My hero

[Guest jckduboise]

I call David this because of his enourmous obediance and love of the Lord.

My most favorite parts of the bible is the pursuit of David by King Saul and David's obedience to God.

Here is this man who is being pursued by a man he has done no wrong to. David must flee his home and live on the run. David is handed the oppurtunity to take King Saul's life when the king is camping right outside of the mouth of a cave that David is hiding in...

David's men say to him.."This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish' " Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

but David felt guilty (conscience-stricken) and said to his men "The Lord firbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's annointed, or lift my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord"....

From there David placed himself at the hands of Saul and bowed down prostrate to the ground. He confessed to him that he had cut his robe. But he also let Saul know that he was not going to cause him harm and had never been after Saul in the way that Saul had believed.

David in trusting in the Lord and his obedience to God's word that he is not to harm his master or the Lord's anointed showed King Saul the mercy that God shows to us each and every day.

I had never read this before because I have always been more interested in the NT because of teachings that told me the OT no longer applies to our daily lives. Now if that isn't false teaching I don't know what is.

The law of the Lord remains the same. Why? Because He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. God fought that part of David's and Saul's battle in a way that is not expected. David could have taken Saul's life but his reverance for the Lord was greater than his human desire to get even for the things that were done to him by Saul..that is true humility..

And what it did for Saul's heart is amazing...Saul asked "Is that your voice, David my son?" and he wept out loud.."you are more righteous than I" "you have treated me well but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me of the good you did to me, the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands."....

Saul blessed David for his charity..He did not scoff him, nor did he call him weak..he blessed him!!

And now I know why we are not to go against our enemies in a manner that goes against what God commands us to do....charity..mercy..whatever you want to call it..softens the hearts of our foes and puts us in command of the things the Lord wants us to command..

The history of the OT is most definitly the foundation of all that we live today...

Praise the Lord!!!

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

Dear jckdeboise.

Praise The Lord.

How wonderful for you to have read that. It is great, isn't it?!

As today we must heap coals of kindness when mistreated.

There is alot to learn in both the new and old testaments.

God bless

[GodisTruth]

I always enjoying reading 1 and 2 Samuel about David. He had a lot of faith.

[ayin jade]

Good thread

[Guest jckduboise]

I think of the beauty of what the Lord did for David when He showed Him that taking the life of his enemy was not the way to end the war.

God took this situation that had to have been very difficult for David to say the least. And He protected David and He made King Saul blind to finding David in order to kill him. David loved the Lord so very much that he could not take the life of his hunter. And in the end King Saul blessed David with the land and the people to be his.

What a truly wonderful story of love. So far I have found none better. But I will post them when I do.

[Guest jckduboise]

1 Samuel 25 David is trying to get food and other provision from a man named Nabal. Nabal had a lot of land and was rich with livestock. David and his men had protected Nabal's land and kept no one from stealing from Nabal. David sent a servant to request provisions for he and his men. Nabal sent back the message..

25:10 Nabal answered.."who is this David? who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?"

David was angery at the response and he and his men set out to kill Nabal. He took 400 men with him.

Nabal's wife, Abigail, heard what her husband had done and went to take provisions to David and his men because she feared what was coming and knew that David was a man of God and had protected the land Nabal owned but Nabal repaid the kindness with wickedness.

Abigail met with David and told him that she was his servant and that she knew about the good he had done and she also knew that David was a man after the Lord's own heart. She begged David to take mercy on the them saying..24. My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you, hear what your servant has to say. 25 May the lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name-his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant I did not see the men my master sent.

26 Now since the Lord has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal..

David took the provisions Abigail had offered and went back to his camp. Abigail waited to tell Nabal about what she had done until the next morning because when she arrived home Nabal was "high on spirits and very drunk. When she told him Nabal had a heart attack and went into a coma..about 10 days later he died.

When David heard of this he sent word to Abigail that he wanted her for his wife and they were married.

And here we see yet more proof that the righteous are justified. The Lord took Nabal's life from him for his foolishness and greed and David did not have to cause bloodshed to repay Nabal for his wickedness....The Lord did it for him.

There will come a day when all of us who have been wrongly accused, treated poorly for lack of money, stature, because of the color of our skin, lack of education, lack of worldly things, being Christian;we will see the Lord take His revenge on those people. We do not have to do anything at all the Lord has our backs. We can remain righteous as David did. And we are to remain righteous. If someone slaps your face, do not strike back but turn the other cheek..hey I am sure that God's hand is much bigger that mine and the mark He leaves on those who harm us will not be quickly forgotten.

Praise be to God