MY
DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL
Devotion
for Monday April 3, 2017
Topic:
Price Of Godliness (Self Exile)
Text:
I Samuel 27:1 – 7
Some commentators interpret David’s
action as lack of faith but I don’t belong to such group. Staying in Israel at
that time with the level of threat from Saul would have amounted to tempting
God or committing suicide. It was God’s leading because it wouldn’t have
worked. Again, David went to the greatest enemies of Israel at that
time and was welcomed. They would have killed David, a man that killed their
champion Goliath but that was not to be as they befriended him and gave him a
choice place to stay (see Prov. 16:7).
He fled from Israel to preserve his
life. Saul as the king of Israel had authority over all the land and would have
gotten David. The sin of David was his desire to live a godly life or else when
he had the opportunity, he would have killed
Saul and all his problems would have ended but he left everything in God’s
hand. The choice of Ziklag by David was a smart one. Apparently he had won a
large degree of trust from Achish one of the co-rulers of the five cities of
Philistine. Being out of the king’s eye would free him from the risks of
exposure as a double-dealer, or of jealousy on the part of Achish, or of
becoming a burden on the king’s hospitality.
Jesus Christ told His disciples to
flee from cities where they are not welcomed (Lk 10:10 – 12). What Jesus
suggested here was right use of wisdom and discretion in time of crisis and
uncertainties. We should be wise enough to understand when to stay and when to
flee when our lives are being threatened by the enemies.
Food
for Thought:
If David had stayed put in the land of Israel, do you think he would have
escaped from Saul’s desire to kill him?
Memory
verse: 1
Samuel 27 verse 2
Prayer: When
persecution arises due to godly living, grant me the grace O Lord to know when
to flee and when to stay in Jesus name. Amen
