God’s Tender Walk with David’s Conflicted Heart

A few observations on the following text of David’s apparent impersonation of Harrison Ford in The Fugitive:

[Saul] pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. -1 Samuel 23:25b-29

1. David is remarkably merciful by his insistence on not harming Saul.

By my estimation, David would be totally justified in wrenching the kingdom from Saul. David’s been anointed king by Samuel, and his predecessor Saul has been told that he’s been sacked (though, in denial, he continues to show up at the “office.”)

Why would David refrain from taking what is rightfully his? To some degree, his conscience can’t bear it. He ninja-style tears a corner off of Saul’s robe to show that he means him no harm (yes, when Saul is still trying to kill him), and the realization that he ruined the man’s North Face overwhelms him (1 Sam 24:5-7). Should he be this sensitive though?

I’m not sure. To me it’s David’s duty to take the throne, but it seems that, as surprising as it is to us,

2. God is willing to work within David’s conscience.

When Saul comes up in this passage with his army against David, God could have allowed the fight to break and routed Saul and company. To me, that would make sense. Hubris sends the fellow into working against God and God turns it back on his head. BOOM. That makes for a quick, clean story. Moral: served.

But it didn’t go down that way. God is tenderly raising up David, and when David feels like his conscience forbids him, God respects it and brings in the Philistines to redirect Saul away. (Again, God can work through sin and, in fact, uses it to accomplish his purposes [Gen 50:20]). This shows me that…

3. Our consciences are important and should be respected.

David has a right moral (I must not harm the Lord’s anointed!), but his information is just a bit off: he’s actually the anointed one now. But while David is still deriving the the right data and compiling, God is not going to lead David into betraying David’s conscience.

Similar situations happen with us. We can feel that something might be wrong, even when it is ambiguous or even totally acceptable. But when we do feel like we are breaking conscience, we should honor that feeling. Crossing over and disobeying one’s conscience only begets more and more disobedience. We unfortunately get used to feeling bad, and then stop feeling anything altogether. The end result is a deadened or severely weakened conscience that we need for things like life. That’s why Paul encourages the church members to respect one another’s arbitrary opinions:

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. – Romans 14:5

We must obey the silent murmurs and even silly apprehensions of our hearts. They are there for a reason. Maybe we have the wrong data, and that will work itself out eventually. But let us be fully convinced in our own minds.

You may feel like your conscience has been so maligned by you that it is deadened beyond recovery. Take heart. It is not. You, or your heart, are never beyond recovery. Our God’s arms are never too short to reach you, nor are His healing hands ever too unskilled to restore you.

Samuel’s Burden to Pray

In an address to the people, Samuel, the part-priest, part-prophet, part-judge of Israel, says the following when the people urge Samuel to not stop interceding on their behalf:

“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.” – 1 Samuel 12:23

Oh Lord, may I realize the depths of my sin by neglecting to pray for those you have put around me! Samuel’s statement touches on an oft-neglected obligation: the command to pray.

It is common to hold prayer for others as beneficial, loving, and–unfortunately–entirely optional. We can forget that Jesus says things like “pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44), meaning, “like yes, actually do it.” Samuel feels deeply this burden of prayer, equating ceasing it with sinning against the Lord. I think, at best, I might view my neglected prayer as (maybe?) sinning against those I’m failing to pray for, but likely not against the Lord!

There are likely two reasons I see why we wouldn’t pray:

1. We don’t actually believe that prayer works.

For whatever reason, we haven’t taken to heart God’s command to pray. Perhaps we are discouraged about unanswered prayer in our past, perhaps we doubt God’s ability or desire to hear us, or perhaps we think that God’s sovereignty rules out His desire to work through our prayers. Whatever it is, we must wrestle through these doubts.

2. We don’t actually love the people for whom we are called to pray.

This is true for everyone. Due to our humanity, we will fall short of how we are to love. But, luckily, if we can realize this, our first step is confession and prayer to the Lord, who can impart a Godly compassion to us. Praise God that we are not left alone in our sin, but by His Spirit, God will continue to mold his children into the likeness of Jesus.

May we, full of faith in a God who hears prayer and love for the people around us, feel too Samuel’s burden to pray.

Samuel’s Front Row Seat to the Surprising Love of God

16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” 1 Samuel 9:16-17

The relationship between God and Israel is continually fascinating. I think we should pay special attention to when God acts in a surprising fashion. This is one of those moments.

This moment is fascinating because God is setting in motion a plan to fulfill the desires of Israel–the sinful desires of Israel. Israel desires a king. For protection, for war, for judgement, and also to simply be like all of the other nations around them. It is a vain desire. This desire did not come from God; indeed, in 8:7 God commands Samuel,

“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

Israel rejects God! And now, God is not only allowing them to reject Him, He is seemingly helping them do so by instructing Samuel to anoint a king. This is like the father who gives money to his rebellious son who is running away from home: it seems senseless! It seems foolish! Perhaps even wrong!

But God is not senseless and God is not foolish. And, as always, God is right.

The love that provides for a rebellious son is the sort of God-love that is far more common to us than we realize. How often does God bless us, provide for us, give us intellectual capacity, physical ability, and we… use it against Him? Well… actually all the time. Like all of the times.

A day has not passed in my life in which I have not worked against God, strived against his purposes, or used his gifts to sin against Him. Every breath is a gift, and some turn to praise while others become bitterness or contempt or disparagement. And yet… God keeps on giving.

I think part of the reason that God enables us is because He can turn even our worst sins to (not only) good, but to His very purpose (Gen. 50:20). There is no darkness He cannot enlighten. There is no brokenness He cannot make whole. There is no smudge He cannot fix. There are no tears He cannot hold.

So God speaks personally to Samuel, He instructs Him to anoint a king (that is Saul), and He does all this even though it will not be good for Israel to do such a thing (cf. chapter 8) nor is it good within itself (they are rejecting God). So, why would God enable his chosen people to reject Him? Because God’s purpose is to redeem.

Through Saul (and more specifically through his successor David), God is forging a path for a king that will not oppress his people but who will bless them in the most excellent way. That King is Jesus.

Praise God that He works our sin into beauty, and praise God that He turns our disobedience into redeemed purpose.