Lesson Helpers: 1 Samuel 20-23
Here are some thoughts from my quiet time today. While these are useful in my own life, I thought I’d share them because there’s also some good application for teaching on these verses.
In these chapters, David convinces Jonathan that Saul is out to kill him. David escapes and the chase is on. Saul kills the priests who he errantly believes have purposefully aided David in his escape. David is pursued and betrayed along the way. When Saul is within reasonable reach of David, he gets a memo that Israel is being attacked by the Philistines and takes off. David lives to run another day.
During these scary times in David’s life, God provides trusted advisers who help him know the danger he’s in. He also asks God for direction. God is faithful to help David know the truth. Although David is in danger and on the run, the help of God and trustworthy friends help him escape Saul.
In our lives, evil hunts us down wherever we go, much like Saul hunted David. We try to escape, but it seems to follow us. Too often, people give up resisting evil and become enslaved by sin. Pastor Kenton Beshore of Mariners Church rightly said in his message last weekend that while we surrender to sin knowing God will forgive us, we break our souls in the process and we put a distance between ourselves and God. We must flee temptation like David fled from Saul.
David did, however, make a big mistake when he lied to the priests. Because he went to them for help and caused them to believe a lie, they, their families and livestock were all massacred by Saul’s men. This is a great illustration of how we need to follow God’s plan even when it seems he’s not in control. When we swerve away from the guidelines he sets us up to follow, it shows a lack of faith on our part. It also can cause more damage than it prevents.
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