To Encourage You

1 Samuel 23:1-4 “Now they told David, ‘Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.’ Therefore David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.’ But David’s men said to him, ‘Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?’  Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.’

1 Samuel 23:7-9 “Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, ‘God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.’ And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.”

Are you a person who is self-confident?  Are you sure of yourself as you face each day?  Do you know what you’re doing, and generally trust in your own skill, intelligence, and other personal resources as you face the challenges of life? And if these things are true of you, is that a good thing? 

It’s those questions that came to my mind as I’ve been reading the accounts of David’s life in 1 Samuel 23.  It’s part of the portion of God’s Word that addresses David’s flight from the threats of King Saul.  In his jealous rage, Saul “sought (David) every day” (vs 14). He was on a mission to kill David, and it consumed his life.  It is interesting to note that as he closed in on David in the accounts in this chapter, he said “God has given him into my hand.” He was sure of this!  Circumstances were such that he had great confidence in the outcome.  As king, he had the position, the power, and the knowledge of David’s circumstances, so he was sure of his success.  And he thought that this all proved that God was on his side. Yet, in all of this, he never asked the Lord for His opinion.  He was self-confident, but it was the “self” in this term that defined his life. He was self-willed, self-obsessed, self-focused, and self-centered in every way.  He was one so aptly described by the phrase “often wrong, but never in doubt!”

By contrast, we see the opposite traits in David.  Though he knew that God was for him, though he, without a shadow of a doubt, knew that God had anointed him to assume Israel’s throne, his typical “modus operandi” was to consult the Word of the Lord and pray to God before he did anything.  Some examples in this chapter were the ways he sought the Lord about rescuing the city of Keilah from the Philistines. It made sense to him, but should he actually do it?   First, he would seek the Lord. Then, upon delivering Keilah, he sought the Lord regarding whether he should stay there. It seemed like a safe place, this walled city with gates and bars, but was it? So again, rather than trust his own wits, he sought the Lord.  As he did this, he learned that Saul would soon pursue him there and the people whom he had just delivered from the Philistines would betray him and turn him over to Saul (vs 9-12). So, David, wisely, fled (vs 13). And so it went, as “Saul sought (David) every day, but God did not give him into his hand” (vs 14). 

Saul’s plans, then, were constantly frustrated as he trusted in himself but failed to seek the Lord Whom he so ignorantly assumed was on his side.  David, on the other hand, was one who knew to “Trust in the Lord with all (his) heart, and (not to) lean on (his) own understanding.” David was one who so wisely knew that if “in all (his) ways (he) acknowledged (God, then God would) make straight (his) paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

So what about you and what about me? Do we go off in our every-day life “half-cocked,” only ever partly ready and poorly prepared, or do we seek the Lord no matter how things look to us, knowing that our own hearts can be deceitful, but we serve a God Who is omniscient and Who has promised to guide us when we seek and acknowledge Him in all our ways. 

May God help us to read His Word daily, and pray about everything, even the little things for which we might foolishly be tempted to go our own way.  May we seek the One Who has so wonderfully told us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

All praise to His wonderful name!