Daily Devotional for Monday 27th November
David and his men discovered
On the run and finding places to hide to escape from King Saul who is intent on removing his rival David. You would have thought that without the sophisticated intelligence gathering and communications that exist now, it would be easy enough for David to hide without detection. And yet we read that this family found out where he was, as did a largish group of people who had become disillusioned with King Saul’s leadership. I’m guessing here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the debt referred to in v2 was due to the taxes imposed to support a king they did not like. I also suspect that David’s family felt at risk because leaders like Saul would often use family members to get at the person they were after. They all felt safer together and with David as their leader. They move again to find sanctuary with the neighbouring King of Moab, but it’s while they are there that David receives a message from God via his prophet Gad to return to his own country.
In contrast we see Saul, sitting in the shade, his paranoia growing ever stronger. His spear is his only friend and he holds it ever ready for action. He then starts to blame everyone else for the problems. He uses emotional blackmail to suggest that his own people are being seduced by incentives promised by David and he points his finger at his own son Jonathan for being too close to David. However, there seems to be someone on his side, a foreigner, Doeg the Edomite. He saw David with Ahimelek the priest while he was in Nob (21v7) and now drops the priest in it with Saul.
However perhaps the key thing to notice from this passage is that, in contrast to David, there is no prophet from God around Saul. He has given up seeking guidance from the Almighty, perhaps because he didn’t like what he was being told.
Time to reflect…
How good are we at discerning what God is saying to us? When things don’t go our way, are we good at reflecting on what we might have done better or do we simply put the blame on other people?
Pause to pray…
Father God, help us to keep our eyes fixed on you and our ears tuned to your word, so that you can help us navigate through any difficult times we may be facing now or in the future. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
