Battlefields take surprising shapes.
18 Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ 20 Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”
21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”
22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”
25 And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home. 1 Samuel 26:18-25, NLT.
David was far from a flea–though in light of a king and 3,000 elite troops he probably felt pretty small and insignificant. But to Saul, David was a large threat: popular, successful in all he did, dwarfing Saul in victory and song. With thousands at his command, compared to David’s six hundred, who felt like the flea?
David was a warrior fighting for territory. Saul was a king fighting for his image. How did a mission get so far off track? God had given Saul authority, and Saul felt threatened by what God had given David–that David would take what Saul had as well. Suddenly, a battlefield isn’t the size of a kingdom; it’s the size of a heart.
Lord, I want to keep my eyes on you, like David did. Help me to lift up my brothers and sisters in Christ and rejoice for the gifts you’ve given them. Help me to also recognize the strengths you’ve given me, and not hide them, but use them for your glory and delight.
Courtney (66books365)
Sixty-six books in a year 