Week 16 Devotions

April 16 - - When David became convinced that Saul was going to kill him, he fled for his life. At first, he traveled to Ramah to live with his spiritual mentor, Samuel (I Samuel 19:18-24). When Saul sent soldiers to Ramah, David fled from there and eventually found refuge in the land of the Philistines. In order to convince the Philistines in Gath that he was no threat to them, David acted like a madman (I Sam.21:10-15). David later left Gath and made his temporary home in the cave at Adullam (I Sam.22:1). By this time, David had been on the run from Saul for a few years. David regularly pleaded with God to save him (Psalm 142; 57), and David never lost faith in God’s protection. In fact, that which distinguished David from Saul was David’s constant desire to know what God’s will was. Saul got in trouble because he couldn’t wait upon the Lord (I Sam.13:7b-14; 15:10-25). On the other hand, David leaned heavily on the Lord for God’s instructions (I Sam.23:1-4,6,9-12). God’s guiding hand of protection was upon David because David sought the Lord. David genuinely wanted to know God’s heart and God’s will for David’s life (Acts 13:22; I Sam. 13:14). How much do we want to know God’s will for our lives? When we pray and seek God’s will, are we patient while waiting for Him to show us the way, or do we go ahead and do what we really want to do anyway? It takes faith to “wait upon the Lord”, but those who do so, have been promised a supernatural strength as they depend upon God’s supernatural wisdom (Isaiah 40:31). Saul lost the kingdom because he couldn’t wait upon the Lord. David gained the kingdom because he did wait upon the Lord. Would you prefer to go through life basing your decisions upon your own limited and finite knowledge or basing your decisions upon God’s omniscience? Are you content with the temporary rewards that can be achieved through your own strength or would you prefer the eternal rewards gained from God’s eternal riches? The choice is ours. So, are the consequences. April 19 - - David was at one time, a fugitive, fleeing from Saul in order to save his own life. In the meantime, he had also attracted quite a following to himself. 600 men now looked to David as their leader and many of them had wives and children with them. They were living in the village of Ziklag and one day they had gone out to raid other villages. When they returned to Ziklag, they discovered the village was burned to the ground and their wives and children were gone (I Samuel 30:1&2). The Bible says that David and his men “wept until they could weep no more.” They cried until they had no tears left to cry. When they were finished expressing their sorrow, many of David’s men became angry with him. Even though David had not invited them to join him, but simply allowed them to, many were so angry about losing their wives and children, they began to talk about stoning David. It shouldn’t surprise us how quickly the tide of public opinion can turn against us, but it does. Unlike Saul, David had a close relationship with God. Instead of turning to mediums, David turned to God. The Bible says that “David found strength in the Lord his God” (I Sam.30:6). When we are down, when we are troubled, when we feel like the tide of opinion has turned against us, when we are not sure what to do, where do we go for help? Who do we turn to? David had asked in the Psalms, “I frequently look to the mountains - - but does my help come from there? No, my help comes from the Lord who made the mountains, the heavens, the earth, and everything else in the Universe” (Psalm 121:1&2). David sought comfort in the Lord and David sought direction from the Lord. And God honored David’s desire. “Trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you” (Psalm 37:3-5). David was speaking from experience. The Lord had never let David down. David and his men were told by God to pursue the enemy and they fully recovered all their wives and children. And because David treated those who followed him with dignity, equality, and respect (I Samuel 30:18-31), the Bible says, “day after day more men joined David until he had a great army, like the army of God” (I Chronicles 12:22).