1 samuel 29 - ?

a weird little chapter. If the Philistines hadn't told David to get lost, would he have gone to battle with them against Israel? Was he intending to double cross them as they suspected he might? There are more questions than answers here, but yet again we see God providing David with a way out of his own questionable decisions.

1 Samuel 28 - guidance

Why does Saul think that consulting a medium will help him to hear God's advice on the battle? It seems baffling. Saul is out of control, we have seen that clearly over the last few chapters. God has given him opportunity after opportunity to repent and he has just continued to harden his heart against God. Is it too late for him to turn back to God here? No. But his request to Samuel shows where Saul's real motives lie. Saul's biggest problem at that point is that he is separated from God. his biggest need is God. But he is not looking for a way back to God here, he is looking for God to tell him what to do. God's guidance for us is important, but not more important than God Himself. Do I go looking elsewhere for advice or guidance (or more likely, someone to agree with what I think I should do) when what I need is to repent before God and come back into His presence?

1 Samuel 27 - trust

This is a strange chapter. Despite God repeatedly protecting David, life on the run seems to be getting to him and so he runs off to live with the Philistines, carry out dodgy raids and lie about them. God is not mentioned in this chapter, does this reflect a period in David's life where he went with his own plan instead of God's. It's easy for us to think that if God did x, y or z in my life, I would be able to trust Him more easily. But then we see biblical characters, just like us, resorting to backing ourselves when things get tough, regardless of what God has done in the past.

1 samuel 26 - deja vu

Again, David refuses to take the short cut, refuses to take revenge, trusting God for justice and his own future. Why do I want to be the one dishing out justice? Why do I want the easiest or quickest way when I know that God's way is best. Sometimes God tells us to act, sometimes He tells us to wait. We don't know why, but He does, and that needs to be enough for us.

1 Samuel 25 - mine

Nabal is literally a "fool" and v11 gives a glimpse of why. He uses the words my, mine etc over and over again when referring to his possessions. He does not recognise the gifts that God has given him. I have money, a house, a car, not because I earned it - but because God gave me a job, the abilities to do that job and it's His money inside His wallet in the pocket of His trousers. This is very similar to the story Jesus tells of the rich man who builds bigger barns so that he can horde his wealth while God calls him a fool and killed him that night.

This chapter also shows how God gives us an opportunity out of our sin. David reacts in anger and God sends Abigail as a way out for David. David still has the choice, he could have taken what Abigail offered and then went on to kill Nabal anyway, but he recognises God's intervention.

1 samuel 24 - I did it my way

Another opportunity to kill Saul and become king? Would David do it his way or God's way? His humility (which comes from his respect for God, not from an idea that he is a "dead dog or a flea") allows him to submit to God's plans. Doing things the way you want to do them is the ultimate aim in our society, but why? when things so often go wrong, why do we still think we're the best person to decide which way to go? Arrogance. Submit to God and follow His plan for my life - it's the best one.

1 Samuel 23 - guidance

It would be mint if God always guided us as clearly and directly as he does with David in this chapter. Should I do this? Yes. Should I do that? No. God guides us in a variety of different ways but I think a lot of the time the problem is the fact that we are not even asking. We make our own mind up what we're going to do and then ask God to bless our plans. We can learn from David here, who doesn't want to do anything other than God's plans.

When Jonathan meets up with David, he "helps him find strength in God" (v16). He does this by reminding David of God's promise that he will become king. Firstly, when I'm talking to people, how often is my motive to help them find strength in God? That should always be my motivation and my aim in contact with other people. That doesn't mean I've got to turn every conversation back around to Jesus, but it does mean that I am actively trying to encourage that person in God rather than passively waffling. Secondly, the way to help somebody in a desperate situation is not to say "don't worry, it'll be alright", because it might not be. That is not what they need, what they need is a fresh revelation of who God is and what He has done.

1 Samuel 22 - in need?

David is on the run, living in a cave and "All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader"(v2). A good picture of Jesus. Anyone who is in distress, in debt or discontented needs Jesus as their leader. Anyone who isn't any of those is kidding themselves. Saul is in distress and discontented but still does not turn back to God, instead he goes on a killing spree of the preists. We end up out of control when we don't face up to our need for God.

1 samuel 21 - desperation

The stories in this chapter and the next are written in a very matter-of-fact way but David must have been under immense pressure. On the run for his life, having to bend the truth to get the holy bread for something to eat, having nowhere else to go other than Goliath's home town, being so terrified for your life that he only way you can think of getting out of it is to pretend to be mad! That incident may conjure up images of Blackadder with two pencils up his nose, but to actually pretend to be mad to escape must mean that the situation is totally desperate.

David wrote Psalms 34 & 56 about these incidents and knowing the background behind them adds even more weight to what he says there. verses like "the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" (psalm 34:18) are always an encouragement, but we need to recognise that David was not just writing some generic truth there - he is writing that because he is brokenhearted, crushed in spirit, desperate but he knows God will draw near to him.