To Encourage You

1 Samuel 21:10-15 “And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands”?’ And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?’”

Have you ever noticed how often the Bible tells Christians to live a life of humility? For example, in Romans 12:16 it says this: “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” In 1 Peter 5:5 we have this: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” And in Philippians 2:3-4 we are commanded to “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” But do you realize how hard it is to actually do this?  Do you realize that because of our overweening pride it can be virtually impossible to do such a thing in our own strength?  Philippians 2 goes on to say that we are to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Here we have described the supreme example of humility. Here was one Who was infinitely higher than us, the One Who is equal with God the Father, yet, Who emptied Himself to be a servant of not only God the Father, but also of us (recall, for example, how He stooped to wash the disciple’s feet), people whom He had created from the literal dust of the earth.  Such humiliation is a supernatural thing.  It’s beyond our power to do anything like this. In fact, so often it’s beyond our power to humble our self before other people, beings that are just like us. Therefore, we often must have supernatural help.

In the verses above we have one such example. Here we have David, the one whom God had anointed to be the next king of Israel.  Yet, before his coronation he was pursued night and day by Israel’s current wicked King, Saul. So, what does David do?  He is ultimately forced to leave the land of Israel, and seek refuge with the Philistines, who were Saul’s enemies.  Problem was, they were David’s enemies too! Perhaps he tried to disguise himself. Regardless, the servants of King Achish recognized David as they remarked “Is this not David king of all the land. Isn’t this the one that the women of Israel had extolled with dancing and singing the words, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” Now David finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He had jumped from Saul’s frying pan into Achish’s fire.  So, what does he do?  He feigns madness, scratching the gates and letting spittle run down his beard.  Talk about a place of total and utter humiliation.  Who, looking at David now, would think they were looking at a king?  But it was a forced thing, and the God Who is sovereign over all had allowed it to happen. 

But then we look at Jesus, who was, likewise, humiliated, as it says in the verses from Philippians 2 above.  Look closer at His suffering as He is mocked and beaten, with soldiers spitting in his face (Matthew 26:67). Yet to think that he suffered this humiliation willingly for your sake and mine. Here the one who could have called more than 12 legions of angels to free Him (Matthew 26:53), instead, “although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). 

So, here’s a question: How are things going in your life right now? Are you dealing with trouble that is exposing your weakness? Do you find yourself where you are being humbled rather than exalted by some difficulty in your life? Do you, like the apostle Paul, find that “a thorn (has been) given (to you) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass (you), to keep (you) from becoming conceited” (2 Corinthians 12:7)? Well, if you’re a Christian, it could just be that it is God working in your life to supernaturally humble you, even though you are the child of a King. 

You see, as we look at David in his humiliation and suffering, we see one with whom we can identify, and as we look at his faith in the face of these things, a faith that is expressed in so many of David’s Psalms, we, in turn, can be helped. Even more so, as we look to our great and exalted High Priest in His suffering and humiliation, we know that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Some things to think about as we pass through the valleys of life, valleys of humiliation, but valleys that can equip us to lift one another up like nothing else can.