1Samuel Ch.21-31

Saul is in desperate pursuit of David. David is lies to protect himself from Saul by pretending to be insane acting like a madman so that Achish , a Philistine, would spare him. Even though any enemy of Saul was a friend to Philistine people, they were intimidated by David’s strength in killing so many of them in battle. The bible never condones lying. In David’s case, a good soldier must deceive his enemy. However, the Bible makes it very clear that God is against lying. In God’s sight, lying may lead to all sorts of harmful consequences and should be avoided because we may not foresee the painful consequences that result. How many of us tell even a white lie to protect another, or really, ourselves from having to confront with truth? If we are going to lie about the little things, what would prevent us to lie when there are even more severe consequences? A lie is a lie.

Saul had his own priests killed because he suspected conspiracy between Jonathan, David and the priests. Why would God allow 85 innocent priests to be killed? Their deaths served to dramatize to the nation how a king could become an evil tyrant. This holds true for us today. So many of us turn our backs and look the other way when there are people we’ve, as a group, placed in power that clearly have evil motives. I become passionate of the tyrants involved in our health system. Are we to sit back and allow God’s treasures in the form of natural foods being taken away because the government, pharmaceutical industries, and whoever else profits, decides? Should we not look at the motivation behind these decisions? I don’t believe God gave us free will to sit back and do nothing at the sight of sin. I believe we are to fight for what’s good in the eyes of God. Sometimes God allows evil to develop to teach us not to allow evil systems to flourish. We are to honor and respect those God has appointed into leadership roles in government for instance, however, the exception to this rule is that a leader should not pressure us to violate God’s law. God does not promise to protect good from evil in this world, but he does promise that ultimately all evil will be abolished. So what we do while we are here should be a measure of our love and obedience to God. Those who have remained faithful through their trials WILL experience great rewards in the age to come (Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-21). Don’t allow the evil ways of the world to lead your faith astray, trust in God to reveal his plan that is far beyond our imagination.

When making decisions, David sought God’s council BEFORE his actions. Rather than trying to find God’s will after the fact, we should take time to discern God’s will first. Some ways we can hear Him speak is through trusted counsel of others, His word, and the leading of his Spirit in our hearts and take a good look at your circumstances. How many of us have the desire to run our own show and when things don’t work out, back peddle and ask God for help and how to fix it? This wastes time, which is exactly what Satan wants. Satan does not want our true potential to be realized, he enjoys keeping us prisoners of our own perceived short-term happiness and cyclic occurrences of victory and defeat. Saul wanted to kill David so badly that he actually thought when he found out where David was that God was bringing him at Saul’s mercy. Not every opportunity is from God. We need to be careful of our tendencies to control situations to get what we want. We may want something so much that we assume it’s from God. An opportunity that is clearly against God’s will, which can be checked against his word, will NEVER come from God. This doesn’t mean he can’t turn beauty from darkness; He often turns the devil’s harm on us to good through his mercy. When an opportunity comes your way, check it more than once and make sure you are following God’s desires and not just your own.

David spares Saul’s life when Saul was brought to the hands of David. “Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord’s anointed…From evildoers come evil deeds, so my hand will not touch you…When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed?” (1Samuel 24:6-19) The life of David demonstrated that he was God’s kind of King, whereas Saul was man’s kind of King. David was a man after the heart of God, and Saul was a man after people’s approval and praise, David was courageous and Saul was fearful.

After battle, David and his men needed food and asked Nabal, a wealthy man in Maon who had more than enough to spare and help, but he didn’t want share even after he was protected by David’s vigilance. Nabal’s wife Abigail, was and intelligent and beautiful woman who was more capable than her husband Nabal. God teaches us to be generous with those who protect us and help us prosper, even if we are not obligated. Harm was to come to Nabel for his wickedness, and Abigail went to David and spoke. David replied, “Praise be to the Lord, who has sent you today to meet me, may you be blessed for your good judgment, and from keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.” (1Samuel25:32) If David had ignored Abigail’s message, he would have been guilty of taking vengeance into his own hands. No matter how right we think we are, we must always be careful to stop and listen to others, it may prevent pain and trouble in the long run. Abigail showed good timing when she had confrontations with her husband and others. When discussing difficult matters with people, especially close family and friends, timing is everything. Ask God for wisdom to know that best time for confrontation. This may be helpful in preventing harmful words or actions in anger being given to those we love.

Saul banned all spiritists and mediums (those who consult the dead) from Israel, but in desperation he turned to one for counsel. There are many of these types of people living among us and I have seen a few of them by “accident”, and saw first handedly the damage and destruction that it causes: a downward spiral of fear, doubt and confusion. I believe with all my heart that because internally I was fighting to know God and taking baby steps to read his word and be obedient, Satan was sending his best to lure me away. He attacked me in sleep and sent people that spoke some truth but ultimately had evil motives. The devil knew that the only way I would give it a second thought is if they came to me proclaiming they were believers of God. The devil is the greatest deceiver and Pastor Miles McPherson said in one of his services, that the best lies have some truth in them. By the grace of God, these spiritists that entered my life have lost any power they may have once had. The mind games and illusions have vanished. When the devil lies to us, the way to know it’s a lie in the first place is to first know the truth, God’s word. Saul turned to the occult. Let life’s difficulties and obstacles push you to God to depend on Him, turning to anything or anyone else leads only to disaster. God strictly forbids us to have anything to do with sorcery, witchcraft, mediums, spiritists, or anyone who consults the dead (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). People would turn to the occult for answers God would not give. Satan and demons is the source of information for practitioners of the occult. GOD DOES NOT REVEAL HIS WILL TO THEM. GOD USES HIS OWN CHANNELS: The Bible, his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes people wonder why their prayers are not answered. If we don’t fulfill the responsibilities God has already given, we shouldn’t be surprised when he doesn’t give further guidance.