In today's reading we see how David is continuing his run from Saul. It's interesting how, along the way, Jonathan even comes to strengthen his friend. "You shall be king over Israel!" he encourages David. "And I will be next to you." Here the rightful heir to the throne is yielding to God's choice, God's heir. What a beautiful picture of humility and honor to God.
I also loved how David and his men were on one side of the mountain and Saul was on the other. Saul almost caught up with David, but then he was called away to another battle, and we are told that they called that mountain, "The Rock of Escape." We have a Rock of Escape as well... that is Christ Jesus our Lord. He stands between us and the enemy. He is our refuge, our hiding place.
One last comment: Saul ends up coming to rest in the very cave where David and his men were hiding. (It must have been a big cave!!!!) Here, David at long last had the opportunity to avenge himself of Saul. He had the opportunity to kill him, and to be finished with this cat and mouse game. And he could do that easily, after all, hadn't God said that HE, David was to be the next king? But no, the integrity of David's heart would not allow him to do any harm to Saul. In fact, he felt troubled that he even cut off a piece of Saul's garment, for he knew that he had touched the king. Wow! The lesson I see from this is that David could have taken things into his own hands. He could have had said, "Finally I can have my way." But instead he said, "No. I only want God's way. Yes, I know He's promised me the Kingdom, but I will not get it through my strength. He must work, He must do things His way!"
What beautiful lessons for our lives today. Humility, integrity, trust... His way, not my way!
[Personal note: Today I am in route to Brisbane Australia (first time to visit this country) where I will be speaking for a prayer conference. And since I will cross the international date-line, I will actually not experience a May 2nd this year. But so as I don't skip any of the daily blog posts, I've posted this in advance. I will be traveling for 8 weeks before I return home to Maryland. After 5 days in Brisbane, I will fly down closer to Sydney to speak for a church, and visit some friends near Avondale. Then on May 10th, I travel on to the Philippines where I will be speaking at a number of different places for the following month, ending with Philippines Youth for Christ in Ilio Ilio. Around June 5th, I will return to California where I will be speaking for ARME Bible Camp's morning devotionals. After that I will fly see my family in Arkansas for 5 days. Then I will fly to Rome to start the Reformation Tour through Europe with the Weimar College group. We will be tracing steps of the reformers from Rome, the Vatican, to France, to Switzerland (my DREAM!!!!!!), and then to Germany! I will return to Maryland on July 4th. So that's my itinerary in a nutshell. Due to extensive hours in travel, crossing many time zones, jet lag, and crazy schedules I don't know if I will always be able to keep up with these daily postings on time, but I will try. Anyway, thanks for your patience. I may also share a few tidbits from my journey here along the way. Anyway, if something strange happens, or I miss a post... that's why. Please pray for God's blessing on this journey!]
Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Sam. 25-26 and Ps. 49
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