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)