2009 – Day 120.May 01 – Godly Persuasion

May, 2009 Topic: David … Continued from April 30, 2009

2009 – Day 120.May 01 – Godly Persuasion

Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 24: 1 - 7 … 1 Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) 4 Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” 7 So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

My Journal for Today: What a remarkable scenario! Here is David who has been pursued by a maniacal king who is intent on taking David out; and in one almost comical moment as David was in a cave near En Gedi “relieving himself,” he finds Saul napping in the same cave where David and his men had taken refuge. And to show his men that Saul was there, he cuts off a small portion of Saul’s robe. And then God grips David’s conscience for cutting the robe; and David persuades his men, who would have liked to take Saul out, that they should be restrained and let Saul leave the cave, which is what transpired.

As Swindoll points out in his devotional for today, David had to have used very strong and persuasive words to convince David’s mighty men that they should not take advantage of this situation and eliminate the king who pursued David. But David’s words did just that; and they were strong words. In the Hebrew the phrase “restrained his servants” is the Hebrew expression “shaca” (pr. “shawka”), which literally means “to tear” or “rip apart.” So, whatever David said ripped these men to the core; and they were dissuaded from killing Saul, allowing him to leave the cave that day with his life.

David’s conviction was very real, … that he must not kill God’s anointed king and leave the vengeance to God. And this principle, based in God’s righteousness, was so strong in David’s character that he “ripped his men up” with his verbal arguments to refrain from the temptation to take the life of God’s king – even if that very king would have killed David in a heartbeat. As we’d say today, “Go figure!”

Years later, as Swindoll points out, David’s son, Solomon, would write in Proverbs 16: 7, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” And this would certainly apply here. Righteousness, i.e., God’s way, has a persuasive power to move the hearts of those who see it in action. In other words, if we, who believe in doing life God’s way, actually live that out, those around us will be persuaded by the Godly integrity of our life.

And so, I must ask myself, “Am I living out God’s will and His way enough so that my life influences others?” Another word picture of this is the one from Jesus’ command in Matt. 5: 16, which would have me reflecting His Light into the dark world through my Godly living so that The Father’s Light is seen and He is glorified. When David made his argument that he could not take Saul’s life in that cave, it was David holding a piece of Saul’s robe in his hand, showing these men that he had the opportunity to kill him but believed it wrong which convinced those men that they too must follow God’s way and not follow their own fleshly feelings.

I hope we all know and follow God’s will when we’re confronted by the temptation to do things the way the world would have us do them. Right now I’m thinking of what God’s word says in 1st John 2: 15 – 16, which says … “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” And that way, the righteous way, … God’s way, … can be very difficult at times. However, if we’re going to be that light, shining in the darkness of the world, to influence others, we have to be like David in that cave and do the right thing.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to do life Your way and to shine Your Light into the darkness. Amen