“ 2 So Saul took 3,000
of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him (David) down in the wilderness of
Ziph. 3 Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near
Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after
him into the wilderness, 4 he sent out spies
to verify the report of Saul’s arrival. 5 David slipped over
to Saul’s camp one night to look around…. 7 So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found
him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the
soldiers were lying asleep around him. 8 “God has surely
handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me
pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike
twice!” 9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? 10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul
down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. 11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has
anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head,
and then let’s get out of here!” 12 So David took the spear and jug of water that were near
Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even
waking up, because the Lord had put Saul’s men
into a deep sleep. 13 David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a
safe distance. 14 Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of
Ner, “Wake up, Abner!” “Who is it?” Abner demanded. 15 “Well, Abner,
you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there
anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone
came to kill him? 16 This isn’t good at all! I swear by the Lord that you and your
men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the Lord’s anointed! Look
around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his
head?” 17 Saul recognized
David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?” And David
replied, “Yes, my lord the king. 18 Why are you
chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my
lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up
against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human
scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord. For they have
driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and
they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ 20 Must I die on
foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord? Why has the king
of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a
partridge on the mountains?” 21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my
son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have
been a fool and very, very wrong.” 22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of
your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for
being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”
In this case it was Saul, the
first king of Israel; he was anointed by God thru Samuel hands to do a job as a
king including a very important assignment straight from God: “Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite
nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”[1] When Saul didn’t follow
the given assignment “to the t”, Samuel was very troubled! And the Lord said
to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king
of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man
named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”[2] This was
David; he first came as a skilled musician to play the harp to calm down King
Saul as he had become depressed and fearful[3]. Then David was who faced the philistines and
against all odds, kill their giant, Goliath with a slingshot.[4] And to
make the long story short and to top these King Saul’s son became David’s
closest friend and ever since, Saul became very jealous of David. And although
King Saul was committed to get rid of David, and David knew it, David was
committed NOT to disrespect the Lord by hurting whom HE had anointed as king.
Opportunities arose several times to kill him, but still David’s faithfulness
towards God was impressive and commendable, and it paid for he was esteemed and
known all over which played a key role when he became the king.
Do you know there are people around you that had been
anointed by GOD, just like David, to bring transformation in your life? If we think about it, ever since we’re born those
we’ve encountered have had a divine purpose in our lives. The simple fact we are alive, means there was
an appointed person who received us, who fed us, cared for us, dressed us, took
us to school, or home schooled us, etc, etc, etc. Then as we grow older,
sometimes we forget that STILL God sends to us anointed people to help us, lead
us, and continue to care. Even as we
age, there are people that GOD is preparing right now, and some are already
prepared to give us the needed help at that point of life when we might not be
able to take care of ourselves. All because of His love and mercy for us, HIS
people!
Today I want to encourage you to pray for your neighbors
because from the youngest one to the oldest one around you, they’ve been sent
with a purpose for your life. And when
you see them as an anointed person sent by GOD to bring you to maturity in
life, you will think twice before you say or do something that you might regret
later on. I have to say, that some will be to teach you that their type of
personality has to be avoided in life, hopefully this would be a short assignment,
but that’s a lesson on its own. Others are for you to look up to, so you can
follow God thru their faithfulness to HIM, these could be a long assignment; I
myself had been on this particular assignment for almost 20 years and there’s
no telling when it will end; though it seems to be coming in the near future.
I also want to remind you, that you yourself have been the
anointed one to bless that neighbor around you, to teach, care and love them, as well, and
maybe even at a time to be that thorn in the flesh for someone to learn
something because we aren’t exempt. God created us all even the planets and the
animals with a purpose! “3 By faith [that is,
with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and
goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and
equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen
was not made out of things which are visible.”
Keeping that in mind, I have to say that mine, yours and our neighbor’s
assignment could be temporary, so we do not want to leave for tomorrow what we
ought to do today, for tomorrow could be too late! If you have questions about any of your
neighbors, PRAY, in HIS mercy, the Lord will hear you and answer what you need
to know about a particular neighbor.
Is important to recognize that in order for God to hear our
prayer, we MUST have a relationship with Him, His word reminds us that unconfessed
sins separates us from Him and HE will not hear us when we pray: “…your wickedness has separated you from your God, and your
sins have hidden His face from you so that
He does not hear.”[5] In other words, we ought to
clean our books (life) by confessing our sins to God, believing that HE sent
Jesus to die for our sins, and accepting HIM as our Savior and Master of our
lives. Afterwards, He says: “Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell
you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been
confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot
distinguish.”[6]
My prayer for you is that you commit or recommit
your life to the Lord, and start living for HIM today as it would be your last
day on earth, working with eagerness to do what HE has called you to do as the
anointed man or woman of God that you are! And I pray for the glory of God, in
JESUS name, AMEN!!!
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