Month: August 2023

1 Samuel 26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: returned, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

After David had shown Saul that he could have killed him but refrained, Saul showed repentance and confessed his sin. He confessed that he sinned, played the fool, and erred exceedingly. It was genuine repentance alright, but it came after he was caught. We easily confess after being convicted of sin and guilt, but of course, it would have been better to repent before getting caught. Therefore, we repent daily.

But what actually motivated Saul to confess and repent was seeing the grace and kindness of David in not killing him when he had the opportunity. He saw that “his soul was precious in David’s eyes.” David had shown mercy to King Saul: “I was precious to you.” The conviction of the Gospel is an even greater motivator than the Law: “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance [Romans 2:4].” Not only was Saul caught and convicted of his sinful, foolish error, but he was also moved by the compassion and mercy of David. David “heaped coals of fire upon the head” of his sworn enemy. [Romans 12:20].

When we hear and understand the Gospel we are moved by the Spirit to genuine repentance, true faith, and great j

1Samuel 26:11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go..

For the second time, David refused to kill Saul who was pursuing him to kill him. David entered into the camp where Saul and his men were sleeping. Abishai wanted to kill Saul with his own spear, thinking that God gave them this opportunity. But David forbid him, saying he would not touch the Lord’s anointed.

God placed Saul in power and had not yet removed him. David did not want to run ahead of God’s timing. It took remarkable faith and patience for David to restrain himself and Abishai from doing what it seemed like God was approving. David’s heart for God was stronger than his human desire for vengeance and even for self-defense. David left Saul’s destiny in God’s hands.

Trusting God to work all things together for our good does not come naturally. It is a supernatural gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing God’s will

1 Samuel 25:34-35 For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hast hasted and come to meet me, surely there had been nothing left to Nabal….So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

Nabal, a rich man, had refused to help David’s men when they came and asked for it. When David heard the report, he was ready to bring his men and take vengeance upon Nabal. But Abigail, Nabal’s wife, came to David bearing many gifts, begging mercy that David would not attack Nabal and his men.

David stopped long enough to listen to Abigail’s plea. If he had ignored her he would have been guilty of taking vengeance into his own hands. No matter how right we think we are, we should be careful to stop and listen to others. The effort can save us trouble. He listened to her and accepted her gifts, and he did not attack Nabal.

As it turned out, Nabal died a few days later, and David took Abigail as his wife. But it was Abigail’s begging for mercy that saved her husband and prevented David from taking vengeance. We also would do well to stop and listen to others. Taking a little time to listen may save trouble later.

Abigail is to be commended for her thoughtful response to the threat that David posed. She brought gifts, but pleaded with David and begged for mercy. This is our stance before God: we come as beggars begging for mercy. We bring gifts to God, the gifts of Jesus’ blood and merit. But this gift is first given to us by God Himself. Our faith pleads the blood of Christ. For Christ’s sake, God is merciful and stays the punishment we deserve. And He ends up marrying us.

1 Samuel 24:11-12 I have not sinned against thee….The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee; but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

After refusing to kill Saul when he had the chance, David met Saul, showed him the skirt he cut off, and said he spared his life. Even Saul had to admit that David was a better man than he. David believed that it would be a sin to take his life. And he believed that the Lord would see that justice is done in His way and in His time. He would let go and let God. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” saith the Lord.

It is a natural human sinful tendency to take matters into our hands and see that justice is done. But honestly, it is revenge, getting even, we care more about than justice per se. We get hurt and we think we will feel better if we get back. It is hard to believe that the Lord will take our pain and anger, and that He will put things to rights. It is not easy to trust God to take care of us and do it right.

David’s heart for the Lord was stronger than his human will. He said, “The Lord will judge between us and avenge me.” The Holy Spirit uses the Gospel to convince us to believe and respond in this way. We give it to God and He works it out.

1 Samuel 24:6-7 And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

While pursuing David to kill him, Saul went into a cave where David and his men were hiding to relieve himself. By all human reckoning it would seem that God was giving David the opportunity to save himself by killing his enemy. At least, that’s what David’s men thought. It could be argued that this would be self-defense and he had had every to take Saul’s life.

However, David feared the Lord rather than lean on his own understanding. Therefore, he would not take matters into his own hands and use violence to right a wrong. The heart of the Lord and the will of God was far more important than his own feelings and human will. He would not touch the Lord’s anointed. David was anointed, too, but he would patiently wait for God’s timing.

It requires faith to leave it up to God and wait patiently for Him to fulfill His will for us in His way and in His time.

