Life with David was not all fun and games. He is to become king of his people but the man who was king at that time is doing what he can to oppose and hunt this young brave courageous shepherd from Bethlehem who was being raised to classical and vital leadership.
He had to hide in caves as part of his preparatory training. How would you like to have to do that?
It was not all triumph and victory, with David, and neither is it triumph and victory and success after success as we follow Jesus Christ. It can be ‘get up’ and ‘get on’.
Face the enemy and know exactly what to do and how to move and how to act and react. We read all about this in the second half of the first book of Samuel in the Old Testament part of the Bible and there are profound lessons here on leadership training, which one will not find in any leadership manual, and this teaching happens to come to us from the very heart and mind of Almighty God, and no man can improve upon that.
There are certain interesting parallels here, with Jesus Christ. There is the cave and the manger, which was basically a cave. I have visited that cave outside Bethlehem on various occasions and people are surprised to see the actual conditions in which God the Father sent the Christ child into our world to rescue and save and love and restore mankind. We see David the fugitive and remember how Jesus had to flee to Egypt and later how Jesus came to experience being despised and rejected, and being sustained by men and Jesus choosing these unknown ones.
We see David being delivered by God and Psalm 34, and the opening verses of Psalms 56 and 57 elaborate and explain and expound the reality of what David had to go through.
God delivers those who love and trust the Lord, and those who call upon Him.
Deliverance is undeserved. It is all of grace, as God is moved with compassion.
God delivers to bring about Praise and Thanksgiving.
God delivers so that men may learn. Over these past weeks as I have been studying these deep lessons from the life of David I only wish I had known something of this forty years ago. Of course, you cannot, because these lessons are only learned by what we face and deal with and confront in our personal and professional and spiritual lives.
David learned a great deal about the fear of the Lord, and that is one aspect which has almost vanished.
God delivers men even when they are acting foolishly, and David had acted, temporarily, most foolishly, and most unwisely. That is sheer grace which rescues and restores this pained man.
God delivers when escape appears impossible. How many have found that to be so true over the years?
God delivers in ways that are humbling and not flattering, and some may not welcome this reality. Well, there are times when we just to choose God’s way or else suffer worse. That applies to nations as well as individuals.
God delivers us from eternal condemnation.
Sandy Shaw