Pause. Really?

By: Monique Smith

The more I read about David, the more I admire him! David is amazing! David and his faithfulness to his earthly master, commitment to living a life for Christ, and his trust in the Lord is so great! I just finished reading 1 Samuel 26 where the title in my Bible says, “David Again Spares Saul”. That phrase inspired the name of this devotional. Because I honestly had to pause and think about what that meant. I knew that David spared Saul’s life earlier in Chapter 24^th ….and I just Knewww Saul wasn’t after David AGAIN but indeed, he was.

In quick summary of the text, Saul has been on the chase to kill David because of the jealous spirit that has taken over him. David left the area where Saul was, but Saul sent out messengers to seek out where David was hiding, so he could kill him.

1 Samuel 24:4- “…Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.” So kind of contrary to the devotional Fred wrote earlier in the week, the Lord actually gave David the privilege to revenge his enemy! But David, still stayed true to the scripture in Romans 12:19 with what he said in 1 Samuel 24:12- “May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you”. Isn’t that crazy! Like, God GAVE David the opportunity to get Saul back from being evil to him, but David refused to take that opportunity because he knew that God had placed Saul over him as his earthly lord. Whooowee! On top of that, after Saul escaped scotch free the first time, homeboy STILL wanted to kill David. So on the second time Saul was after David, the Lord once again gave David the opportunity to kill Saul, but David did not take it! He again remained loyal to Saul and did not harm him! Wow wow wow! I know if that was me, things may not have spanned out like that. I mean, David did have the “right” to kill Saul, but he did not! As Fred said, there Is NO FUTURE in hating someone that’s always loving you….and surely Saul’s future was not so bright in his hatred towards David. (Find out more by reading the remainder of 1 Samuel = ) )

Prayer: Lord thank you! You are the bomb! We love you and we adore you! God, give us the self-control of David that we witnessed in this text! Allow us to honor and respect all those on earth who are placed in charge of us, regardless of the fact that they may treat us poorly or even try to “kill us” figuratively. Lord continue to protect us and show us your faithfulness and remind us how pleased you are with us when we act righteously! Love you DADDY! In Jesus name, Amen!