Thursday, March 21
Read 1 Samuel 27
Think About It:
1 Samuel 27:1 – And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”
- In 1 Samuel 17:45-47 David declared his great trust in God to deliver him from all of his enemies. Why now, would David believe that God was no longer able to protect him from Saul?
- David left Israel and went to live among the ungodly Philistines because he badly needed a sense of security from Saul’s unrelenting attacks. But where was David more secure: in Israel and in God’s will, or among the Philistines and out of God’s will?
- David is at a low point in his spiritual life; he seeks favor in the eyes of Achish, he leads his army of 600 men to become raiders. Though he is only attacking the enemies of Israel, he lies to Achish and tells him that he is raiding his own people, this causes Achish to believe that David will be his servant forever. What caused David to come to this spiritual low point in his life, what is the root cause of his condition?
Family Time:
- What’s wrong with David’s thinking here?
(It’s contrary to God’s Word! God had promised that David would succeed Saul on the throne of Israel (15:28-29; 16:12). David himself had recently affirmed his trust in God’s promise (26:10). But here there is no mention of God in David’s decision! He did not seek the Lord on this major change of direction in his life.)
- This is what happens when we allow our feelings of despair to overwhelm us. We let go of hope and trust in ourselves. We no longer believe in the promises of God and turn to our own wisdom to get us through. Of course, often the times we turn to ourselves is in the times of disaster. Satan wants us to cave into our fears. Satan wants us to listen to ourselves and not put our trust in God any longer. In our despair, we turn to enemy territory. We plunge ourselves into things that we think will fix our feelings.
- In what areas of your life do you experience fear or despair? What do you look at to fix your feelings?
- How can you trust God more in these areas of your life? What ideas, thoughts, addictions, etc. do you need to give up and give to God, so that your hope and trust will be in Him, instead of these things?
