Message: In 1 Samuel 24 Saul had learned of David’s location again so he took 3,000 of his best warriors and went looking for David and his men. Last we had read, David only had about 400 men with him so 3,000 seasoned warriors seems a bit excessive but it also testifies to the fact that David was a strong and very successful warrior. He was not to be tangled with! When Saul showed up to relieve himself in the very cave that David and his men were hiding in, it looked like an obvious confirmation that God was handing Saul over to David. In fact, the bible doesn’t tell us that he wasn’t handing Saul over. I don’t believe David would have been wrong if he had killed Saul, but David was holding himself to a much higher standard. He wasn’t allowing Saul’s behavior to dictate his response. He certainly wasn’t timid or passive. He’s the same man that confronted a giant Philistine bully and took off his head for his irreverence to God. What made David exceptional is that he wasn’t fighting for himself. He was fully committed to the plan of God no matter what it was. He endured a lot of abuse and spent a lot of time fleeing from a man that he probably could have squashed like a bug. He respected and honored Saul even when he was out for his blood and acting like a lunatic simply because he recognized that Saul had been placed by God. Even though David knew that he had been chosen and anointed as king, he would not allow himself to act on that until God removed Saul himself. He was not about to make it happen by his own hand. Because of this standard, even Saul himself recognized that David was fit to be the king of Israel. Reading this made me think of times when I had an opportunity to capitalize on a situation. These aren’t always positional opportunities. Sometimes these opportunities are verbal arguments where I’m set up perfectly to take the upper hand, make someone look stupid or incompetent, or expose someone in their failure. Saul was pooping in a cave. It doesn’t get much more vulnerable than that! I’ve never faced that particular scenario before and I seriously doubt I ever will, but I have certainly had the opportunity to expose someone in their vulnerability. I haven’t always chosen the right response in the moment but I can see how David’s higher standard and his humility shaped him as Israel’s most loved king and “the man after God’s own heart.” This is the kind of leader and influencer I want to be.
