1 Samuel 18:11 Trust God!

 ”And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭18‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. And Saul cast the spear: If a spear is in your hand, you’ll probably use it. As Saul held the spear the distressing spirit moved upon him, and instead of receiving ministry from David’s music the distressing spirit prompted Saul to strike out at David.

i. We must say that the distressing spirit did not “make” Saul do this. But the spirit prompted it. Saul was able to choose, “Will I do this or not?” and he chose to cast the spear.

ii. This same music ministry once soothed Saul, and made him refreshed and well, giving him relief from the distressing spirit (1 Samuel 16:23). Now, it is of no effect at all, and Saul even responds to David’s music ministry with a murder attempt. David’s music ministry or heart did not change – Saul did, and for the worse. Saul refused to receive from David’s ministry and that refusal set the stage for this kind of violence.

b. For he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” This wasn’t an accident. Saul may have wanted it to seem like an accident. Though he wouldn’t admit it, his heart was set on killing David. He didn’t want to just frighten or wound David. He wanted the spear to deliver a fatal blow, completely through the body.

c. But David escaped his presence: Saul threw the spear, and it missed David. Perhaps Saul’s aim was bad, affected by his poor mental and emotional state. Perhaps David saw the spear and ducked. Perhaps God simply supernaturally guided the spear to miss. However it happened, the spear missed and was on the floor. And David escaped his presence.

i. Of many of us it would be written, “And so-and-so picked the spear up off the floor went over to Saul saying, ‘If Goliath couldn’t scare me, you sure can’t. If Goliath couldn’t kill me, you sure can’t.’ And with one thrust of the spear, so-and-so pinned Saul to the wall.”

ii. But David didn’t pick up the spear. He didn’t throw it back. He simply escaped his presence. No one could blame David if he struck back; it could easily be called self-defense. But David had a different heart. It wasn’t a matter of what he could get away with, but it was a matter of what God’s heart wanted. David was determined to leave the situation in God’s hands, and not take the throne himself. God would have to take care of Saul because David wouldn’t do it.

iii. David said, “LORD, you put Saul on the throne. And I know I’m supposed to the be next king because You gave me Your promise and Your anointing. But getting Saul out of the way is Your business. I won’t touch it, because he is an authority appointed by You. You started his reign, so Youhave to end it.”

d. But David escaped his presence twice: Perhaps the most remarkable word in this chapter is twice. This means that Saul threw the spear twice. This means that Saul missed twice. This means that after the first miss, David came back and played again.

i. This is where many draw the line. “Look, I’ll sit with the bullseye on my chest once, and I’ll dodge the spear. I’ll even leave the spear on the floor and resist the temptation to throw it back. But one spear rushing by my head is enough. One miss and I’ve paid my dues. Once is submission to the LORD. Twice is stupidity.”

ii. We might even say that David’s submission didn’t begin until he sat back down to play for Saul again after the first attempt on his life. Now he knew the danger, now he knew Saul’s heart, and nowhe had to trust God.

iii. If David struck back after resisting the temptation the first time we can suppose that David still would become king. We can suppose that we would still admire David’s heart in not throwing the spear back the first time, and we would understand how he struck back the second time. But if David did this, he would have surrendered his destiny to be the greatest king of Israel. He still would be a king, but not the king the LORD destined him to be.

iv. “In doing this small feat of returning thrown spears, you will prove many things. You are courageous. You stand for the right. You boldly stand against the wrong. You are tough and can’t be pushed around. You will not stand for injustice or unfair treatment. You are the defender of the faith, the keeper of the flame, detector of all heresy. You will not be wronged. All of these attributes then combine to prove that you are also obviously a candidate for kingship. Yes, perhaps you are the Lord’s anointed. After the order of King Saul.” (Gene Edwards, Tale of Three Kings)

(Guzik)

Trust God!

“But David escaped his presence twice”! 

David trusted God, the same brave David that took on a giant went back to play for Saul a second time!

If only we were that trusting of God! I say we because I believe it’s safe to say if someone threw a spear at us we would run and not look back, let alone go back!

Throwing spears aside, is there something in your life that you aren’t fully trusting God with?

Blessings