A Tale of Two Kings part eleven

In chapter 18 of 1 Samuel, David enters in to a season where he is submitted to the king who has lost his anointing, who has been rejected from the throne. For a season the wheat, God’s true saints, have been found among the tares, the Saul churches of our day but we will see that this relationship couldn’t last for eventually, the wheat and tares must become separated (at harvest time) Mt: 13:30.
Saul grows increasingly envious of David and tries to kill him. Religious, apostate leadership will try to kill those in their midst with the true anointing. Especially if the people recognize and praise the true -“Saul slayed his thousands and David his ten thousands”. The false will be “afraid of David, because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul”. (One could say David got (aSAULted), sorry, I couldn’t resist that one). The Saul’s of today will attack us with lies and words that twist the truth, hoping to draw men away from us and to themselves. And the more you “behave wisely”, while submitted to a tare pastor or leader, the more he’ll hate and despise and fear you till “Saul became David’s enemy continually”(verse 29). Saul even gives his daughter Michal to David, not to bless him but that “she may be a snare to him” (verse 21). No, Saul’s heart has become wicked indeed. He doesn’t esteem David more highly than himself, he doesn’t rejoice to see his brother blessed, he doesn’t thank God David’s on my side, no, he tries to destroy him. This tragedy occurs often today when God sends an apostle or prophet to a church to be a blessing to them. Instead of being warmly received, they are despised and rejected or worse, completely ignored. Pastors are often jealous of their anointing or are unwilling to give up authority or control.
In chapter 19, David continues to bless Saul and refuses to rebel against his ungodly rule. An ungodly man would have staged a coup, slain Saul and took over through his own ingenuity and strength. But David cannot remain in Saul’s house. “So David fled and escaped and came to Samuel”. It is God’s apostles and prophets we should all be fleeing to today as we come out of Babylon. I hope that you can find an apostle or prophet you can join with when it’s time for you to flee.
Now begins David’s wilderness journey, time spent hiding from Saul, running like a dog, living in caves and woods and desert places. This is all a part of God’s plan for him and for us. Some of the greatest psalms were written during this time. Hard times, times of rejection by the establishment, times of loneliness when our seeming brothers and sisters in Christ turn on us, are just as important to us as good times. We press in to God and come to know Him as our deliverer and comforter. Jesus will some times say to us, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place”(Mark 6:31). He doesn’t do this to punish us but to bless us. We should mourn with those who mourn and not try to draw them out of the wilderness God’s put them in. “Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also (in adversity) in the Body. (Heb: 13:3). With Paul, we should all desire to “know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings”.
Like us, David even enters into doubt and unbelief during this time of testing. In 20:3, his faith is wavering. He’s not standing on Samuel’s prophecy years before that he’ll be king. But God, in his grace, sends David a comforter from the very loins of the one trying to kill him. Jonathan proves to be everything his father is not. David covenants with Jonathan not to “cut off thy kindness from my house forever” and David later fulfills this vow when he takes in and cares for Mephibosheth.
In verse 26, Saul thinks David “is not clean, surely he is not clean”. The deluded in the churches today who are themselves unclean will usually not recognize their own uncleanness and repent but will instead accuse the righteous of being unclean. In verse 27, he wonders why David hasn’t come before him to eat meat. Gee, Saul, could it have something to do with the fact you’ve tried to kill him twice? But many pastors really are so deluded that they genuinely wonder why people continually leave their church while all along they’ve been killing the people’s faith because they have none themselves.