(Read 1 Samuel 28)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” In the 28th chapter the Philistines mustered their armies for another war with Israel. David had been lying to king Achish, telling him that he had been fighting the Israelites when he was actually fighting the enemies of Israel. David’s lies caught up with him when the king said to David, “You and your men will be expected to join me in battle.” David had no other choice. He was out of place, so he was going to be forced to fight against his own people. David responded, “Very well! Now you will see for yourself what we can do.” The confidence of his words were a disguise for the discomfort he must have felt. Then Achish told David, “I will make you my personal bodyguard for life.” While the king would have loved for this to happen, David knew he was destined to be the king of Israel, but since he was living a lie, the king expected something different from David.
Meanwhile, Saul was preparing his men for the impending war, but he truly missed Samuel. Whenever Saul (the king) needed to make a major decision he always consulted with Samuel (the Prophet). With Samuel dead Saul had no way of hearing from God, and even though he was a king, he knew he needed divine insight. Consequently, while Samuel was alive Saul had banned all psychic and mediums from consulting with the spirits of the dead. But since he was now in need of help, Saul dressed up as a normal man, put on a disguise, took two bodyguards, and visited medium/psychic at Endor.
Saul asked the medium to call up a spirit from the dead for him. The medium made it clear that she could not, because king Saul had a ban on it. The king revealed himself to the medium and asked her to communicate with the spirit of the Prophet Samuel. She did and the spirit asked, “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Saul replied, “Because I am in deep trouble. The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.” The spirit said, “Why ask me, since the LORD has left you and has become your enemy? The LORD has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The LORD has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. What’s more, the LORD will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The LORD will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.” That is definitely not what Saul wanted to hear. The king fell flat on the ground, paralyzed with fear, not knowing what he was going to do. He wanted to know what was going to happen and he found out — he and his sons were going to die!
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Lies will catch up with you eventually. David had been lying about fighting his own people, so he was placed on the spot to do just that. If you lie long enough people will expect to see action behind those lies. So, the best thing to do is to just tell the truth. That way you will find it easy to live a life of integrity, because you don’t have to try hard to be yourself.
2. When you are out of place people will expect things of you that are not connected to your purpose. Since David was out of place the king of Gath expected David to be his bodyguard for life. That was clearly not David’s purpose in life, but since David was out of place and living a lie, the king had expectations of him that were against God’s purpose for his life. When you are out of place you will do things you should not do, people will expect things from you that you are not supposed to give, and they will expect you to be someone God did not call you to be. The best thing to do is to put God first and to put His will above your own, even above your own comfort, because when you do the pressure you will feel will be the pressure to be the person God has called you to be. That is good pressure. That is the kind of pressure you want.
3. Divine counsel gives leaders an advantage. Kings in the Old Testament knew they were in charge, but they did not make major decisions without consulting Prophets and/or Priests. Why? Because they understood the importance of divine counsel. If you are a leader today and the Father has graced you to lead many, you must make every effort to seek divine counsel before major decisions. The counsel may come from the scriptures, from God Himself, or from key people the Lord has placed around you. The Father strategically places people around you, many times under your authority, so that you can call upon them to hear from Him. Don’t despise divine counsel and don’t underestimate the importance it can make in your organization. Hearing from God makes a world of difference!
Closing Confession: Father, I declare, by faith, that I live a life of integrity. I am who You have made me to be and I shall live as that person every day of my life. I don’t place myself in positions where I am outside of my purpose, because people will then expect me to be someone You have not called me to be. I protect my purpose by only doing those things I am called to do and resisting every offer or temptation to do anything else. Your purpose for my life is the ruler by which I judge every decision and my judgement is just, because I am hearing from You and making the pursuit of my purpose my central focus. I say what I mean, I mean what I say, and I maintain my integrity every day. I also thank You Father for divine counsel, insight, wisdom, knowledge, revelation and understanding. As a leader, You give me divine counselors that are able to share with me inspired insight that gives me an advantage in all that I do. As a subordinate, You bless me to provide divine counsel to my leaders, and You give me favor with them so that my counsel is heard and received. When they listen to what You say through me, our organization operates with the advantage of Your wisdom. So Father, both as a leader and as a subordinate, I honor and value Your insight. I call for and offer divine counsel and I trust that Your blessing will be on all that we do as an organization. I declare, by faith, that every meeting, conversation, and activity that we engage in today is blessed. Your blessing is on my organization and You bless the work of our hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
