OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As 1 Samuel, 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 he “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”.

The scriptures tell us that during his transit, Saul felt the urge to relieve himself and entered a cave near some “sheep pens along the way” but he wouldn’t be alone there for we read that “David and his men” were there as well…”far back in the cave”.

Now think about this…

What would a typical man do during David’s days if they had the opportunity to eliminate someone who had tried to kill them, especially if that person was in a vulnerable position?

There’s no question that they would probably take advantage of the situation and take out their enemy before the enemy got a chance to strike first. It’s this very attitude that we see David’s men display when Saul entered the cave and presented himself as an easy target. Here’s what they said to David, their leader:

“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 were meant to tempt David, even invoking the Lord’s name as to further convince him it was the right thing to do. Indeed, the seeds of persuasion had been planted and began to sprout inside David as he “crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe”.

At then, in that instance, something amazing happened…for we read where David became “conscience-stricken” after cutting the corner off of Saul’s robe.

In other words, the Lord sent conviction to David because he was doing wrong.

If David had only consulted God first, he would have avoided being “conscience-stricken” in the first place because the Lord would have told him 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, inquiring about what He wants us to do, we allow others to adversely influence us and end up doing things that He disapproves of. Then, we end finding ourselves in the place David was at…conscience-stricken and convicted for violating the Lord and His will.

Well, 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 but David did follow him out. 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”. His eyes probably couldn’t believe that the man he hunted was right before him and ready to be slain. All his pursuing could end and the threat to his throne would be eliminated.

But as we see in our passage, the Lord had other things in mind…and they started with David’s words to Saul.

First of all, we should note David’s attitude toward Israel’s king for he approaches him in humility and a non-threatening manner. Thus, he didn’t put Saul on the defensive and postured him to receive the following words:

“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 this, we find David making a case for himself while letting Saul know three things loud and clear.

First, he (David) hadn’t 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 he viewed Saul as the Lord’s anointed…a point obviously reinforced when the Spirit of God convicted David in the cave.

Finally, David underscores that only the Lord should settle the matter between them. Only He should be allowed to pass judgment.

So how did David’s word impact Saul?

As we see, they had a dramatic effect 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 still alive and so was Saul…all because the former had overcome temptation and did what was right in the presence of the Lord.

So what should we take away from this passage?

Hopefully, we have learned to turn to the Lord anytime we need to make a decision so to ensure we do the right thing. This will ensure we don’t overstep our bounds and become conscience-stricken as a result.

We also need be able to recognize and respond to the power of the Spirit when it convicts us through our conscience for that Spirit is always 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 can too.

There’s one other important thing we need to remember about overcoming temptation from this chapter. For not only can we defeat it via the power of the Spirit but by the wonder working power of God’s Word as well.

Jesus showed us this through his actions in the opening eleven verses of 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 it was there that we see Satan come after Him, trying to tempt Him to sin…not just once but three times.

But Satan wasn’t successful, was he?

This is because Jesus beat him in each of the three attempts by using the word of God…twice referring to verses in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy and once to the Psalms. It’s little wonder that Paul later would refer to the weapon one carries while donning the full armor of God as being “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

And so first David and then Jesus show us that we have two means at our disposal to overcome temptation and deal with the attacks from Satan who tries to exploit our weaknesses and lead us into sin.

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

One thing is for sure…we’ll never overcome temptation by our own strength. Try it yourself and you’ll see. Thankfully, we don’t have to fight alone for the Lord, who has infinite strength and power to defeat Satan, imparts His power to us so we can remain righteous and victorious over the enemy.

Today and every day, let us give thanks and praise to God for His willingness to help us overcome temptation when it comes so we can live life as He wants us to…obediently with a desire to be holy as He is.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.