Tag: Wisdom

“That’s the story of my life”
1 Samuel 24

When I was growing up people would say that’s “the story of my life.” And most of the time what they meant was the same old thing keeps happening and that’s not necessarily a good thing. When we look at stories in the Bible or even remember the stories of our own lives there seems to be a common thread and that thread is this; when we trust the timing of God things turn out, at least most of the time, better then when we would take matters into our own hands. Trust in The Lord or Take Matters into Your Own Hands? That’s the question, and the decision you make will tell the story of your life.

When we look at the stories in the Bible we see this thread as well, particularly in the life of David. When David trusted God and did what honored Him things turned out way better then when he took matters into his own hands and did as he pleased. David was known for being a shepherd boy. He was also known for killing a giant and yeah the Bathsheba thing as well. And of course the stories of his life could have all been summarized into this one principle: “trust in the Lord with all your heart.” When he took matters into his own hands he experienced failure but when he trusted God he had success.

There was another legendary story concerning David as well. It revolved around him & the previous king, Saul. This incident, maybe more than any other, reflected the dilemma of trusting in the Lord or taking matters into his own hands. It is also somewhat of a humbling and humorous story as well.

Following his run-in with Goliath in the valley of Elah, David was immediately catapulted into the limelight. He became famous and influential in the course of a single day. He was a folk hero in every sense of the word. People wrote and sang songs celebrating David’s success. The hook went like this: “Saul slew his thousands, and David slew his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 29:5 KJV). In other words, “King Saul is all right, but David is amazing. We used to want to be like Saul. Now we want to be like David.”

Now, Saul, being the average king with a giant ego, didn’t warm up to this turn of events. He didn’t appreciate the fact that his popularity among the people was faltering. And complicating matters even more was the fact that David had already been anointed king by Samuel. Such a thing was unheard-of” “while the reigning king was still . . . reigning. As grateful as Saul was for David and his many military exploits, he wasn’t about to be upstaged by a shepherd boy.” Saul, like most kings, planned for his son, Jonathan, to follow him to the throne. And as long as David was around, if something happened to Saul, he knew the people would ignore his son and flock to the shepherd boy to crown him king. And to make it worse Jonathan and David had become friends! How could this be? David was the competition. So Saul had decided that the best thing to do was to get rid of David.

The story is found in 1 Samuel 24. After pursuing the Philistines in battle, Saul and his army returned home and were greeted with the news. David’s location had been found—he was hiding in a place called Engedi. It wasn’t your typical desert with blowing sand dunes. Rather, it’s a stretch of land adjacent to the coast of the Dead Sea, where the valley is lush and green, while the mountains are rocky and treacherous. This would be a place that would be familiar for a shepherd boy like David who was being hunted down by a warrior and King like Saul.

Saul was so focused on killing David that he couldn’t afford to wait another minute. He had to have David’s head. Following orders, his men saddled up their horses while Saul hopped on his. At this point, the plot thickens. David is hiding for his life in a cave and Saul comes to the front of the cave to relieve himself. He had to go to the boys room. He needed to do his business. He was taking a much needed “potty break”. Saul was in the most vulnerable position and David’s men were encouraging him to kill Saul, after all is was a matter of kill or be killed. But David didn’t do it and what he did do he felt bad for. He cut the corner of his robe. He could have killed him. It was the perfect opportunity. He had a choice. Take matters into his own hands or trust God. He trusted God.

David not killing Saul was wise and honorable. And we see in verse 6 that David listened to God and in verse 8 we see that Saul had been listening to people. David was saying I am going to leave it in God’s hands and not take matters in my own hands. He decided that day he would not be the judge and jury regarding Saul. David’s decision became the story of his life. It was part of his legacy. What’s the story of your life going to be?

When you take matters into your own hands:

– You miss the purpose.

– You miss the timing of God.

– You will operate in frustration and not freedom.

-You prove to others that what you did what was obvious & easy instead of what took wisdom & constraint. (you prove what you could have done -instead of what you should of done).

– You operate in the flesh and not the spirit.

You operate in the ways of man and not the wisdom of God.

– You create a story that will be remembered.

You have a choice you can take matters into your own hands or you can trust the timing of God. If the story of your life is always a mess or not the story you want, maybe you need to take your hands off and trust the timing of God. God can turn the page of your story and began to write a new story if you will trust him.

CSLewis said, “There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him & bad when it turns from Him.

David using his sword was remembered a couple of times. One took courage (the giant) and the other took wisdom (Saul) but both honored God. David had courage to kill the giant but he had wisdom to only cut the corner of Saul’s robe but both honored God. Whenever there is a problem there is a purpose and you have a choice. You can take matters into your own hands or you can trust God and the decision you make will determine “the story of your life.”