OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

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.

After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi." So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, "This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.' " Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord." With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, "Why do you listen when men say, 'David is bent on harming you'? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, 'I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord's anointed.' See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, 'From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you. Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May He consider my cause and uphold it; may He vindicate me by delivering me from your hand."

When David finished saying this, Saul asked, "Is that your voice, David my son?" And he wept aloud. "You are more righteous than I," he said. "You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me of the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father's family."

So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 24

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Chapter 23 ended, we saw David narrowly escape death as a pursuing Saul had to call off his quest for David to return to his territory and fight off a Philistine uprising.

As Chapter 24 opens, we find Saul ready to reassume his search for David and receives information that David was in the “Desert of En Gedi." And so Saul “took three thousand chosen men from all Israel” and “set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats”.

During his transit, Saul felt the urge to relieve himself and so he entered a cave near some “sheep pens along the way” but what Saul didn’t know was that he wasn’t alone in the cave. For scripture tells us that “David and his men” were there as well…”far back in the cave”.

Now what do you think the typical man would do during the days of David if a man who had relentlessly tried to kill him entered a place where he was vulnerable to attack and could easily be killed? You’re right…they would probably take advantage of the situation and kill their enemy before the enemy killed them. And it’s this very attitude that we see David’s men display when Saul was exposed and an easy target.

For we read where David’s men tell him, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.' " Their words had to be enticing and convincing to David, especially since they rose up the Lord’s name to imply His approval. The seeds of temptation had been planted and began to sprout inside David as he “crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe”.

At that instance, something amazing happened. For David became “conscience-stricken” after cutting the corner off of Saul’s robe. In other words, the Lord convicted him because he was doing wrong. If David had only consulted God first, he could have avoided being conscience-stricken in the first place because God would have told him that he was not to do anything to Saul. But David didn’t consult God first. Instead, he relied on what his men had told him and acted on their guidance.

How often do we make the same mistake in life? Instead of turning to God for guidance as to what He wants us to do, we allow others to adversely influence us and end up doing things that God disapproves of. In the end, we only find ourselves like David…conscience-stricken and convicted for violating Him and His will for us.

Understanding that he had erred thanks to the Lord’s conviction, David turns to his men and rebukes them saying, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord." And so David “did not allow (his men) to attack Saul who “left the cave and went his way”. David followed and called out to him.

Now imagine how surprised Saul must have been when he heard a voice calling out to him and turned to see David “bowed down and prostrated” before him “with his face to the ground”. There was his prey before him ready to be slain. All the pursuit would be over and David would be eliminated. But as we’ll see, the Lord had other things in mind…and they started with David’s word to Saul.

First of all, note David’s attitude toward Saul. He approaches him in humility and in a non-threatening manner. Thus, Saul was not on the defensive and was ready to hear David’s words as he said:

“Why do you listen when men say, 'David is bent on harming you'? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, 'I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord's anointed.' See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, 'From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you. Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May He consider my cause and uphold it; may He vindicate me by delivering me from your hand."

Through these words, David makes a case for himself and let’s Saul know three things loud and clear.

First, he let’s Saul know that he’s not done anything to deserve being pursued and killed.

Second, David lets Saul know that he could have killed him in the cave but he spared his life because David saw him as the Lord’s anointed…a point obviously reinforced when the Holy Spirit convicted David in the cave.

Finally, David lets Saul know that only the Lord should consider the matter between them and that He and he alone should be the one to pass judgment.

So how well did David’s word impact Saul?

As we see, they affected him drastically for Saul weeps aloud as he says to David:

“Is that your voice, David my son? You are more righteous than I…You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me of the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father's family."

And with that, David “gave his oath to Saul” and “Saul returned home”. David was safe and so was Saul…all because David had overcome temptation and done right in the presence of the Lord.

So what do we take away from this passage?

We should see that we need only turn to the Lord anytime we need to make a decision and He will show us the right way to go. Had David turned to the Lord first, he wouldn’t have had to be conscience-stricken after he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe. We can save ourselves from being conscience-stricken as well as long as we always seek the Lord first…and then remain obedient to His guidance.

We also should learn to recognize and respond to the power of the Holy Spirit when it convicts us through our conscience, seeking to keep us from doing anything that is against the Lord’s will. In our scriptures, we saw David overcome temptation by heeding the Lord’s conviction. And we all can do…and need to do…likewise.

There’s one other important thing we need to remember about overcoming temptation. For not only can we defeat it via the Holy Spirit but by the word of God as well.

How do we know this?

Jesus showed us.

Consider this from Matthew, Chapter 4:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' "

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:1-11

In this passage, we find our Savior at His weakest point of hunger after fasting forty days and nights. And at his weak point, we see Satan try to tempt Him into sin…not just once but three times. But Satan wasn’t successful, was he? He wasn’t because Jesus beat him in each circumstance by using the word of God…twice referring to Deuteronomy and once to the Psalms. It’s little wonder that Paul later would refer to the weapon one carries with the full armor of God as being “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God”. (Ephesians 6:17)

And so David and Jesus show us that we have two means at our disposal to help us overcome temptation and deal with the attacks Satan brings in an attempt to exploit our weaknesses and lead us into sin.

First, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and, second, we have the Word of God to defend us.

One last point we need to remember about temptation and overcoming it.

We’ll never overcome temptation by our own strength. Try it and you’ll see.

Thanks be to God that we have a Lord who has infinite strength and power to defeat Satan…and in doing so, help keep us safe and victorious. Today and every day, we should praise God for the power of His Spirit and His Word…and His willingness to help us overcome temptation and live life as He wants us to live…obediently, holy and righteously. 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