Just Let Him Be God

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 27:5-6, Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

We have been discussing the fact that David made a decision to leave his own countrymen to dwell amongst the Philistines, thinking (in his despair) that this was the solution to solving his “Saul” problem. This was not the wisest decision David made while on the run. However, like any situation in our lives, God ALWAYS works them out for our good, and His glory (Romans 8:28). Although David chose to live away from his own country and people, we read that God, by His grace, goodness, and providence, placed David in an interesting location. In approaching Achish, we see David’s humility and wisdom. Although he felt that he had to live amongst people who worshipped foreign gods, it did not change who he was as a humble servant. God tells us clearly in James 4:6 that He gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud. David did not seek a place, amongst these people, of importance for his own gain. He sought instead a place where he could still be separate from them. So it is with us that we are to be in the world, but not of the world (John 17:16). Just because we are called to go into the world and win the lost, we are not called to be a friend to the world and make ourselves an enemy of God (James 4:4-6). God, in His overwhelming, and undeserved, goodness, used this situation, and Achish (a heathen king) to give back to Israel, through David, a land that was given to them during the time when Israel was told, by God, to take the land. For some unknown reason, Ziklag was now under the control of the Philistines. However in Joshua 15:31 it is listed as one of the cities given to tribe of the children of Judah as an inheritance. Later, in Joshua 19:5 it is again listed as a one of the cities given to Simeon to inherit with the children of the tribe of Judah. God sees fit to give this land back to the kings of Judah, through David’s humble request. The location of Ziklag put David far from the royal city and right at the border of his own country and his own people. The fact of the matter is that God uses everything that happens in our lives, whether we see them as good or bad, for our good. Far too often, rather than seek what it is that God is trying to accomplish in allowing certain challenges and trials in our lives, we waste too much time trying to get God to change the situation or pull us out of it. In our desperation to get out of whatever situation it is, we end up like David, in despair and making the wrong choices. Praise be to our Lord and Savior who never forsakes us, and uses even our most foolish decisions to accomplish His will for our good and His glory. As we read this chapter, we see that this location was perfect for David to continue serving his own country and people, and stay faithful to his God, even though he had a moment where he allowed his emotions to override his faith. We said yesterday that sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we step away from the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ and the local church. However, no matter where we go, we can never be too far from our Savior, as He is the One who maintains the promise the HE will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). Regardless of where we find ourselves because of how someone else treats us, we need to stay focused on the Lord and His goodness toward us, and realize that He can use us no matter where we are, if we will only make ourselves available. We never know how God is going to use a particular situation in our lives, but He will accomplish more if we simply let Him be God in the situation, and prayerfully watch for whatever it is He is trying to accomplish in us and through us in the circumstance(s).

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).