Day 115: King Saul is Spared

1 Samuel 24:1-22 While pursuing David, Saul unknowingly stopped in the cave where David was hiding with his men. David snuck up on Saul and snipped a piece of fabric from his clothing but refused to kill him because he was God’s anointed king. After Saul left and was at some distance, David called out to Saul, using the piece of cloth as proof that he meant Saul no harm. Saul repented of his desire to kill David and acknowledged him as the next King of Israel. (CCC 1428-1429, 2262)

Psalm 57 Fear of danger and evil turns to trust and confidence as the psalmist prays for God’s assistance. His enemies are defeated by their own plots, which backfire upon them; the steadfast heart is thus led to give thanksgiving to the Lord for his help and protection. The mention of the dawn hints that the preceding fears that came in the darkness will give way to peace amid the light. This psalm is prayed as a liturgical hymn of joy linked to the Resurrection as the light of Christ conquers death and at the same time blesses his people with hope and grace. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, September 19, 2001)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• And heeere weeee gooo….

• 1 Samuel 24: we have for the first time, one of the moments where David is going to spare the life of King Saul

• One of the things that this highlights is that how ROOTED David is in the reality that God has chosen King Saul

• Yes, God has also chosen David to be king

• BUT…

• God DOES NOT UNCHOOSE whom he has chosen, right?

• Even though King Saul is a sinner and he will not have a dynasty that will last forever, that does not mean he is NOT the king

• He is charged with the duty and responsibility to fight for the people of Israel against their enemies, especially the Philistines

• At some point, God can absolutely UNKING the KING

• David realizes that HE IS NOT GOD

• What God has ANOINTED, David will not VIOLATE

• David is not going to take it upon himself to exterminate the person that God has anointed

• Even if God has made it very clear that He is going to take the kingship from Saul, David has the WISDOM to know that it is God’s prerogative 

• God gets to do that

• But it’s not David’s prerogative and David does not get to unking Saul

• There is something REALLY POWERFUL about that

• What it reveals is that David himself recognizes the power of the Lord and his anointing, and the power of the Lord’s choosing him, and the power of the Lord’s faithfulness

• GOD GETS TO DECIDE who is king and who is not

• GOD GETS TO BE LORD OVER THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

• GOD GETS TO BE THE GOD OF LIFE AND DEATH 

• GOD GETS TO BE SOVEREIGN

• David, even though he will be the next king, he recognizes his LIMITS

• This is the key for A LOT OF US

• We might be tempted or told at times that we should overextend our reach

• We might want to overextend our reach and wade into areas that God hasn’t given us permission to wade into

• There are battles around this world

• There are battles in life

• That God hasn’t commissioned us to step into

• If He does, great we will do our best to step into those battles

• There are battles in our lives that God hasn’t necessarily called us into

• If He does call us, great hopefully we will respond

• Hopefully ALL OF US will respond whenever the Lord calls us to MOVE FORWARD

• But there are also limits that WE ALL HAVE

• These can be self-imposed

• They can be imposed by others around us

• They can also be the limitation of “I don't’ know that God has called me to this particular fight, this particular battle, this particular struggle.”

• To be AWARE of one’s own limitations is NOT the same thing as LIMITING ONESELF or SHRINKING BACK FROM THE BATTLE

• David is NOT a man that is going to shrink back from Goliath

• Just like Jonathan was not a man who was going to shrink back from the battle with the Philistines

• Here is what WE have to do

• What we have to do is what David did yesterday

• WE HAVE TO CONSULT THE LORD

• Remember the residents of Keilah were being attacked by the Philistines 

• Before David fought that battle, he went before the Lord and asked God if it was a battle that God wanted him to fight

• This is SO IMPORTANT for all of us

• Maybe there are things that are NOT OUR FIGHT

• Maybe there are things that are NOT OUR BATTLE

• At the same time, we can look at someone else and say we should fight

• Maybe we can look at someone and say maybe we should step down

• But that’s not our job either

• Our job is to LISTEN TO THE LORD’S VOICE AND ASK HIM WHAT TO DO

• Don’t just say you’re going to fight because someone told you to fight (Unless it’s in Mortal Kombat, then you have no choice 🤪)

• One of the things we realize is that David is aware of his limitations

• David will only fight when God tells him it's time to fight

• We can become more and more aware of our limitations

• We are only going to fight when God tells us this is the battle we need to enter

• Until the Lord does that, maybe the wisest thing to do is PRAY

• Continue to listen to God’s voice

• Continue to listen to WISE PEOPLE

• ALWAYS BE READY TO DO GOD’S WILL

• THERE IS NOTHING GREATER

• THERE IS NOTHING OTHER THAN THAT

• WE ALL WANT TO BE READY TO DO GOD’S WILL AT EVERY MOMENT

• The Lord might call you into certain battles that you may not want to go into 

• SO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• Remember, our battles are not with FLESH AND BLOOD

• Our battles are with PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS

• The Lord will call us into some kind of battle

• Typically, that battle for every one of us is going to be against the kingdom of darkness so that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ can ALWAYS REIGN

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we lift your name up and we thank you. We thank you even in the midst of trial. We thank you even in the midst of persecution. We’ve followed these stories of King David. He’s being hunted. He’s being hunted unfairly. He’s being treated unfairly. We can see snapshots of our lives. We can see snapshots of when we have been victims of injustice, when we have been those who have experienced the evil of others, the evil decisions of other people. And so we, like David, we give you praise even in the midst of the battle. We give you praise even in the midst of the struggle. We give you praise even in the midst of injustice. Because you desire justice and you bid us to work for justice and you bid us to trust you, to praise you, and to belong to you. And so this day we reassert the fact that, Lord God, even when things are difficult and when things are dark, we are yours. And when things are a struggle and when things are a battle, that we fight in your name and we fight according to your plan and your will. May you be glorified this day and every day of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”