1 Samuel 19-24
David's winning streak continued, but now Saul was no longer happy and no one celebrated because everyone knew that Saul hated David. Saul was possessed by an evil spirit. That's why he couldn't lead a normal life. His actions were unpredictable. Suddenly Saul threw his spear at David again. It was becoming increasingly dangerous and uncomfortable to stay near Saul. David saved himself again and went to his house.
Saul increased the pressure on David and had David's house guarded in order to kill him the next morning. But his daughter Michal saw the danger and helped her husband David escape in the night. Then David came to Samuel. David had no refuge in Israel.
Saul sent his messengers to Samuel to arrest David. But they got excited. Then three more messengers were sent. All the messengers became so ecstatic that they could not do anything. Finally Saul himself came, but he also fell into ecstasy. Now Saul finally had to give up because it was clear that God was with David. God himself protected David from Saul, and thus from certain death. But when the king is against you, there is no longer any support for David among the people. And so began a true odyssey for David. He no longer knew who to trust. He was only sure about Jonathan. In him he had found a true friend. And initially he still hoped that Jonathan, as the king's son, would be able to influence Saul. But Saul's negative spiritual development was already so advanced that he even turned against his own son.
So David's flight to Samuel is the beginning of the time when David was on the run from Saul for several years. Various commentators and expositors put the time of his flight from Saul at just over seven years. And David didn't just make good godly choices on that flight. But his heart was for God, and that humility I talked about in my last post was an integral part of David's relationship with God. For me, this is expressed most clearly in the encounter between David and Saul in the cave of En-Gedi. 1 Samuel 24
Imagine this situation, you have been on the run from your adversary for several years. And then a huge army appears in the valley and you only have to flee into a cave. And while you hide in the furthest and darkest corners, your adversary comes in, alone to defecate. So David literally has Saul in front of him with his pants down. In this situation, every man is the most vulnerable. There would have been no resistance at all. And David's confidants see a sign from God in this situation and urge David to kill Saul. From a purely human point of view, David's reaction to this was absolutely incomprehensible. For instead of finally getting rid of his adversary, David stands in front of Saul and against his men. And this is where I see the true greatness of this man. For he replies to the men "how could I lay my hand on the anointed of the Lord". It was unthinkable for David to kill Saul since he was the anointed and installed king of God. Even though Saul was already outside of God's blessing, it was unthinkable for David to kill Saul in this way. In purely human terms, killing Saul would probably have been accepted by the Israelites. For David was not just anyone, but he was the one who killed Goliath and fought many successful battles. Sparing his greatest enemy and thus forgoing the end of his escape shows the true greatness of this man. There is so much humility and trust in it that God will do it right that I can't find the words for it. I wish us all growth in that trust and humility in God's dealings.
"True greatness is in the attitude".
Comments