1 Samuel 26: David Spares Saul again

Outline

• David’s daring
• David’s restraint
• David’s complaint

Introduction

Knowing a truth and doing it are two different things. We can say that God answers prayer but not believe it if we are not committed to praying. We can say that God can do the impossible but will we trust Him for it? David has been learning some lessons about God in the last few chapters. A major lesson is one of trusting God. God has made a promise that David will be king, it is David’s part now to patiently wait and trust and be faithful and not sin trying to manufacture the results himself. It will be most important for David to know that he is not a self-made man, but that God has done it. This is a lesson we are all learning every day. It is God who saves, God who provides, God who sustains, God who brings about the results and gives rewards, so that it is God who gets the glory. The lives of all the saints of old are lives of patient waiting. Abraham was given a promise of land but only got a burial site in his lifetime as fulfilment. Isaac and Jacob were given the same promises but only greeted them from afar. We are all waiting for the day when God fulfils all His promises and faithfulness while we wait is our portion. David is betrayed by the Ziphites a second time and Saul is on the hunt again with 3000 men. What does patient waiting look like in David’s situation? Daring, restraint and complaint.