First Samuel 19-21

God’s message to me: Being chosen of God and serving God does not mean your life will be easy. In point of fact it may make you a target. God can and will protect you from His enemies and use you through adversity if you only continue to do what is right. When your enemies break every rule in the book to get at you, sticking to the rulebook yourself is often the best way to overcome them and win the hearts of those who matter.

Promises: God will provide your needs. When David arrived at the Tabernacle, he needed food and a weapon. The only food available was the show bread which was placed before God and not to be eaten by those outside the priesthood. The priest provided it to him and his men anyway. He also found that the sword of Goliath was kept at the temple. Not exactly a logical place to find it but God certainly placed it where David would find it when he needed it.

Commands: Asking is the best way to find and get what you need and want. God can protect you in battle and out. Running is sometimes the best way to survive. Following David’s activities you can see that God has no problem with people avoiding danger or arming themselves to face it. Remember, God called David a man after His own heart.

Timeless principles: God can reveal the secrets and conspiracies to those who do not see them. David set a simple test which Saul could easily pass. All the king had to do was play along with Jonathan’s deception and wait for David to return but he got so mad that he actually tried to kill Jonathan. Up to that point Jonathan believed David was being paranoid and the king wouldn’t hurt him. After that Jonathan had no doubt his father was out to kill his best friend.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Do the right thing even when it is difficult. Fear is not a sin. Retreat is always an option. Weapons are not evil. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. These may seem cliche but reading this passage you see David living up to all of them.

more to learn for in-depth study: Saul was of two minds when it came to David. One mind understood this young hero had done great things for him and his army and that he should be revered. He was Saul’s son-in-law and his son’s best friend. He was a general in Saul’s army and a famous hero. He was loyal and the only one who could soothe his spirit with the music he played. Unfortunately, Saul’s other mind tended to keep a spear on hand wherever he went and routinely tried to put that spear through David and into the wall behind him. He made a habit of sending others to capture David so he could be executed. This other mind was a mindless homicidal idiot.

God was with David and helped him escape assassination attempts then overwhelmed those who came to find him and turned them to the purpose of the Spirit of God to keep them from fulfilling the kings orders. Luckily for Jonathan, God seemed to make Saul a really bad spear thrower. He not only missed David on more than one occasion, but he also missed when he tried to kill his own son. The part of him that hated David was so strong that he wanted Jonathan dead for being his friend. Saul understood that David would be the next king and, wanting his own dynasty to continue, he thought he could undermine the will of God by killing David.

As I mentioned before, you can see some similarities to the story of Percival in king Arthur’s legend. On the run from Saul, David comes to the temple in search of food and arms. He takes the sword of Goliath which he had taken from the giant’s corpse when he killed him. Running to the king of Gath he found that his war record had given a false perception. People singing that “Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousand” had caused outsiders to believe David was king. Since the king of a country was considered a high value target, David was afraid the former enemies would kill him on the spot and feigned insanity to avoid execution.

tomorrow: First Samuel 22-24