21. Listen to God rather than people

Last week we learned that God is the One protecting us. If we dwell and abide with Him, all the promises in Psalm 91 are ours for the taking. God wants us close to Him, He wants to look after us. But if we are like wayward sheep running for the cliffs, He will certainly come after us and look for us, but we might have a few 'speed wobbles' in the process J. He wants us to avoid those 'speed wobbles', He doesn't want to see us hurt. So the best is to rather stay close to Him and His perfect will for our lives.

Now, back to David. He and his men went to dwell in the strongholds of En Gedi. Saul heard of it and after fighting with the Philistines he and three thousand men followed David there. Saul was searching for David and in the process he had to tend to his needs. He went into a cave alone. Now as it happened this was the exact cave where David and his men were hiding. David's men got very excited and urged David to go and kill Saul as he was very vulnerable at that very moment. They believed that God placed him in David's hands. But David refused:

"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord." 1 Samuel 24:6

David simply cut off a piece of Saul's robe. And when Saul left the cave, David followed him out. He stooped to the ground and bowed before Saul and showed him the piece that he cut off. He declared that he could have killed Saul, but he didn't, because he wouldn't lift his finger against the anointed of God. Saul realized that he could have been dead, and if it had been him in the same situation he would certainly have killed David. Saul showed remorse and even declared that he now knew for certain that David would be king of the land. He left for home and for the time being stopped chasing David.

David's act here was just as heroic to me as when he defeated Goliath. He could have buckled under the pressure of his men. He could have believed them when they told him that this was from the Lord, but David had such a close relationship with God that he knew it was not the right thing to do. He stood up under group pressure and did the right thing, which is truly amazing, given the situation Saul has placed David in.

Today people might urge us to do things that we don't feel is from the Lord. They might even quote verses and proclaim that what they are saying is from God, but it is always important to hear from God yourself. You have the ability to hear Him even better than David did, because His Spirit lives within you. Do not buckle under the pressure, even if it is something that you really want to do. I am certain that David wanted to go home and didn't want Saul to chase him anymore, but he knew that this wasn't the way to do it. We need to also listen to the Voice of God and make sure that what people are urging us to do is certainly from Him.

Then just another thing I want to point out here is that David knew that he couldn't touch the anointed of God. And today we are His anointed. Jesus is the Anointed One and He lives within us therefore we are anointed too. And because we are anointed the enemy can't touch us either. He cannot do anything to us. It is only when we allow him to that dire things happen to us, when we do not abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Do not allow that to happen. Anoint yourself with oil on a daily basis if need be to remind yourself of your standing in the spiritual realm. You are anointed as royalty, children of the Almighty God and no evil can prevail against you. Hold on to that truth.

Father, give us the wisdom to know when to act, when something is from You and when it isn't. We need Your Divine guidance on a daily basis, please speak clearly to us. And thank you so much that we can walk with our heads held high, knowing that we are royalty, Your anointed! Hallelujah! All because of Your wonderful Son, Jesus. Amen

Post a comment