Scripture: 1 Samuel 23:15-28 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.
The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? Now, Your Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands.”
Saul replied, “The Lord bless you for your concern for me. Go and get more information. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah.”
So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.
Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines.
Devotion: The battle for peace often begins in the mind. What consumes your mind controls your life. And we can see a clear example of this in the life of Saul. Once he has made an enemy of David in his mind, he cannot think of anything else. He seeks to kill David, pursuing him wherever he goes. He lies to his son, Jonathan, about it because Jonathan and David were such close friends. He tries to conceal the fact that his primary goal and desire is for David to be dead, but it is eventually realized by all of those around him.
We read about one such attempt at killing David in our passage of Scripture for today. I say one attempt because it is exactly that: one attempt of multiple. There are at least five clear attempts by Saul to take the life of David. But the Lord had appointed David as the King of Israel and Jesus was to come from his lineage. No attempt by a single man would foil the plan of God (or an attempt by many men, for that matter). Nevertheless, what consumed Saul’s mind was killing David. And killing David then controlled his life. His last years on the thrown were unsettled, as he was in a constant pursuit of his perceived foe. He sacrificed peace by giving over the war in his mind to something else.
It can be easy to read the story of Saul and see where he gave up peace. We can even write him off as a bit crazy, after all, he was trying to have someone killed. But this same idea applies to our own lives. What we allow to consume our mind ultimately controls our lives. You could be consumed by navigating the schedule for your family, the health of a loved one, or by growing your business. While each of these things requires time and mental space, we can be cautious not to give up the war in our mind to them. We can set our mind on things above, we can fix our eyes on Jesus, and we can allow Him to speak peace into our life before we give way to anything else.
Reflect:
- What are you allowing to consume your mind right now?
- How can you give that over to God and allow Him to fill you with His peace instead?
