Dave's Diary

After a week of daily “Holy Week” posts, we resume our journey through the “history books” of the Old Testament and the Book of Psalms.

Daily Readings: 1 Samuel 24 and Psalm 70

In 1 Samuel 24, David is on the run from King Saul who is dead set on killing him. David and his men are hiding from Saul in a cave, when it “just so happens” that Saul enters that very cave to find a private space to relieve himself. This was no coincidence. God was certainly at work arranging this “chance encounter”.

While David’s men interpret it as God handing Saul over to David to kill, it seems more likely that God was giving David an opportunity to extend mercy to Saul in order to invite Saul to repent. God wanted to display David’s godly heart through an act of mercy. And that is exactly what happened.

David did not allow himself to be led by expedience, nor by popular opinion. Instead he seems to have considered the will of God as revealed in Scripture and concluded that he had no right to lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed king. The impact on Saul of David’s decision to spare his life was understandably profound. In v.16 he asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud, saying, “You are more righteous than I.” What a deeply humbling moment for Saul.

Today, we may be faced with situations in which we will have to decide whether or not to pursue an option that is easy and/or popular. While not every easy and popular course of action is wrong, we would be wise to measure all our decisions against what we know of the will of God from Scripture, and from our Spirit-infused consciences. May the Lord the Holy Spirit be our Guide today!

Come Holy Spirit, awaken my conscience and enliven my mind to think Your thoughts and to make decisions that will be pleasing to my Heavenly Father and will bring glory to Your Holy Name. Amen.