It’s more than just the unofficial start of summer…

“On this Memorial Day, remember the fallen, honor their service and sacrifice, and rejoice in your freedom” …because:

Freedom isn’t free!

For freedom Christ has set us free. (Galatians 5.1, ESV)

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. (Galatians 5.13, MSG)

Before we leave our look at David’s adventures in the wilderness as described in 1 Samuel 23 – 31, we might remind ourselves of God’s provision for David during this time. My friend and world traveler Henry Brown sent me this picture and message:

For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water… (Isaiah 35.6, 7, ESV)

As we wrap up David’s adventures in the wilderness, it’s worth noting that he didn’t always have the best people hanging out with him:

Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David… (1 Samuel 30.22, ESV)

This terse description actually fits well with the initial description of his band of men:

David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22.1, 2, ESV)

Sometimes we think we’d do better if we just had the right team members. David’s team wasn’t ideal, and, come to think of it, neither was Jesus’ team as I’ve noted before. Love your enemies? James and John wanted to call down “fire from heaven” to consume a Samaritan village! (See Luke 9.51 – 56 and my September 24, 2020, blog.)

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103.13, 14, ESV)

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5.14, ESV)

We’re following David’s adventures in the wilderness as flees the paranoid pursuit by King Saul. What’s amazing is that despite Saul’s knowing that God has rejected him, he persists in pretending to be under God’s blessing.

Here are the rejection notices – two different occasions of specific disobedience:

[For presuming to offer the sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel] And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13.13, 14, ESV, emphasis mine)

[For failing to destroy the Amalekites as commanded] And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15.22, 23, ESV, emphasis mine)

But Saul enjoys using God-sounding language:

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” (1 Samuel 15.13, NIV, said right after he had precisely failed to perform the LORD’s instructions!)

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me.” (1 Samuel 23.19 – 21, ESV, emphasis mine)

It’s an age-old temptation: attempting to cover ungodly actions by God-sounding words. Maybe that’s why there’s a command for that!

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20.7, NIV – the third commandment)

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7.21 – 23, ESV)

Yesterday we saw how God used Abigail (and David’s willingness to listen to her!) to save David from a mistake that could have cost him the kingdom. Today is one more story on that theme except David didn’t even have a choice. This one was all God.

The story begins in 1 Samuel 27 when David, even after he spares Saul’s life for the second time, knows that Saul will pursue him to death, despite his apologies. So David goes to the land of the Philistines.

Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” (1 Samuel 27.1, ESV)

The text says David stayed there for 16 months during which time he raided isolated villages of people who were neither Philistines nor Israelis although he told Achish, king of the Philistines, he had been raiding towns in Israel, thus making Achish think David was permanently on his side.

This brings us to our story in 1 Samuel 29. The Philistines have massed their armies and are going to fight Israel. David is with them:

Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish,… (1 Samuel 29.1, ESV)

This is not a good thing. This is the battle in which Saul and his son Jonathan are killed (see 1 Samuel 31). What are David’s chances of becoming king of Israel when he has participated in the battle on the side of the army that killed King Saul? There’s no Abigail around to counsel him; how can God stop this foolishness? Easy:

The commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.” But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 29.3 – 7, ESV)

We don’t know if David had a plan, that he was really intending to ambush the Philistines from the rear during the battle, but no matter. The appearance would be that he was with the Philistines. So God, working through the Philistine commanders sent David home.

God has a plan, a story he will work out, and sometimes he has to do it whether we cooperate or not. (I’m by no means suggesting we test God by doing something stupid with the idea that if God wants to stop us, he can! Sometimes he doesn’t.)

This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? (Isaiah 14.26, 27, ESV)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8.28, NASB)

Continuing our look at David’s wilderness adventures in 1 Samuel 23 – 31, there might be a temptation for us to be down on ourselves compared to David. Look at the dude: not only is he good-looking, destined to become king, a musician, and a warrior, but he’s also tough and he’s patient and trusts God! Fret not. David is a man, which we find out for sure in 2 Samuel 11. But in this section, too, there are flaws – mistakes in judgment – for which he needs to be rescued by others. We could even say that God protects him through others.

The first incident is documented in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal is a wealthy rancher from whom David asks for support through 10 of his men. The exchange goes like this:

And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David…. (1 Samuel 25.10 – 13, ESV)

So David, after showing mercy to his enemy, Saul, who wants to kill him, intends to wipe out Nabal and all who belong to him. Nabal’s wife Abigail, a “discerning and beautiful woman,” gets some food together and wisely appeals to David’s destiny:

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he…Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord…For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live…My lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.” (1 Samuel 25.23 – 31, ESV)

In other words, you don’t want to be known as the guy who wiped out a fellow Israelite for no reason. The good news is that David took Abigail’s advice, recognizing it as God’s word to him:

And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” (1 Samuel 25.32 – 34, ESV)

There are lessons here: just because we start a rash action, doesn’t mean we have to finish. We can stop any time. And, we can listen to good counsel even if it comes from an unlikely place. (Not everyone in those days would have listened to a woman, no matter how carefully she chose her words. Some of that goes on today, come to think of it!)

