1st Samuel 24 (Tuesday)

Then the men of David said to him, "This is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.' " And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul's robe. Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him because he had cut Saul's robe. And he said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD."

(1Sa 24:4-6)

WOW… That’s about all I can say; Wow. David is given an opportunity to destroy the guy who has made his life miserable, the guy who has had him on the run for all this time. Instead of killing him, all he does is cut off the corner of his robe, just a little token to prove what he could have done. To me it is a move that shows incredible restraint and self control… yet David is convicted in his heart. Why? Why does David react this way? Why does he feel guilty about what he has done?

He says, “The Lord forbid”. He basically says, for the Lord’s sake I should never have done this thing. In the Hebrew language we get the idea that David is saying, “God wants holy behavior, and what I have just done is profane”. David gives us two reasons for why he considered his actions profane:

· Saul was his master: David still saw himself as a servant to the king, and he refused to exalt himself.

· Saul had been anointed by the Lord: David recognized that God could remove Saul from the picture completely, WITHOUT his help.

David had made his decision based on circumstances rather than taking the situation to the Lord. For this, he was convicted.

As a “man after God’s own heart” David provides us a great picture of what God wants. He wants us to seek out HIS heart, and to make our decisions based on what HE wants. Our hearts should be given to Him, and our wills should be fully submitted to Him. Are you willing to die to your fleshly desires, and trust the Lord? David provides us a challenging picture… will we take things into our own hands or leave them with the Lord? I pray we will all make the right choice, and not begin to journey down the path that Saul took; the path of selfish ambition.