1 Samuel 23:16, 18 And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God…And the two made a covenant before the Lord:

Saul was still pursuing David with intent to kill him, when Jonathan met with David, on the run. The two were such close friends they even made a covenant with each other before the Lord. Their bond of fellowship was so strong that Jonathan give heart, strength, and courage to David, even though he was a fugitive on the run for his life. It is odd that he would be close friends with the son of his enemy.

We can trust the Lord to send some fellow Christian into our lives to give us strength and encouragement when we need it. The fellowship of Christian love is more important than we often realize. Our response in the Church is twofold: 1) look for those friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, who are able to comfort and encourage us in the Lord, and 2) look for others in need whom we have opportunity to comfort and encourage.

We note that this mutual strengthening is in the Lord. It is not merely human ideas and psychological knowledge, but it is using the truth of God’s Word and the wisdom of God’s Love to encourage one another. Believe the promise that He will not leave us alone, but He provides people to be strengthened and people to strengthen us. We will find fellow believers who either need our encouragement or can give us encouragement. This is God’s gift of the “mutual consolation and conversation of the brethren.”

1 Samuel 23:7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.

Instead of inquiring of the Lord, praying, and trusting, Saul presumed that God gave him the opportunity to find and kill David. He was so hell-bent on murder that he was so blinded. He assumed that God was on his side because of his own pride and stubborn will, refusing to pray, “Thy will be done.” His murderous intent (which was obviously not God’s will) caused him to falsely think that God approved of his plan.

And when the opportunity presented itself his own will saw God in it. Saul said, “God has delivered David into my hands.” It is an interesting phenomena that we see what we want to see. Sin may be so driving us so that we even see God approving of sin. As ridiculous as it sounds, we also can be so deceived that we think God is confirming our sinful and selfish intent.

It is not as easy as it should be to discern the difference between God’s will and my will. Therefore, we pray daily, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” The Gospel moves us to surrender our will to God’s will. We need help seeing life from God’s point of view.

1 Samuel 23:2, 4-5 Therefore David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and fight these Philistines?….Then David enquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him….So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines.

David, as a man after God’s own heart, sought to know the will of God before important matters. He asked the Lord what He wanted him to do. He trusted God to guide him, rather than going ahead in his own pride and presumption. He was humble enough to know that God knew better than He did, what to do.

The Lord answered David, and said he should go up against the Philistines for He would be with him to deliver the enemy into his hand. So David fought the Philistines and smote them with a great slaughter. David could have presumed upon his own strength and wisdom to go into battle, but he was humble enough to ask the Lord about it first.

We don’t have to ask God about every little decision, but it is good and proper to pray about many things before jumping into them just because we feel like it. Of course, it requires humility and faith to inquire of the Lord and expect Him to answer our prayer. If the Lord is in a thing, it works out. If not, not so much.

1 Samuel 19:9-10 And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand. and Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

A psychological axiom says, “Pain always produces anger.” The Bible says, “Whoso hates his brother is a murderer.” The heinous sin of murder stems from anger in the heart. David had slain Goliath, which resulted in a great victory for Israel. This event caused Saul’s pride to be hurt from fear of losing his popularity and position. This perceived pain, real or imagined, caused Saul’s anger, which drove him him to thoughts of murder, and then to the attempted murder itself. His emotions were exacerbated by the evil spirit from the Lord, which deceived him into thinking it was the right thing to do and that he could get away with it.

By the spirit living within, we are enabled to be humble and to forgive. We even pray for such help in the Lord’s Prayer. Humility, repentance, and forgiveness deals with the pain and hurt before it leads to the sin of anger and murder. For this reason, daily humility, repentance, forgiveness, and prayer is necessary, for no one is going to go through life very long without pain caused by something or someone. In this way the Spirit stops the chain of events leading to actual attempted murder.

The lesson for us is that what happened to Saul can happen to us. We are not exempt from pain, anger, and murder.

1Samuel 18:8-9 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

It appeared to Saul that David was more popular in eyes of the people than Saul. The main cause for his continued animosity toward David was the song of the people, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” This popularity stirred up jealousy and rage in Saul, and he became afraid that David would take over the kingship. From that day he “eyed” David with suspicion.

In proud arrogance and fear he became unreasonably enraged against David, so much so that he tried to kill him, and then pursued him for months. Anger and jealousy opened the door for an evil spirit to come upon him. David had soothed Saul with his music, his son, Jonathan, loved David, and his daughter married David. Yet with all this working for him, Saul developed a demoniacal rage, simply because his pride was offended, his jealousy aroused, and his position threatened.

Sin increases many times over beginning from hurt feelings, often stemming from self-centeredness. Sin happens, but we would do well to admit sin early and, with the Spirit and the Gospel, stop the chain of destructive feelings and behavior.