What if God Required it All?

1 Samuel 22

As you might imagine, being on the run from the King can be a pretty tricky thing to do as the King has every resource in the land at his disposal. It’s also not good for your family when the King is unpredictable and crazy. Word gets to David's family that he is hiding out in a cave and they go to him (certainly better than waiting for the King to exploit you or worse). Word also gets around to others where David is and he begins to become like a pre-incarnate Robin Hood who attracts every outlaw or outcast in the area.

            Even with this band of misfits however, David still has a problem, his parents are much too old to be gallivanting across the country at a moment’s notice but they also can’t stay within Saul’s grasp. David decides to take them to the land of Moab on the south east side of the Dead Sea and see if the king there will protect them for a while. As you might imagine this is a great opportunity for the king of Moab to get on the good side of the future king of Israel and so the deal is made and David, his family, and his band of misfit men live yet another day. Life is stressful and crazy but God is faithful and continues to provide a way of escape, even if at the last second.

            God is always faithful, but others will not be so fortunate to escape with their lives. Remember the guy who saw David at the Tabernacle a few chapters ago? Enter scene with Saul and Doeg the Edomite. Saul continues in his craziness and is blaming everyone around him for being on David’s side (can you blame them for not wanting to rat David out?) when Doeg just so happens to show up and spill the beans. Saul then goes to Nob (where the priests are) and accuses them of conspiring against him with David. They honestly hadn’t heard yet that David was a public enemy but Saul in his craziness doesn’t believe them. He orders them all killed but no one will obey such a heinous request except one person, you guessed it, the Edomite. He kills all the priests, their families, even the livestock, as if the whole town was cursed by God. Only one priest escapes and makes his way to David. Could Saul’s delusion and destruction get any worse?

Lessons:

     None of us would ever wish to go through the struggles of David here or even worse, the fate of the Priests and their families, but in both cases God is faithful. Some of us will suffer more in this life than others, but we must all seek the Lord and His strength when those trials come. God wants to be made great in our triumphs and in our trials. He never promises that this life will be easy but he does promise to be with us through it all.

     The Continued downfall of Saul is a tragic one as we see his disobedience to God cause those around him to suffer mightily. He could have been a mighty blessing used by God for His glory but instead he sought his own glory and was a might curse. Who will you seek to give glory to?