A Sense of God's Timing

(David talking to Saul)  “I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life.  May the Lord judge between you and me.”  1 Samuel 24:11-12

This is a  story about two leaders locked in a death struggle - with one refusing to fight.

Saul was the right and legal king of Israel, living in luxury.  David had been secretly anointed as his replacement, but he lived in the desert, scrabbling to survive.  Saul had a professional army, David had a small band composed of family members and an assortment of outlaws.

Twice Saul accidentally fell into David’s hands, but David refused to kill him.  He felt that would violate God’s will.  He would not use his sword to become king.  He fought not to win but to survive.

Survival was not easy.  At first David ran from one place to another, alone and completely vulnerable.  Then, when 400 outlaws gathered around him, the local people turned him in twice.  Perhaps they feared that Saul would slaughter them the way he had the Nob priests (1 Samuel 22:6-23).

David survived and managed to keep his army intact.  He even built popular support by providing military protection to his neighbors.  But eventually he saw that his position was impossible.  “one of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul,” he said (1 Samuel  27:1)  He left Israel and became, with his army, a hired soldier for one of the Philistine kings.

Sooner or later, David’s double-agent act would have been found out.  In fact, when the Philistines planned a major military effort against Israel, David barely escaped having to fight his own people.

Throughout his wilderness period, David’s position was desperate.  David had one precious asset only:  God had promised he would be king.  David believed this promise even when his situation looked very bad.  He would wait for God’s timing.

A sense of timing, people say, is essential to leadership.  You must know when to act boldly and when to wait patiently; when to bend and when to stand firm.  David had that critical sense of timing because he trusted God’s control of events.

(From The Devotional Study Bible)