Trapped in the World

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 28:1-2, Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.” 2 So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

How far do we have to backslide before we turn back to our God? It is obvious that David has not yet reached that level. However, we see here the consequence of all David’s lies. For some time he had been feeding Achish false information about his whereabouts and dealings, and as a result found himself in a position to have to actually live out his lies, if he expected to survive amongst the Philistines. I find it curious that David, a man after God’s own heart, was still relying on his own plans and schemes to be rescued from Saul’s pursuits. Although he did not give Achish a definitive answer to his command to join him in battle against Saul and his men, David also did not reject the possibility. We cannot help but think that maybe David saw this as an opportunity to finally see Saul’s demise; yet not by his hands. Nonetheless, we see here the consequences of David’s choice to run to an ungodly people as a way to be rescued from Saul’s attempts to kill him. How sad when we, God’s children, run to the world and seek its solutions to our problems, when we have a promise from the Lord that He is our Solution. Jesus Himself said in John 16:31-33, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus’ peace came from knowing that the Father was always with Him. This is the same peace we can enjoy in Christ, no matter what our circumstances, because the promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us was given to us in Hebrews 13:5. This instance in David’s life should serve as a reminder to us that none of us, regardless of who we are, or how spiritual we think we are, is exempt from finding ourselves in a backslidden state. It is in this state of being, far from the Lord, that we entangle ourselves with the ways of the world, as David did, setting ourselves up to coming face to face with having to live out the lies we tell. It is truly a sad place for a child of God to find themselves; yet not uncommon. We will see later that David’s slippery slope will lead him to a place of tragedy that will finally cause him to turn his eyes back toward God. David’s refusal to turn back to trusting the One that had preserved his life thus far had caused him to be trapped amongst the Philistines. So it is with us when we backslide and refuse to turn our eyes back toward Jesus. If we find ourselves, today, in a place where our back is turned toward God, and we are looking to the world for relief, we must stop…turn…and not wait for God to allow some tragedy in our lives to cause us to go running back to where we should have been to begin with. Let us stop right now before we find ourselves trapped in the world, feeling obligated to serve it; when the only One we should be serving is our God who never fails us, and who is our greatest Solution to ALL of life’s trials, troubles, and tribulations.

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).