Daily Devotional for Monday 15th January
The Path of Integrity
We pick back up our Devotionals for 2024 in 1 Samuel, Chapter 24 when David is on the run from King Saul, who is trying to kill him.
David and his men are living in the wilderness, moving around, trying not to get caught and killed by King Saul and his soldiers. In the midst of fleeing for his life, David continues to show integrity in his desire to honour King Saul as God’s anointed leader, even if Saul wasn’t acting like a good leader.
In the passage today, David and his men are hiding in a cave in Engedi, and Saul nips into the very cave they are in! Saul goes in to “relieve himself”, using its privacy as a toilet. Talk about being in an exposed, awkward position! David sneaks up and cuts off an edge of Saul’s robe, but then his conscience moves him that he shouldn’t harm Saul. David’s men say, “Hey, here’s our opportunity! Let’s kill him!” But David says, no. He persuades the men that it wouldn’t be honourable to kill a king, even Saul, whom God had appointed and anointed. David wins that argument, and Saul leaves the cave unharmed.
Have we ever seen an opportunity to get the better of someone, hopefully not as extreme as harming someone physically, but then the Lord pricked our conscience and moved us to be gracious instead?
David listened to God’s still voice speaking to him, and he chose the more difficult path of not getting the upper hand by killing Saul, cutting short the road to kingship – which God had promised him already when Samuel anointed David. David chose the path of integrity and waited, a long time, until God fulfilled His own promise to him.
Time to reflect…
· As we reflect on our own relationships, we can ask God to show us where we need to choose like David the path of integrity, not the path of one-upmanship or domination. Where is God prompting us to be kind, humble, trusting Him for any advancement?
Pause to pray…
Dear Father God, Please help us to choose the path of integrity. Help us when we’re tempted to act unbecomingly before you, to stop and choose a better way to act. Help us to trust you in the waiting, in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
