Week 13 Day 4 – Who You Gonna Call?

1 Samuel 28:4-20; 30:1-31

When life throws difficult circumstances your way, where do you turn for wisdom and direction? Hopefully, as a follower of Jesus, your automatic answer to that question would be that you turn to God in prayer. You reach out to God for help. That’s good, but there is a second and deeper question. In what spirit do you reach out to God? Do you have in your mind what you want God to do, so, in approaching Him, you lay out a list of demands and say, "OK, God, this situation stinks and here’s what I think you should do about it." Unfortunately, too many times we slip into that mode. We probably do not consciously think in such brash terms, but deep down we really do have an agenda that we want God to follow.

In today’s readings we see this point illustrated in yet another heart contrast between Saul and David. Saul was faced with an oppressive enemy. He became afraid and cried out to God. You can read between the lines that he was crying out to God to deliver him from this enemy. But what did God do? How did He respond? God responded with silence. God did not give the answer that Saul had expected or desired. Up to this point Saul has done nothing wrong. Actually, he has done things right. He approached God with his request. Where he went wrong and exposed the true nature of his heart is what he did with God’s response. Saul rejected God’s response. He said, "I do not accept that response, so I am going to find another means of getting what I want." Saul’s desire to see his own will be done was so strong that it led him to violate not only God’s Laws, but his own laws as well. Saul had expelled the spiritual mediums out of the country. Now, he was consulting one himself. This was the final straw for Saul and his own inquiry into the realm of the paranormal prophesied his own imminent doom.

David, on the other hand, exposed a very different attitude. Imagine the feeling in David’s heart when he mounted the final rise and saw the smoldering ashes of what was once his home. In that moment a thousand thoughts of terror must have been racing through his mind. Where are my wives? Where are my children? Will I see their burned bodies impaled on a pike? Will the raiders return for more? Who did this? Why did this happen? Where was God when this happened?

For the typical warrior-type person, the first gut response to this travesty and heinous violation would have been to find out who had done this, hunt them down, and pay back blow for blow the violence they had perpetrated on your people. But not David. What was the first thing he did? He said, "Where’s the priest? I need to consult with God. Lord," he asked, "should I pursue the perpetrators, or is there something I am missing in this situation?" What is amazing about this is that the godly response to this event seems like it was so evident; he needed to go rescue his family. Yet, even in a situation that seemed like a no-brainer, David stopped and asked first.

Here is the heart of David. David saw himself as a servant of God. This village, and even his family, did not belong to him. Everything belonged to God and everything that was done needed to be done as a result of God’s direction and for His glory.

This point is further illustrated in the second part of the story. After David gets permission to pursue the perpetrators, and after he acquires all the plunder from their villages (which, in those days, was his rightful compensation for a victorious battle), look what he does with it. Does he say, "Now I have been repaid for what was taken from me? This is mine and is my just reward?" No. He says, "Hey everybody, look at the bounty that God has provided for us. Here, take some."

Here are a couple of quick observations about David’s heart. It would do us well to pattern our heart after this.

1. David’s heart was focused on God, not himself.

2. David’s concern was for his nation, his community, not himself.

3. David’s heart was a generous, giving, other-oriented heart.

The next time you are faced with a difficult situation, do a heart check. Are you approaching God with an agenda? If He doesn’t fulfill the expectations of your agenda, are you going to "take your ball and go home." In that moment, remember David. Remember that this situation, as bad as it may seem, is actually within the boundaries of God’s control. He has the agenda, not you. Come to Him with a receiving heart, ready to hear His plan, and then to obey no matter what it costs.

Week 13 Day 1 – A Tale of Two Hearts

1 Samuel 15:1-35; 17:1-58  

As with all good stories, the early scenes set the stage for what is to come. In these two chapters we get to peek into the heart of the two main characters in this drama. On the one hand we see Saul, the current king of Israel. On the other hand we see David; a simple shepherd boy who will one day be king. By placing these two stories side by side we can see how the trajectories of each man’s journey has been set.

