I Samuel 25-27 Trustworthy and not trusting

April 3rd, I Samuel 25-27

       David gets a wife: In chapter 25 we witness the hard heart of Nabal. David's men have been a blessing to him. A hungry band of men of have been of utmost integrity and when asked a favor for food, Nabal stingy heart says..."it's all mine." Abigail , his wife, was said to be discerning and beautiful. Long story short discerning is better than stingy. Nabal falls over dead from his hard heart and David invites Abigail to be his wife. Apparently when your first wife is the daughter of the king trying to kill you, things don't work out. Saul decided to give Michal to someone else.
       David spares Saul's life: Chapter 26 is another opportunity for David to demonstrate his good will toward Saul. David sneaks into Saul's camp and steal's his spear and water bottle from his tent while Saul was sleeping. When David addresses this, Saul is quick to invite David back and promises to do him no harm. Saul pronounces his blessing over David. The part of the story that demonstrates good wisdom is that David flees. Abusive tyrant killers can't be trusted. Aren't you glad to serve a God who brings life to us rather than someone who would steal life from us!!
       David causes strife:  Chapter 27 has David going to live among the Philistines. Get this... in David's mind it's more safe to go live in the land of Goliath (whom he killed) than it is to live in Saul's territory. David doesn't trust Saul at all. The king of the Philistine land thought he had David in his pocket and didn't mind having him around, even gave him a city to live in. Giving meaning to the saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
     
       What keeps our character from getting twisted in all these difficult trials of life? I pray that the weight of all of this turmoil in David's life would be a wonderful background for the Psalms that we are going to get to later. When David asks "How long o Lord, will you forget me forever?" you know it's not just a philosophical question. It's the real time question of a man in genuine turmoil. The Bible is offering more than cute sayings, it wrestles with the real time struggles of people and offers a glimpse into God's heart for how to live out this journey of faith.

Praying for one another on the journey!!