Saul is in active pursuit of David’s life by the 23rd chapter of 1 Samuel. His tactics become more aggressive and blatant and he presumptuously attempts to make God his partner in murder. When he hears that David is held up in a city with only one way in or out, he says, “God has given him (David) into my hand…”
I wonder how often people attempt to drag God into life’s battles with the presumptuous supposition that He’s on their side in the conflict. I wonder how often I do that. When Abraham Lincoln was asked if he thought that God was on the side of the Union during the Civil war, Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God’s side.”
David on the other hand seeks Abiathar the priest and calls for him to bring the Ephod in order to seek God’s will. He seeks God’s leadership in order to do what God really wanted him to do. He didn’t decide what he wanted to do and then claim God as his partner in his purpose and mission. David wanted to be sure he was on God’s side not vice versa.
Wendell Phillips once said, “One, on God’s side, is a majority.” To this, Thomas Reed commented, “One with God is always a majority but many a martyr has been burned at the stake while the votes were being counted.” Thus, David flees and escapes the grasp of Saul, proving that God had not delivered him into Saul’s hand.
The key lesson for me is to be very careful about claiming God’s partnership in my plans. I might be proven wrong. I must always seek God’s will, and do everything within my power to remain on God’s side.
Chuck
“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. …For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Galatians 2:16