  Reveal to me any times I have acted like David…then give me the wisdom and strength to confess them before you so I can receive your great forgiveness and mercy…and see how you will use them later in my life to help others. Amen.

God's Peace Surpasses Our Ability To Understand

1 Samuel 20:41-42 - As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more.  Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, "The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.' " He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.

 

David had returned to see if king Saul was still trying to kill him.  He met secretly with his friend Jonathan…and told him his heart…that his father was probably hiding the truth from him…because of their friendship. So they worked out a plan…so that David could hide in safety...until Jonathan could talk face to face with his father…and hear the truth for himself.  Jonathan’s words were chosen carefully…to help him be fair to his father until he was sure.

 

It wasn’t a pretty scene for Jonathan…his father called him a fool…for protecting David….for loving him so much. Then his own father threw a spear at him. ..with the intent to kill him too. There had to have been tears in his eyes as he shot the three arrows to signal David  that he knew he truth. And his heart must have broken in the moment that he uttered the signal words that indicated David needed to run far away from this place where he was hated so much.

 

But the story says David’s tears were greater….for he knew in his heart that he might never see this friend who had been so dear to him again. Their goodbyes …so confusing to their hearts. Their tears of grief were not held back…they were exchanged freely….so each would know the love that existed between them. They even made provisions for their future children...just in case it was God’s plan that they never meet again.

 

My heart hung on the last words of Jonathan...who through his tears told David to ‘go in peace’…and carry the love of God with him.  Oh how his heart must have been ripped from it cage of muscle and bone as they hugged and cried with each other…. Jonathan holding with all his might to God...trusting even through his obvious grief…that somehow God would comfort them both and help them …despite the human pain they both felt in that moment.

 

It reminds me that I need to trust my God in everything that happens…no matter how sad or fearful it might make me in any given moment. My tears of grief...my cries of fear…my pangs of loneliness…my questions of confusion and doubt…may never be answered in my lifetime. But I have a God…who can place within my heart a peace that surpasses human understanding.  Jonathan’s wise heart had found that peace Paul told us about in Philippians 4:7 …. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.”  The peace did not stop the tears from flowing…it allowed the tears of these two friends to heal their pain and preserve their love through the horrible moment they were experiencing.

 

Father…I thank you for your peace….I thank you for tears that cleanse and heal and prove that our emotions are intact.  I thank you for the great writers of the Bible you chose…and gave these powerful words of love and healing too. Help me to accept your powerful peace…even when my heart is crying out questions of doubt.  Help me to accept your wonderful peace…when I am overwhelmed with moments of grief and sadness.   Help me to accept your perfect peace that surpasses my human capacity to understand…so I can experience your love and comfort through my pain and trials here on Earth….so I can allow my mind to think like your heart…and put the worries of the future in your hands.  Amen.

God Protects His Children

1 Samuel 19:1-2; 9-10; 12; and 20  Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul's son Jonathan took great delight in David.  Jonathan told David, "My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself.

Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music.  Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped.

Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy.

 

Saul was consumed with jealously….fear and hate. The evil spirit that God had allowed to consume his mind was destroying his ability to reason…to love others…to seek God’s will in his life.  He considered David an enemy….and he wanted him dead….out of his mind…out of his life. Four times it is recorded in this chapter alone…that Saul sought to take David’s life.  Four times Saul requests help from servants…family…and messengers assigned to his court.

 

But God was working overtime to protect this one that he had secretly anointed. God used the love he had placed in Jonathan’s and Michal’s hearts…David’s own agility…and the power of the Holy Spirit to weave a protective net around his chosen king.  God may have allowed an evil spirit to consume Saul’s heart…but it was no match for the power that God had surrounded his humble servant.  For what God had planned for David’s future was not controlled by any evil spirit…or any power of man.

 

It must have been hard on David…confusing….frustrating…to have been anointed king…and then have to run for his life so many times. It must have been equally hard and frustrating for Jonathan…and Michal…as they made tough choices to follow God instead of their father.  It may have even been confusing to Samuel…but my guess is that once David got to Samuel’s house…they prayed.

 

David and Samuel must have given a great faith to trust in this confusing plan…they knew that God was in total control…as he allowed David’s military job to be put on hold….Jonathan’s friendship to be temporarily distanced…and Michal’s tender touch of love and support to be cut off for a time. God wove together the perfect plan for David’s protection because God had great plans for his future that no earthly creature could interfere with.  Just like Jeremiah 29:11 says….God knew the plans he had for David’s future….they were plans to prosper him…not to harm him…plans that gave David hope in his future.

 

Father…I thank you for this story that reminds me that even though the events in my life try to trick me into believing that I have no hope…that you are in control. Help me to trust you like David…and Jonathan…and Michal…and Samuel…to prosper me in you time.  Give me a hope so strong in my heat that I can chase away the tricks of satan that try to make me focus on the pain of the past…and concentrate on the job you are training me with in this moment. Help me cling to your promise in Jeremiah…that you have a plan to give me hope in my future.  Then give me the patience I need to wait on your timing…and the strength and wisdom to know where to go to receive your protection. Amen.

Comittments Are More Than Mere Words

1 Samuel 18:1-5 -  When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.  Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.  Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.  David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.

 

A true friendship was made the same day David was given the strength and wisdom to slay Goliath…for he was finally introduced to king Saul’s son…Jonathan.  The bond between them was instant…each one’s soul recognizing the love of God in the other. David had nothing to give but his friendship and love…but Jonathan gave David his own royal blood…his robe…his armor and sword…his bow…even his own belt.

 

Most commentaries said that this covenant was made binding between the two by mingling blood one from the other….historically with a cut on the palms of the hands….that was rubbed together. But Jonathan also took off his own robe and gave it to David.  He upgraded his friend’s shepherd status and gave him his own fighting equipment and belt. The exchange gave David the standing of a prince….complete with a trace of the family’s bloodline.

 

A thought was planted in my soul by a wonderful preacher and author a few months ago….Rick Clendenen. In his book...Playing from the Second Chair... outlines the parallel this sweet friendship has to the relationship Christ gives each of us…when we choose to ask him to be our friend. Christ went so far that he shed his own blood on the cross for our sins…then dresses us in the best of his robes.  He equips us with the sword of truth…and the belt of righteousness...so we can fight for him…and share his love with others...the same way he shared his love with us.

 

Jonathan and David’s commitment were based on a mutual love of God.  They let nothing come between them….each day they shared deepened the love they had for each other ….and the God that gave them strength to be so successful.  They remained friends forever...loyal to each other more than to their own families. They model for us the kind of love we should have first for God…then for each other.

 

Father…thank you for this reminder that my commitments are more than mere words. Forgive me for the many times I have made promises to you and others that I have never kept. Help me this day to see my promises as forever binding.  Help me to first deepen my love for you by fulfilling the commitment I made when I was 14. …then show me how to soak up the forgiveness and mercy you offer through you blood sacrifice…and help me make right all the vows I have broken because I let satan trick me into justifying them into something else.  Amen.

What Is Your Giant?

1 Samuel 17:32-37  - David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."  Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,  I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

 

It’s one of the most told bible stories …the giant Goliath taunts and defies the army of Saul.  Saul and his whole army run in fear and hide.  David turns down the armor and weapons of the king in favor of his sling shot and 5 stones. The one stone from his slingshot knocked the giant unconscious…and he fell to the ground.  Then David picked up Goliath’s own sword…killed him…and cut off his head.

 

David was just a mere boy… a youth by Saul’s standards…but he possessed a remarkable understanding of the God he served. This ‘youth’ that commentaries placed at anywhere from 13-20…was so upset that Goliath would dare defy the armies of the ‘living’  God…that he declares he has all the strength and training he needs to fight any foe…much less the mere giant from the Philistine’s army.

 

He must have remembered all the stories that told of God’s deliverance of the Israelites…he had experienced the might and courage he could give as he protected his father’s sheep…he possessed a confidence in God that allowed him to walk before this giant and kill him.  He possessed a courage that bid him take a mere slingshot into battle with a giant...because he knew his God went with him.

 

I couldn’t help but think of Saul’s son Jonathan…who also possessed a similar courage just a few fights ago. No wonder David and he became good friends…for they shared a common knowledge of how God could help them defeat any foe that threatened them…their family…or the people that God had chosen as his own.  David and Jonathan viewed their giants from God’s perspective…and they drew from the supernatural arsenal of God’s own heart…to put their problems in a light that gave them hope.

 

Father …thank you for reminding me this morning…that I always have you to draw strength and courage from.  Help me to have the wisdom and heart of David and Jonathan…when I see a giant coming at me with its defeating words.  Reveal to me the tools you have already trained me to use against them….and give me a confidence to know that you are walking right beside me in all that you allow me to go through. Allow me to see any giant in my life as just another small thing…and face it with the hope and power you gave us through your son’s death and resurrection on the cross.  Amen.

Are You Beautiful Inside?

1 Samuel 16:5-7 - Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

 

Samuel had been told by God to stop mourning for the first king he had anointed…for the time had come for Samuel to go and anoint God’s newly chosen king. Samuel was a little scared at first…thinking if Saul found out he was anointing a new king…it would surely bring about his death. But God laid his fears to rest…and told him to bring a sacrifice… tell the people he had come in peace…and he would tell him exactly what to do from there.

 

Samuel invited the family of Jesse…just as God had told him…and beheld the eldest son Eliab… and thought for sure he had picked the right one.  But God told him to never consider only the outward appearance of a man….but to consider more the inner character…as he rejected the thoughts of Samuel’s heart.  One by one God rejected every son that Jesse had brought…revealing that he had left his youngest son out in the fields.

 

As soon as David came to them…God’s great sigh of affirmation…and his great booming voice of authority told Samuel to anoint this young lad as the next king of Israel.  Then the spirit came upon him and gave him power…to become what he needed to be…to fulfill his new task on the Earth…to seek God and become a man after God’s own heart.

 

Samuel was like many of us these days…thinking that God works best with the ones who look the part.  We are drawn to the ‘pretty’ ones… the strong ones…the ones that look the most successful.  But God doesn’t size up a person the way man does…he considers first their heart. God sees us the way we are first thing in the morning…rooster hair going every direction…no makeup…with the true personality we have before the morning coffee. God loves us from the inside out…not the outside in.

 

It is a reminder to me….to be very careful with vanity.  I rarely go out in public without fixing my hair…and carefully placing a face on these old wrinkles that seem to be taking over my face.  I buy the lotions….the whitening toothpaste…and the clothes that flatter my plump figure the most.   I so needed this reminder that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder…and I can tell the true character of any friend by their heart…not their compliments….and maybe I should worry a little less about my looks…and just let God make me so beautiful on the inside that my outward appearance will shine with his love…and make me more beautiful than any makeup or new hairdo could ever dream of transforming me.