1 Samuel 26-27 Discouragement & Despondency

Once again God gave David an opportunity to prove to Saul that he wasn’t trying to take his life.  God caused a supernatural sleep to come over Saul and his men, allowing David to enter Saul’s camp undetected and retrieve Saul’s spear and water jug.  Once safely away, he called out to Saul and Abner (his army general responsible for Saul’s security) to notice what was missing.  Saul couldn’t be trusted to show the same courtesy to David.

 

There’s a shadow of turning as chapter 27 begins:  “But David thought to himself, ‘Saul will catch me someday.  The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines.’”

 

My commentary said, “God was using the difficulties in David’s life to make him a man of God and to prepare him for the throne, but now he decided to go his own way and solve his own problems.”  David was choosing to leave the Promised Land.  He did continue to raid Israel’s enemies, removing those whom Joshua and his contemporaries had failed to destroy according to Moses’ commands, while telling the Philistine king that he was raiding his own countrymen.  But the years on the run, living in less than ideal conditions, were taking a toll on David, and his thinking to himself was in some ways taking his focus off of what God was doing in his life.

 

Again, from my commentary:  “God’s children must be careful not to yield to despondency.  Moses was discouraged over his heavy workload and wanted to die, and Elijah ran from the place of duty because of fear and discouragement.  When we start to look at God through our circumstances instead of looking at our circumstances through God’s eyes, we will lose faith, patience, and courage, and the enemy will triumph.  ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.’”

 

Father, my heart needed to hear that word this morning.  You know the things that have been dragging on and just recently seemed to stall entirely.  I need to hear Your word on the situation, and I don’t want to lean on my own understanding.  Please guide me exactly in what You want to happen.  Continue to reinforce my patience, and let me not succumb to the soul-numbing aspects of discouragement and despondency.  I want to be doing what You know is best, in Your timing.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford