God’s will cannot fail (1 Sam 23:15-29)

After four years of theological study in the UK (undergrad and masters), I was running out of financial support. What money I had saved went into previous years of study and my home church was not interested in supporting me to do a PhD (they considered postgraduate study too intellectual and unnecessary for Christian ministry). The UK churches I was involved in treated me as just another student not worth investing in and a scholarship I applied for I did not get. As I returned to the UK after the summer to start the PhD, I simply did not have the funds for it. And yet, I could not help thinking that this was God’s plan, not mine, and I could only trust that He would provide. Amazingly, within a week or two of being back in the UK, the money for that first year of the doctorate fell into my lap. A generous fellow student gave me the tithe of his scholarship, I received several smaller grants, and the theology department got me a substantial university scholarship. It was a humbling experience.

Encouragement and acknowledging God’s will

For David, it was God’s will that he become king, but this period of running from Saul was nevertheless a stressful time full of narrow escapes. Living on a knife edge is a fearful experience especially when in David’s case a false move could cost him his life. The Lord knows that such challenging situations call for encouragement, and, in our lives, it is often through friends that this comes. In our reading, Jonathan is such a friend reminding David of God’s will and protection. Strikingly, Jonathan is called ‘Saul’s son’ (1 Sam 23:16) reminding us that he is heir to the throne, yet he steps aside because he recognises God’s intention for David to be king (1 Sam 23:17).

Knowing yet fighting God’s will

Jonathan’s speech reveals that Saul knows this too (v.17). How sad that the king cannot let go of his jealousy or his position and submit to God’s will. Saul talks about God and earlier he even convinces himself that God is on his side to catch David (1 Sam 23:7). In the present incident of betrayal, the king piously invokes the Lord’s blessing on the Ziphites for being willing to betray David’s whereabouts (1 Sam 23:21). For the second time, David is being betrayed and Saul’s elaborate plans to gather information (1 Sam 23:22-23) indicate the intensity of his desire to catch his rival. Saul’s pursuit of David on one side of the mountain while the fugitive band tries to outrun him on the other (1 Sam 23:26) is a tense moment that has an almost cinematic quality about it. Yet, God’s plans cannot fail and He intervenes so that news of the Philistine threat compels Saul to abandon the chase (1 Sam 23:27-28).

God’s will cannot fail

The incidents we read around David and Saul continue to refine the picture of two ways of living. David seeks God, talks to Him, and does His will in a relationship of trust and obedience and the Lord encourages and protects him. He is not saved from difficult situations, but delivered as he goes through them. It highlights once again why David is a man after God’s own heart. He will be a king who serves others and who acknowledges the Lord’s kingship. In this, he is a model for believers. Saul, on the other hand, cannot let go of power and kingship, nor does he submit to God’s kingship. His conversation is about God, but it does not involve talking to Him and Saul fails to understand the dynamics of trust and obedience as the foundation of the relationship with God. He knows deep down what the Lord’s will is but is still trying to convince himself that God is on his side even as he is fighting His will. He resembles people today who sound like believers because they involve God in their talk, but who refuse to relinquish ‘the throne’ and submit to God’s will. Submitting to the Lord can be a painful process but those who trust Him and seek His will find strength and encouragement in times of need.

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