1 Samuel 26.1 – 28.2
Growing up, I don’t know how many times I heard the words, “Be patient.” Interestingly, those words sounded more like “BE PATIENT!!!” I’m pretty sure that my children have never heard that from me (yeah right!). The idea of delay of gratification is not something that comes easily to most of us. For me, it was and remains, most definitely, a learned behavior.
In today’s reading we see David strolling into his enemies (Saul’s) camp while they are sleeping. Somehow he gains access to the very location where King Saul is sleeping and finds himself in a position, yet again (see Chapter 24), where he can choose to take Saul’s life and thereby become king…yet he refrains. At the Venue Men’s group this morning we wrestled this a bit. Was this a display of David’s character…after all, he could have taken the kingship and kingdom right there in one swift motion. Was this a display of fear…yes, he could kill Saul but if he did, he might die in the process as he is standing in the middle Saul’s camp of 3000 soldiers. Was it a political move…he didn’t kill Saul, but he did take Saul’s spear and water jar, showing he could have killed him but didn’t, making David appear more righteous and kingly than Saul when he yells back into Saul’s camp displaying what he has done to spare Saul’s life. Or was it David allowing God to work in God’s time and practicing patience? Maybe there was a piece of each of these in the moment. Bottom line, this is the second time he could have easily killed Saul and assumed the kingship and yet he refrained.
Many times it is much easier to act than be still. That doesn’t mean that acting is necessarily a better thing to do in every situation. One of the men this morning mentioned how it is difficult to know, in some circumstances, what God’s will is for us. We feel a need to act but don’t know for sure what we should do. We want to know, we seek to know, but there’s no answer…no clarity. What then? If we look at David in this moment, standing over Saul with Saul’s own spear in his hand, may we can find an answer. That answer might just be “wait.” Wait for an answer. Wait for clarity. The thing is…David is literally being hunted like an animal by Saul, so some might argue that he had a right to use that spear on Saul right at that moment. What is the more courageous thing for David to do…kill his adversary and end the hunt for his life or be patient and trust God to handle the situation? Is patience wimpy or courageous? Are there times when it might be one or the other? How?
