David on the Run

Opening Story

Romanian pastor who swindled American short-term missionaries

We can use conflate divine providence and divine permission

David’s Test

Background

David’s courage vs. Goliath delivers Saul

Also makes paranoid Saul jealous

David has to flee for his life

I Samuel 24:2-22

So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Resisting the Temptation

Saul has tried to kill David. He sees opportunities as God’s provision to kill David.

eg. “Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”

Tables are turned and David has the same temptation - Is it God’s will for him to kill Saul?

His men think so: The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” - scripture records no such promise

David has been anointed king and can only become king when Saul is dead. Also self defense. David can rationalize

David refuses to interpret this way.

He understands his place, Saul’s and God’s. God will be judge not David.

He understands that God is merciful

Putting it Into Practice

How do we develop the wisdom to discern God’s will or not in the opportunities we have?

Knowing the Story

We must know the God revealed in the story

Reading Bible, allowing it to shape our view of the world, read for transformation

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rm 2:12).

We can justify just about anything using the Bible. We need to understand the big-picture heart of God expressed in scripture. Then we will know.

Jesus also demonstrates this: Satan offers his opportunities during temptation, and even offers him scriptural justification, but Jesus understands God’s broader purposes and so resists temptation.

Seeking Godly Counsel

We face additional danger when we have opportunity to get something we really want

Desire is the engine that drives self-deception

eg. God wants me to be happy. This person, not my wife, makes me happy, therefore, God must want me to be with her. (FALSE!)

We tend to shape our view of what is right and wrong by what we want

We need the wise counsel of Godly people, especially when we have important decisions that touch on deep desires.

The counsel of others, who are not caught up in our emotional world, can give us necessary wisdom

eg. In next chapter, David is insulted by Nabal. In rage, he vows to kill all men in Nabal’s household. Abigail, Nabal’s wife, hears of insult and rushes to David to offer wise counsel. She talks him down from murder:

30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”

32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.

Abigail confronts David’s rage with reason and so dissuades David from Sin.

Conclusion

Some opportunities come as expression of God’s will. Some come as a test of wisdom and character