Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul. So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord." For Saul said to himself, "I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!"
But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.
Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. "I will give her to him," he thought, "so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law."
Then Saul ordered his attendants: "Speak to David privately and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with you, and his attendants all like you; now become his son-in-law.' "
They repeated these words to David. But David said, "Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known."
When Saul's servants told him what David had said, Saul replied, "Say to David, 'The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' " Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.
When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king so that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.
The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known.
1 Samuel 18:12-30
___________________________________________________
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
1 Corinthians 4:5
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever done planned to do something you knew was wrong and thought it was thought out so well that you wouldn’t possibly get caught?
I remember doing this a few times when I was growing up and I also remember that things never worked out the way I thought it would. Why? Because it seemed that every time, my plot ended up exposed and my sinfulness exposed as a result.
In those times, I can recall the words of my mother as clear as day. She would tell me that everything done in the dark would come to light sooner or later. Given this, she would tell me that it was a waste of time to try and get away with doing wrong. Indeed, my attempts at evil scheming always ended up fruitless.
Well, as I grew older, I came to discover that my mother’s words were not born of her own wisdom but the wisdom of God’s word. For in the scriptures, I read verses that validated my mother’s words and also explained to me why it was fruitless to try and make evil plans.
Paul’s words to the church in Corinth become important words to all of us because if we decide to plot evil schemes…schemes that only are done in the dark domain of sin. For we read where God will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of an evil, sinful heart. God hates sin and he hates it even more when we turn toward it instead of Him. Given this, He will not allow sin to have victory over goodness…darkness over light.
And so He reveals evil schemes and exposes their perpetrators…and in doing so brings the dark to light.
Friends this is an assurance for us as we may face the prospect that others may plot evil against us. We could walk around and always be looking over our shoulder in fear of getting attacked from behind or stabbed in the back…but this scripture tells us that God has our backs. He is watching the motives of every heart and is ready to take action on those who are allowing evil to reign supreme within them. And in doing this, God is protecting those who seek to do good…those who strive for living lives that are righteous and holy and glorifying God.
Well, we have seen where God definitely had Hid hand upon David, helping him allude Saul’s murderous attempts. But as we see in the rest of the scripture from 1st Samuel, Chapter 18, Saul isn’t about to give up as he has a few evil schemes of his own to try and get rid of David…even though he knew the Lord was with the young leader of his army.
In his duties, we know that Saul “sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men” which “David led…in their campaigns. And David would find success in everything, not because of his own efforts but because “the Lord was with him”. This made Saul even more afraid of David who found increasing favor from “Israel and Judah” with every success. And so Saul wasn’t about to stop trying to get rid of David. As we see, he devises an evil scheme to try and do just that.
For we read where Saul says to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord." It wasn’t that Saul wanted David to marry his daughter. No, he only was using her as a ploy to try and get David back onto the battlefield against the Philistines so they might kill David and spare him having to do it. Further, see where Saul was so desperate to get rid of David that he was willing to even use the Lord’s name in his scheme, trying to entice David to accept his offer to go and fight the Lord’s battles. Saul must have forgotten that the Lord was with David for we see where his plan hits a snag.
Scripture tells us that David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" And so David passes on the Philistine battles and on marrying Saul’s oldest daughter who marries another instead. Saul wasn’t about to give up however.
For we read where Saul had another daughter Michal who “was in love with David”. This pleased Saul because he thought he could again use a daughter as a ploy to get David killed. We know this because Saul thought to himself, “I will give her to him…so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." And so Saul gives his evil scheme a second try telling David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law." And this time, he even tries to use his attendants, ordering them to: "Speak to David privately and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with you, and his attendants all like you; now become his son-in-law.' " And so the servants did as Saul commanded but again, Saul was unsuccessful as David tells the servants, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known." Strike two for Saul and back to the drawing board because he wasn’t ready to give up yet. For people who are so caught up in sin will be stubborn in their attempts to make evil triumph over good…dark over light.
In his third attempt at trying to scheme against David, Saul sends his servants back to David with yet another request. This time, the servants were to tell David, “The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies." Again, Saul’s sole purpose to get David to go out against the Philistines was to see him killed in battle and out of his way forever. And this time, it seemed like his plan had worked.
For “when the attendants told David” what Saul had said, “he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law”. David would accept Saul’s offer and go out against the Philistines to kill them and deliver the one hundred foreskins as ordered. And Saul had to be jumping for joy, sure that the Philistines would do David in and he would be finally rid of him. Again, Saul forgot that the Lord was with David and his plan had no chance for success.
We see this come to fruition as “David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines” …”before the allotted time elapsed”, bringing “their foreskins….to the king so that he might become the king's son-in-law”. Imagine the look on Saul’s face when David returned unscathed and bringing those foreskins. It had to be classic as Saul knew his plot had failed and he had lost out to David again! And to make matters worse, now David would be his son-in-law because Saul gave David “his daughter Michal in marriage”.
Saul’s plot had failed and again we read where he “realized that the Lord was with David”, making him “still more afraid of him”. Saul, now David’s father-in-law, would remain David’s “enemy the rest of his days”. And meanwhile, David continued to find success as he battled the Philistines. In fact, he had “more success than the rest of Saul's officers” and “his name became well known”. Saul’s attempts to eliminate David had only resulted in David growing more famous and powerful.
Friends, there are three important lessons for us in this passage:
1. Evil scheming is a fruitless endeavor.
God will take everything done in the dark and bring it to light. We know this because His word assures us of it. So we shouldn’t even think for a minute that we will find any success of plotting to do wrong against God or another. It’s not going to work out. We saw it with Saul and we will find out ourselves if we choose to try it.
2. God protects against evil schemes.
He will put His covering over those who place their hope, trust and faith in Him…those committed fully to His service and carrying out His will. We saw where God was with David and kept him from falling prey to Saul’s evil schemes…and He will watch over us as well.
3. Why would we ever think we would get away with anything in the first place?
Friends, God sees everything and looks deep into our hearts…to a place where we can’t look when we see one another. What will He see when He looks in your heart? If there are any evil motives, prepare for them to be unearthed and exposed.
And further, since God sees everything and will ultimately judge all of us when this life ends, how would we ever think that we might get away with doing anything? He is going to see it…He is going to know about it…and He is going to judge it.
And so we might as well not even try it because it’s fruitless to plan evil in the sight of God.
As we get set to enter a new year, let us renew our commitment to remain in the light instead. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
http://www.faithhopeandlove.info
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment