You Will Surely Be King

YOU WILL SURELY BE KING

a prayer to open

My Lord, my God, show me your heart. Ground me in your presence.

Draw me near and hold me close.

After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of En-gedi. So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men. . . .

Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!

“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.

But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.

Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the LORD placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the LORD’s anointed one.’ Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.

“May the LORD judge between us. Perhaps the LORD will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you. . . . May the LORD therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me!” . . .

When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, “Is that really you, my son David?” . . . And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the LORD put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. . . . May the LORD reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today. And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule. Now swear to me by the LORD that when that happens you will not kill my family.” . . .

So David promised this to Saul with an oath.

David could have stopped his life of running and hiding. He could have put to rest his constant fear of being killed. He could have taken the throne that rightfully belonged to him. The circumstances even suggested that God had delivered Saul into David’s hands. But David chose to let Saul go. Such restraint is hard to imagine, given that David had been fleeing Saul’s sword since the day he killed Goliath. But David’s devotion to and trust in God compelled him not to take Saul’s life or his throne. Those were matters to be left to God alone. How often we seek to fill his job description instead of our own. God invites us to release to him what is his and focus solely on what he’s given us to do.

• Imagine being in David’s position: in the cave with Saul, knowing you could finally stop living in fear and hiding in the forest, and being goaded to take action by the men who follow you. What thoughts would you have? How would you respond?
• When have you had an opportunity to grab your life by the reins but decided not to? What motivated you to not do so? Was it a desire not to be caught or break the rules? Was it a desire not to grieve your relationship with God but to choose to trust him instead? Is there a difference?
• What spiritual practices—prayer, reading and reflecting on Bible passages, worship, or others—help you grow in your devotion to and trust in God? Do you regularly incorporate these into your daily life? Why or why not?

Father, thank you for providing an example of what a devoted heart looks like. I long for my devotion to increase and for my trust in you to grow. You have only given me reasons to trust you, yet my heart can be overtaken so easily by fear and doubt. Remind me of your presence, and, by your grace and love, give me opportunities to know you more. Amen.