The heart of the matter is just that...the heart. Later on, David would write the words of Psalm 42:1, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” In these two stories we see that what was in the heart of each man is what overflowed and set their destinies.

In chapter 15 we see that Saul’s heart was filled with himself. Previously, back in chapter 13, we saw that Saul had a hard time following directions. In that chapter he became impatient with Samuel and made the sacrifice for the battle by himself, thus violating God’s Law. In this chapter we see Saul thinking that he didn’t have to obey God’s instructions exactly. God had told him to completely wipe out the Amalekites (cleaning up after Joshua’s unfinished business). Instead, Saul saved the really good stuff.

Saul made two fatal mistakes:

1. He did a right thing for the wrong reasons. Saul claimed that he saved the best of the booty so that he could sacrifice it to God. That sounds really spiritual. After all, didn’t God demand that the Israelites bring the first fruits of everything to God? Wasn’t it noble of Saul to think about God in that way? No. It wasn’t. It was disobedient.
Many times we can do things that seem really “good,” but the reasons we are doing them are very distorted. If we do “good” things so that others will notice and recognize how spiritual or holy we are, then we have just made that good thing into a sinful thing. Samuel summarized very well how God feels about this in vv. 22 when he said, “to obey is better than sacrifice.”

2. He shifted blame when he was caught. Saul got caught in our society’s favorite pastime: the Blame Game. Truly, the passing of the buck is one of the most fundamental elements of the sinful human nature. It is the first effect that disobedience had on human nature. When Adam was accused of eating the forbidden fruit, the first thing he did was point a big, fat finger at “the woman you gave me.” Not only was he blaming Eve, he was blaming God for giving the temptress to him!

Isn’t that the logic we use all the time? “If you hadn’t invited me out to dinner, I would have never ordered that gigantic dessert and eaten it all myself.” “If you hadn’t sold me the gun, I would have never shot that guy.” “It’s your fault I burned myself; you didn’t tell me the coffee was hot!”

It is one thing to commit a sin. It is a far worse offense to deny the sin and try to shift the blame. Had Saul simply humbled himself, admitted that he had messed up, and asked God to forgive him, then perhaps things would have been different. Notice that at the end of the chapter he does try to repent. God did not believe him, however, because Saul was not sorry that he had disobeyed. He was sorry that he was going to lose the throne. There is a big difference.
When the young shepherd boy steps into the picture we see a very different situation. In chapter 17 we read one of the most famous stories of all time. A young teenage shepherd, armed only with a slingshot, brings down the best fighting machine that the Philistines had to offer.

Why was David able to defeat this giant? What made David different than Saul?

1. He had proper humility. Humility is a very misunderstood word. When you read David’s words in vv.24-37 it appears that he is a cocky little guy. “I killed the bear, and I killed the lion. Look how great I am!” But wait a minute. Is that really what he said? Yes, David did say, “I killed the lion and the bear,” but he finished by saying, “the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Humility is not saying that you can’t do anything. Humility is being bold enough to speak truthfully about the gifts that God has given you, giving credit to Him, and not being afraid to use them.

2. He knew the source of his strength. The key to David’s success was his authentic proclamation, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty!” The key to a successful life in the Kingdom of God is to always remember that your heart is a conduit for God’s work to be done. As soon as you think you have the strength and ability to do what you think is right, then you will become like Saul and get hardening of the spiritual arteries, a blockage, and have a spiritual cardiac arrest. We must always have David’s attitude and remember that the battle is God’s. If God has truly asked you to do something, then you need to do it, keep your heart open, and let God do His mighty work through you.

Throughout the rest of this week we will see that David’s heart continues to grow for God and Saul’s heart continues to shrivel. As you read through the daily readings, keep a mental (or even an actual) comparison chart between Saul and David. Ask yourself, “what made David a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14)?”