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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
July, 1927
Who was back of Abishai’s suggestion that the opportunity- to kill Saul was a God-sent opportunity ? (v. 8; Cp. 2 Cor. 11:15). Who are at present included in “the Lord’s anointed” ? (v. 9; Cp. 1 Jn. 2:20, 27 R. V.) How many times did David keep Abishai from taking life? (2 Samuel 16: 9, 10; 19:21-22). A When is the confession of sin of no avail? (v. 21; Cp. Prov. 28:13). . Why was David so gloriously exalted in due time? (Lk. 14:11). ■--o— G olden T ext I llustration “Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good.” (Rom. 12:21) It was said of W. E. Gladstone, the great English statesman, that if one wanted to make him do acts of gracious friendliness, it was only necessary to try to do him an injury. He believed in fighting with opposites: fire with water; a bad spirit with a good spirit;. disease with health; unkindness with kindness. Jenkyns has said: “To be kind to the kind is civility; to be unkind to the un kind is heathenism; to be unkind to the kind is Satanic; to be kind to the un kind is Christianity.” TN the preceding lessons we have seen that Saul on account of his lack of faith and obedience was rejected from being king. The principle upon which God has a l wa y s , and still does, deal , through love.” After his rejection, the Lord permitted Saul to be under the in fluence and control of evil spirits (1 Sam. 16:14-23 cf. 1 Kings 22:19-23). It seems from the study of the Scriptures that these evil spirits have an unusually strong desire to enter the bodies of men and women (see Matt. 12:43-45; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Tim. 4:1-3). Under the influence of “sin in the flesh”! (Rom. 7 :17), spurred on by demons, Saul grew worse and worse. Though he knew that God had rejected him and had selected David as his suc cessor, he seemed to think that it was pos- . sible for him to slay David and to retain the kingdom. He did not realize the great truth expressed in the familiar say ing : “Man is immortal until his work is done.” This proverb, assuming the Bib lical truth that man survives death, and spends eternity either with God or in banishment from His presence, affirms God’s protection over all of His creatures until they have accomplished His will with them upon earth. Jesus constantly reminded His auditors that no misfortune could overtake Him and that His enemies, regardless of their strength and power, could not inflict any harm upon Him nor accomplish His death until His “hour” came. God has, the author believes, dif ferent plans for every man’s life. The first of these plans for each individual is the highest and holiest possible, namely, with men is that of faith and obedience. Paul said in Gal. 5: 6, “For in C h r i s t Jesus neither cir cumcision availeth anything, nor uncir- c u m c i s i o n ; but f a i t h w o r k i n g
seem good unto thee.” David’s men rec ognized the presence of God’s hand in the occurrences of the hour and inter preted the delivery of Saul into David’s hands as a providential indication that he should slay the king. Silently David crept forward and “cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily,” but immediately his heart smote him, because of the cowardly way in which he took advantage of the occasion.: Thereupon he exclaimed to his followers, “Jehovah forbid I should do this thing unto my lord, Jehovah’s anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Jehovah’s anointed.” On this examination David’s grade was al most, but not quite, 100 percent. This occasion is a profitable one to study in connection with the solution of the dif ficult questions of life. God’s children who are thoroughly surrendered to God and who desire to be in the center of God’s will are frequently confronted with a question as to what course they should pursue in order to honor God. There are three tests by which the child of God being surrendered 100 percent to do the will of God can ascertain what is His will: (1) Study the Word of God to see what it says upon such questions; (2) Study intelligently the circumstances of the case, using common judgment and at the same time consulting spiritually- minded people for their judgment; (3) With a will surrendered completely to do the will of God at all costs, pray to God to “let the peace of Christ rule” (Gr. “ar bitrate”). Having learned what the will of God is from the Bible, and having studied circumstantial occurrences, one must leave the solution of the question for final decision to the peace of Christ, which is the umpire or referee for him in life’s struggle. David in an earnest, sincere speech proved to Saul that he was not an enemy but a true friend of his, whereupon Saul confessed, “Thou art more righteous than I ; for thou hast rendered unto me good whereas I have rendered unto thee evil.” In this instance David practiced the teach ing of our Lord of non-retaliation and love to enemies (Matt. 5:38-48). His conduct was an exemplification of the love of 1 Cor. 13. To a man who had been insulted by another, a friend said, “Would it not be manly to resent it?” “Yes, but it would be Godlike to forgive it.” David did a Godlike thing! Saul on various occasions seemed to be peni tent for his evil conduct but his after conduct proved that his repentance did not go very deep. Repentance caused by godly sorrow -is one which brings no re grets because it is “to change the thoughts, purposes, and intentions of the heart or mind.” Temporary grief avails nothing; repentance must bear fruit. “He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and for- saketh them shall obtain mercy” (Prov. 28:13). David passed his second examination a little later as we read in 1 Sam. 26, and made all but 100 percent on this test—an improvement over his first one. The historical setting was as follows: David returned into the vicinity of the Ziphites. His presence was immediately reported to Saul, who, with an army of 3000 men, hastened to the scene to cap ture David. One night as Saul and his men were sleeping in their camp—“Saul lay within the place of the wagons and the people were encamped round about
PLEASE LET TH IS PERIODICAL PREACH PERPETUALLY; PASS IT ON.
that he “should seek God, if haply he might feel feafter Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us': for in' Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:27-28). A re fusal to surrender the will in loving, trustful obedience to the will of God is a rejection of the highest and holiest plan for the individual. In this event God selects the less honorable plan for his life (Jer. 18:1-12). Should he absolutely turn his back upon God, refusing the ap peals of mercy, God still will use him in a way that “The wrath of man shall praise Thee: the residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon Thee” (Psa. 76:10). God chose and anointed David to be prince over His’ people. “A man can re ceive nothing except it hath been given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Hence, Saul with all of his efforts could not cir cumvent David and accomplish his down fall. Having fled from the walled city of Keilah, whose inhabitants would have delivered him into Saul’s hands, David went into the wilderness of Ziph, a bar! ren and uncultivated country southeast of Hebron. The inhabitants of the place, wishing to gain the favor of Saul, re ported David’s presence in their com munity. Realizing the danger, David with his faithful followers fled to the wilder ness of Maon to the South. Saul marched immediately from his capital at Gibeah to capture! David. Having pur sued David through the wilderness and among the mountains for a short time, he received news of an invasion of his ter ritory by the Philistines, whereupon he abandoned his search for David to march against the enemy, Upon the successful termination of this war, Saul returned to his attempt to capture David. Realizing the dangers in the wilderness, David fled to En-Gedi, about half-way down the west shore of the Dead Sea, and took refuge in the innermost of one of the many caves of this region, which were very inaccessible and which ordinarily were most excellent* places for refuge from an enemy, being “the rocks of the wild goats.” At this time Saul entered the cave “to cover his feet.” From the po sition of David and his men looking to ward the entrance of the cave, they could clearly see Saul as he stood in the en trance, but he, having come into the dark ness out of the bright sunlight, was blinded. THIS WAS DAVID’S EXAM INATION DAY. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to per form.” The unseen hand of God deliv ered Saul into David’s power. This oc casion tested the genuineness of David’s heart and of his loyalty to God. His men urged him to take, advantage of the oc casion and to slay his enemy, exclaiming, “The day of which Jehovah said unto thee, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand and thou shalt do to him as it shall
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