“But God is my helper…”
Life is not meant to be lived “on your own”. It is a blessing to realize that your ship of state needs help – God’s help, not just to save it from shipwreck, but to keep it on the right course.
Wheat and the tares (1 Samuel 23)
Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!”
“The LORD bless you,” Saul said.
Saul’s heart was far from God, and had been for a long time. Yet he freely invokes a divine blessing on David’s betrayers, as if their actions (as well as his own) were pleasing to the Lord, and deserving of his favor.
The wheat and the tares have always grown up together.
Eternal justice (Psalm 52)
“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?’
Doeg the Edomite slaughtered the eighty-five priests of Nob who, as the scripture points out, were in their priestly garments when the atrocity occurred. No matter that it was done at the king’s command, it was a great evil.
It seems all too often the case that justice is thwarted here on this earth. But the living God is a God of eternal justice. No one gets away with anything.
Wonderful indeed (Psalm 142)
“You are all I really want in life.”
If this is really where your heart is, then the promises of God are wonderful indeed. For then He promises to watch over you, to direct your steps when you don’t know the way, to protect you when you need protecting, to give meaning and purpose to your daily life.
Step outside (Psalm 57)
“I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.”
David was in a very precarious position, running from the king who was out to kill him, hiding in a cave hoping to lose his pursuers.
He could easily have been so drained by this situation that there was no emotional strength left to pray, no ability to “step outside” his circumstances, so to speak, and consider them from God’s eternal perspective. But somehow he was able to, and this psalm of confidence and trust is a testimony to that.
Breathtaking (1 Samuel 22)
“So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the priests’ families —men and women, children and babies —and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.”
This is undoubtedly one of the most breathtaking acts of evil recorded in the scriptures. And Doeg was carrying out the orders of Saul – the king of Israel!
He has promised (Psalm 56)
“I praise God for what he has promised;
yes, I praise the LORD for what he has promised.”
What has the Lord promised that calls for such praise?
Has he promised us a life without problems? No, but is that really the goal —a life with no problems, no difficulties, no challenges at all?
What other god (Psalm 34)
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
What other god, ancient or modern, is described like this?
These tactics (1 Samuel 21)
“The king has sent me on a private matter,” David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here.”
David was on the run from Saul, who was out to kill him. Here he lies to Ahimelech the priest in order to conceal that fact, and possibly in an effort to protect Ahimelech and his family. Later, he acts like a man insane before the king of Achish, so as not to be discovered.
The scripture is silent concerning God’s opinion of these tactics. Ultimately, truth is not relative, yet God works in and through the choices that we humans make.
He was not jealous (1 Samuel 20)
So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, saying, “May the LORD destroy all your enemies!” And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
Jonathan knew that David was the Lord’s anointed, and would soon be king over all Israel. And even though Jonathan was the king’s son, and heir to the throne, he was not jealous of David — he loved him unselfishly.
