Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. We will meet for our mid-week service today, beginning at 6 PM with a special meal prepared with much love. The children will join us for their Wednesday Evening ministry.
It is fascinating to look at the life of King David and to see how the Lord guided him into making a life granting decision in relation to Saul, who pursued him to destroy his life. About twent-five years after David was anointed to become king, Saul was still chasing him, intent on killing him in the desert. David decided to forget about Saul and get on with his life. As we discovered yesterday, he had found a beautiful, gracious woman by the name of Abigail. Following the death of Abigail's husband, David took her as his wife.
The drama unfolds in 1 Sam 26. King Saul’s hatred had been stirred up again, so once again with his special private army of 3,000 choice soldiers he went after David. David felt that he had already demonstrated his willingness to not take matters in his own hand to become king. However, our victory over an area last week or last month does not mean we are going to easily conquer that area the next time it comes up.
Most of us know what it's like to have been tempted and came so close to falling, but to say no to the temptation. When David saw King Saul’s army that night as they surrounded their king, a strange series of events ensued. He asked Ahimelech and Abishai, “who will go down into the camp with me to Saul”.
Abishai quickly said, “ I’ll go with you.” David and Abishai were only two men against 3,000 trained warriors. What could they possibly hope to accomplish? As they headed into the camp, they had to get all the way to the center of the camp to reach Saul, because the army was surrounding him. To their amazement, most of the soldiers were asleep along the path they chose. They finally reached the center of the camp.
There lay King Saul, sleeping. David looked at him, the person who had dedicated his life to trying to kill David. There lay the man that caused him to live on the run, out in the desert instead of enjoying life. With Saul out of the way David could become the next King of Israel. He could move into the palace, give his wife the kind of life he felt she deserved to have, and become what God had told him he would be. He could have gained so many of the things he must have longed for. All it would have taken was one stroke of the spear. To make the temptation even greater, a voice whispered to him from the lips of Abishai, “ Can’t you see that today, God has delivered your enemy into your hands. The time is ripe. You don’t have to do anything. Just let me pin him to the ground with my spear. I will not have to strike him twice and there won’t be a sound from him.” Abishai was ready to get rid of King Saul at a moment’s notice. (Notice too that He said God was on his side). "God has opened this door of opportunity for you.”
David must have been sorely tempted to take matters into his own hands. After all, this was an opportunity that probably would not come again. However, David chose to believe that if God had anointed him king then God was able to make him king without him compromising his faith. It meant a little longer wait out in that miserable desert, a smaller "paycheck", a smaller house, and giving up the right to get back at someone who had hurt him very badly. David told Abishai, “Look, don’t put your hand on him because God chose him to be king and God will remove him when the time is right. God forbid that I will lay my hand upon him. Just take his spear and his jug of water and let’s go.” That they did and they made their way out of the camp.
Again David made a life-giving decision, by sparing the life of King Saul. The reason they made it into the camp and out of it alive is that the Lord had brought about this situation as a test for David. Verse 12 tells us it was the Lord who had caused all of the soldiers to fall into a deep sleep. The only reason David took the spear and jug of water was to try to convince Saul once again, that even though the opportunity had presented itself, he still would not lay his hand against the King.
This was the last time King Saul pursued David, but not because of a change on Saul’s part. David went to the land of the Philistines and Saul was afraid to pursue him there. Not long afterwards King Saul lost his life in battle with the Philistines. God, being faithful and true to His word, made David King over Israel without David having to murder anyone.
God has anointed us to be His servants in His Kingdom. Each of us faces different circumstances and trials. "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you". 1 Peter 4:12 [NIV] Our Lord knows what we are going through. Not only does He know the trials we go through, but He has already seen us coming out victorious on the other side. There is a right time for the Lord to provide us with what we need and what He has promised to give us. Satan wants us to seek it NOW. God’s way is always going to be the best way. In light of this, whatever our problems may be today, let’s make up our minds to let the Lord bring about a solution and do it His way.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrAafe7Mns
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