We’ll look at the second such incident tomorrow.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1.7, ESV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3.5 – 7, ESV)

[This was scheduled to come out yesterday, May 25. I don’t know what happened.]

We’re spending a few days watching the future king David, who is still in God’s training program while Saul chases him through the wilderness. Yesterday, we noted that David was tough!

Today’s let’s look at his patience and trust in God’s sovereignty as he exercises good judgment in sparing Saul’s life.

When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe…David persuaded his men…and did not permit them to attack Saul. (1 Samuel 24.1 – 7, ESV)

David had another chance to kill Saul as he and his entourage slept. (See 1 Samuel 26.) David’s attitude is clear in this exchange with Abishai:

Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” (1 Samuel 26.8 – 11, ESV)

In an age of vitriol where every perceived slight is met with an angry and vicious response, David really is in mortal danger from a deranged and unstable enemy, and he treats Saul with mercy, inspired no doubt by David’s patience and understanding of God’s sovereignty. There’s wisdom there and an example to follow.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them…Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12.14 – 21, ESV)

I read the last part of 1 Samuel a few days ago, chapters 23 – 31, and I want to share some observations over the next few days. This is the period of David’s life when he is running from King Saul. David has been given the promise that he will be king, but getting there won’t be easy. In these chapters we’ll observe the following:

• David was tough! I’ll talk about that today – living in the wilderness couldn’t have been easy.
• David demonstrates patience and trust in God’s sovereignty by sparing Saul’s life twice (chapters 24 and 26).
• God used unlikely people to protect him from bad decisions: Abigail (a woman!) in chapter 25 and Philistine officers in chapter 29.
• Sometimes one’s enemy sounds “Christian” – we see Saul invoking God’s blessing on those who were helping him find and kill David (1 Samuel 23)
• There were “scoundrels” among David’s men (1 Samuel 22.2 and 30.22)

Today, let’s just remind ourselves that David was tough! Not like me complaining about a few hours in a place with no water or electricity! (See May 20 blog.)

• “David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.” (1 Samuel 23.15, ESV)
• “David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” (1 Samuel 24.1, ESV)
• “Then David went down to the wilderness of Paran.” (1 Samuel 25.1, ESV)

John the Baptist spent a lot of time in the desert:

And the child [John] grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (Luke 1.80, ESV)

And so did David. How would you like to spend years in the wilderness, running for your life, and managing a rag-tag “army” of 400 – 600 men?

A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63, introduction and verse 1, ESV)

If you’re a regular reader of the Ewellogy, you know that I read Heather Holleman’s blog daily and use her ideas from time to time. Last Thursday she wrote about the dill seeds in her herb garden. Here’s some of what she said:

While watering the garden this morning, I noticed that dill plants have sprouted up everywhere: in the pots, by the tomatoes, around the border of the vegetable garden. The dill was supposed to stay neatly within its raised boxed garden by the fence. Dill does not listen. Dill does not obey.

I didn’t account for wind dispersing all the seeds. I didn’t think dill seeds would float everywhere and take root. It made me consider how we’re not supposed to be everywhere, go everywhere, do everything. Even though we can, we don’t have to (and perhaps we shouldn’t). God sets the boundaries of our lives and our callings, and just because our seeds could take root in all sorts of places—and even become exceedingly fruitful—it’s not always right. It’s not what God has ordained. I think about this. I want to listen. I want to obey and stay where I should.

…I uprooted the misplaced dill and sent it back to its home. I will have the most beautiful and bountiful dill garden—safe and cozy in its home near the brown fence. – Heather Holleman, May 20, 2021

That’s one application: listen to the Spirit, and don’t go where you shouldn’t.

Here’s another application: John 3 – the wind is the Spirit, and he blows where he wants to.

[Jesus said, ] “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3.8, ESV)

It’s possible that pastors and other leaders have ideas about where their “seeds” should be planted – and want them “safe and cozy,” perhaps within the walls of the church. (Please see my blog on May 18.)

As a leader, I should be open to God leading people into places different from what I had in mind. As a seed, I should be open to blooming where I am planted. 

Heather isn’t wrong – she’s talking about dill seeds. We just have different applications.

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom…” (Matthew 13.36 – 38, ESV)

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. (Acts 11.19 – 21, ESV)

Two consecutive blogs on giving, but I can’t help it…you don’t have to be a bible scholar to know that 2 Corinthians 9 follows 2 Corinthians 8, about which I wrote yesterday. My favorite giving promises are here in chapter 9:

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work…Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9.6 – 8, ESV, 10 – 11, NIV)

I saw this in action in my early days around The Navigators in the late 1960s. A few hundred men (mostly) would come to The Navigators Military Ministry conferences, and they would always have a Navigator staff person who was moving, maybe going overseas, that they needed to support. After presenting the specific needs (for example, $8,000 in moving expenses and $5,000/month support), Skip Gray would start, speaking slowly and deliberately, “Whoever sows sparingly, will reap also sparingly…”

They would collect the pledge cards Saturday night and report the results Sunday morning. Every time, just a few hundred people, mostly young enlisted guys, actually emulating the Macedonians Paul wrote about in chapter 8, would meet and surpass that need.

I close with another church that excelled in giving:

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.15 – 19, NIV)