After being anointed king of Israel, instead of immediately going to Jerusalem and claiming his throne, David was forced to spend years living like a fugitive and hiding in caves because Saul was out to take his life. More than once he must have asked himself, ‘What about the promise God gave me?’ Then an interesting thing happened. One of David’s soldiers found Saul asleep; he came to David, saying, ‘God has delivered your enemy into your hand…let me strike him’ (1 Samuel 26:8 NKJV). What an opportunity! David could have got rid of the man who wanted to kill him, come out of hiding, and claimed his throne – after all, he was already anointed to be king! It all made sense. Except for one thing – it wasn’t God’s plan. As much as David wanted to rule Israel, he knew that he needed to do it God’s way. This story should make us think twice, and pray before acting. When Abishai offered to kill Saul, he had David’s welfare at heart. Well-meaning friends can give us advice that goes against God’s will, and it can be hard not to go along with it, But we must never let anyone persuade us to do what we know isn’t God’s will, no matter how good their intentions are. We need to test every bit of advice against what God’s already told us, and ask Him for wisdom on what to do.‘Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice…he’s the one who will keep you on track’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG).
