What fear and failure can do

Sometimes the best reflection is done in the company of others who have experienced the very events that are described in the texts of Scripture. Read on...

After I finished preaching a message recently on the life of David, a gentleman came to me in the foyer and shared a painful experience that validated what I have just labored to communicate to the congregation. I had preached on the details of I Samuel 26, particularly the events surrounding David's sparing of Saul in the encampment, when He and Abishai could have killed Saul where he lay. In fact, the text seems to indicate that it was the Lord who had providentially caused Saul's soldiers to remain asleep while David and his cohort sneaked quietly through the camp.

It is clear from the text that David is fatigued, that he is wearied from the long period of running; but what may not be grasped so easily is how much that pressure could have led him to take his "opportunity" as a gift from God and take Saul out for good. If not David's own nature, then Abishai, who says in fact, "I won't need to take a second shot... one swipe and he's done." 

But the amazing thing here is-- that he didn't, when it would have been so easy. God was guiding David, helping him in ways most of us can not fully understand, to maintain his spiritual footing, to see the bigger picture, and to trust God for his future. 

Now, the gentleman with whom I was talking said that he understood perfectly the situation. Having been involved in one of America's longest standing conflict, when ambushed on a road and under heavy attack by the enemy, the inclination he said, was to respond in kind... to seek out the enemy, military or civilian, and indiscriminately take out his vengeance on whoever they found and wherever they could. In his case, they were restrained by the words of a commander who knew, maybe more than we do, that this kind of retaliation could only prove detrimental to their immediate state and their future cause. But the point here is to understand the pressure David was under and just how much we should pay attention to God's leading in any and all situations we face. How hard it is to trust the Lord when our emotions are enraged and our bodies fatigued, but it remains our challenge. 

Till we talk again,

Dr. C