Devotionary

As 1 Samuel 26:1-12 will reveal, sometimes the best way to learn how to live a godly life is by watching those who live ungodly. Saul, his life marked by foolishness and characterized by ungodliness will provide David with a lesson on how NOT to be a king.

Women stroked David’s ego, providing him with satisfaction and a feeling of significance. His conquest of them provided him with a sense of power and control. But they were a distraction in his life, keeping him from fully placing his hope and trust in God.

David could try to save his own honor or let God do it for him. He could seek revenge or allow God to enact vengeance – according to His terms and on His timeline. But, like David, we all find ourselves wrestling with the subtle snare of self-salvation.

Nabal had pushed all the right buttons to get the man after God’s own heart to respond in an ungodly way. But Abigail would preserve the life of her foolish husband and protect the integrity of David’s name by giving wise and godly counsel.

God would use Nabal’s wife to protect David from committing murder and provide a timely lesson on how to deal with the fool in his own life: King Saul. David was going to learn that the best way to deal with a fool is to leave them in the hands of God.

Nabal shows up at just the right time, providing an incredibly important insight into the heart of King Saul. They were both fools. And David was going to get some helpful pointers on how to deal with a fool, straight from Nabal’s wife.

In 1 Samuel 24:11-12, we get a small glimpse into David's heart. Missing are any hints of hatred. He doesn’t rail on Saul or shake his fist in the face of God. Instead, he placed his fate in the hands of God. Because he shared His heart.

David will find himself face-to-face with his arch-nemesis, King Saul, and provided with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eliminate this thorn in his side once and for all. But there’s only one problem: David doesn’t have permission from God.

Just when it looks like Saul has David backed into a corner, God steps in. At first glance, it looks like little more than a coincidence. But God is there, proving His power and assuring David of His ongoing presence ­– even in the worst of times.

David was a type of Christ, a man chosen by God to be king over His people and provide salvation from their enemies. Yet, like Jesus, David would find himself rejected by his own people.

David couldn’t believe what he had heard. He was shocked at the ungodly actions of the man who was supposed to be the shepherd of Israel. But through it all, David was learning some costly, yet invaluable lessons about trusting God.

God had removed His Spirit from Saul and his ability to see things from a godly perspective had vanished. All that remained was a life of pervasive self-pity and paranoia. He had disobeyed God and was now experiencing what it was like to live without Him.

God’s preparation of David to ascend to the throne was going to be filled with difficult days and even more difficult people to manage. But David was going to learn to trust God. His increasing responsibilities were going to make him ever-more dependent upon God for wisdom, strength and direction.

David had his doubts. He let his outer circumstances determine his outlook on God. He saw his trials as evidence of God’s absence and his own need to take matters into his own hands. But God had not left him and God was not done with him.

David had to resort to lies and deception to get what he needed. This was early on in the fugitive stage of his training with God and David had not yet learned the invaluable lesson of relying upon the strength of God. But in time, he would.