Daily Devotional for Wednesday, August 9

David Evades Saul

“And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them,” (1 Samuel 23:26).

One of my pastors when I was young had been a soldier in the Vietnam War. I remember talking to him about what war was like and at first, he told me of the good moments while he was away. But when asked about actual combat and searching for the enemy, he told me how awful it was knowing that they were being hunted at the same time they were trying to find the enemy. He told of how hard it was to sleep when you were afraid, knowing that the enemy was close by. Though David was a warrior, he was living on the run being hunted down by Saul daily (1 Samuel 23:14) and I can only imagine how he felt.

Evading Saul had become sort of a way of life for David during this time period. The only way he could stay one step ahead of Saul was by seeking the Lord in the matter (1 Samuel 23:10-12). He was also assured by his good friend Jonathan, and he strengthened him in the Lord and told him, “And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth,” (1 Samuel 23:17). Today when we are being pursued by the enemy and afraid, we need the same thing that David needed; we need the Lord’s leading and good friends to help assure us in the Lord.

JUST A THOUGHT: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid,” (Psalms 27:1)?

Tim Chambers