I Samuel 23:7: “And it was told Saul that David come to Keilah, And Saul said God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.”
“I am not at all concerned about that,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” Francis Carpenter (1867) “Six Months At the Whitehouse With Abraham Lincoln” Page 282.
I Samuel 23:7 gives us an amazing statement from King Saul. He had just finished ordering the murder of all the priest of God, he was told by God’s prophet that God had rejected him as a king, he knows God anointed David to assume the throne and here he declares that God has delivered David into his hand.
The word that our English translation renders as delivered is curious. It is the Hebrew word nakar which has the idea of closely examining and rejecting what you have examined. It is very hard to find a word in English which you could use for nakar and delivered seems to be about the closest we can get, yet it does fall short. What King Saul is saying is that God has closely examined David and rejected him and so now he has fallen into his hands. King Saul is basing his conclusion on the fact that David was now hemmed in in a fortified city. Previously he was hiding out in caves and in the forest and it was very difficult to locate him and it appeared Divine providence was protecting him, but now in a walled city it seemed he was an easy prey to be captured by Saul. In Saul’s thinking, if God lifted his protection from David, then maybe he, Saul, was again restored to God’s favor.
In an earlier study I explained how the evil spirit that God sent upon Saul was not a demonic spirit. The word evil here is ra’ah which is a consuming passion. This evil spirit was really a consuming spirit, or a convicting spirit and most likely the convicting Spirit of God. When you are in rebellion against God, like Saul, this consuming or convicting Spirit of God can be a real torment. Can I get an Amen? Saul was being tormented over his refusal to do what he knew was right. God had anointed David to be the King of Israel and Saul refused to give the throne over to David. Today we have a term for someone in the direct employ of the President of the United States. We say he serves at the pleasure of the President. In other words at any time or for any reason or for no reason at all the President can terminate his employment. His office or employment is for as long as the President wants it. The President says, “Go” and you go, no chance of complaining to the labor department or hiring an attorney to get your job back.
This is sort of the situation with King Saul. God never wanted Israel to have a king. When He relented and allowed Israel to have a king, God never gave up His position as the Chief of State with Israel. The new king was chosen by God and served in his position only at the pleasure of God. Should God decide to remove him, as He did with King Saul, that king was to take the crown off his head and pass it on to the king God chose. The problem here is that King Saul did not step down when Samuel told him he was being fired but he continued on as King until the day he died. Had he stepped down, perhaps the history of Israel would be different.
The point is that God never rejected Saul as a person. David understood this. He knew that God was giving Saul a chance to repent and voluntarily give up the throne. That is why he would not touch God’s anointed or kill Saul to seize the throne himself when he had the chance. No matter how wicked Saul was, it was not for David to decide when to take the throne, that was God’s decision and David knew God was a long suffering God and that He was giving Saul every chance to repent. David stood ready to give up his anointing as a king should God decide to forgive Saul and let him king on. He knew Saul could once again enjoy a deep relationship with God. By remaining on as King, however, he was in rebellion and disobedience to God and as a result he would never know that sweet communion with God that he once knew. He was out of the will of God, He was no longer in the center of God’s will, God impeached him, but that did not mean he could not repent and be used by God in a different way. He had chosen, however, an earthly temporal lifestyle over God and the rest of his life was spent in torment over this decision.
Yet, while living in rebellion against God, he had hoped that maybe God would back off some and allow him to continue on as King with God’s full blessings. David entering Keilah gave Saul this hope that God has now found David wanting and unfit to be king and perhaps now God is telling Saul: “Saul, I guess you’re right, nobody’s perfect, you’re about as good as any, ok, you can have your job back with my blessings.”
Sometimes we look at a car, a house, job or even a ministry and we know God gave this to us and we serve at His pleasure. We also know that at any time God may decide to take what He has given to us away and we must, like a presidential aide, willingly move on and let go of it. If a presidential aide were to be asked to resign by the President and refuses, the public sympathies would be for the president and not the aide. We instinctively know that the president has the right to hire and fire his aides. It is a great honor to serve as a Presidential aide and you serve as long as he wants you to serve.
So we have Saul serving at the pleasure of God and God decides to replace him and asks him to resign. But instead of a handshake, a photo op, book deal and a golden parachute, Saul instead refused to let go and clung to his job. Sometimes God tells us to move on, but instead of checking out God’s other options we cling to what He has given us like Saul clinging to his throne. We cling, hoping God will change his mind rather than just letting go and resting in God’s love. Perhaps, like Saul, we will cling to this earthly thing when God is saying it is time to let it go, and our refusal to let it go puts us into rebellion and disobedience like Saul,.
I am only suggesting this as a possibility. But you know, for myself at least, sometimes I find I am expecting God to be on my side when I really should be on His.
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