Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of those who say, ‘David seeks to do you harm’? This very day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you into my hand in the cave, and some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed.” I Samuel 24:9-10

David had the opportunity to kill Saul.

David had the backing of his supporters to kill Saul.

David had the motivation to kill Saul.

David had justification to kill Saul.

David had political and military rationale to kill Saul.

What David didn’t have, was God’s blessing and permission to kill Saul.

This encounter between David and Saul in I Samuel is a powerful story that has a lot of application for us today. We can have all the right to do something but unless we do it under the leadership of the LORD then it becomes only revenge. David respected Saul, not as a man known for his character or leadership but as God’s anointed king. David trusted God to act on his behalf in the right time. “I have not sinned against you, though you are hunting me to take my life. May the LORD judge between me and you! May the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.” (24:11b-13)

G. Wells wrote that “If there is no God, nothing matters. If there is a God, nothing else matters.” David could have easily justified his actions in the court of human opinion but he knew he could never justify it before God. It is easy to justify any action, belief or activity unless we are truly seeking to glorify God in all situations. Like David’s response to Saul, we live in an age when the world needs to see us not desiring revenge, but trusting fully in God’s timing and response to handle every circumstance.

David would be king and he knew it, because he had been promised the role and anointed by Samuel. Yet now he finds himself living in caves and running for his life. It seems as if God had abandoned him until this moment when it looks like the tide had turned in his favor and he could get rid of his enemy. He could have become impatient and hurried up the process. He could have decided that God needed some help to make his kingship happen. However, David knew his kingship wouldn’t be on his timetable, but on God’s.  “May the LORD therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you. May he see to it, and plead my cause, and vindicate me against you.” (24:15)

I can listen to the news and begin to think there is no hope. I can think of a million ways how God should handle the problems in our world. I can get frustrated and anxious, or I can let God handle life since He has a lot more knowledge and experience than me. Watchman Nee expresses well what the world needs from us today.

“A day must come in our lives, as definite as the day of our conversion, when we give up all right to ourselves and submit to the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ…There must be a day when, without reservation, we surrender everything to Him—ourselves, our families, our possessions, our business and our time. All we are and have becomes His, to be held henceforth entirely at His disposal. From that day we are no longer our own masters, but only stewards. Not until the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a settled thing in our hearts can the Holy Spirit really operate effectively in us. He cannot direct our lives until all control of them is committed to Him. If we do not give Him absolute authority in our lives, He can be present, but He cannot be powerful. The power of the Spirit is stayed.”

David could have taken events into his own hands but at what cost to his future? We can take our life events into our hands but at what cost? However, when we put our trust in God, we can know there is a hope and future for us. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor 2:9)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn