Month: August 2025

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 125

So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 24:22

King Saul returned home, but David was still living rent-free in his head.  This is no time to let down your guard.  If a person hasn’t repented, taking responsibility for his or her actions, stay alert.  David and his men went back to the stronghold.  This isn’t about judgment but rather about discernment.  No false guilt here and no false guarantees.  King Saul was sorry he got caught and sorry for what all this might mean for his family, but he didn’t take responsibility for his actions or thoughts.  Until we take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, there we be no real repentance and restoration.  Know what you’re looking for from yourself and others.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 124

When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today. ²⁰ I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.

1 Samuel 24:19-20

It’s a sad thing to see where selfishness and rebellion toward God lead a person.  They fear what they really fear, death, and yet act like they can change their destiny.  King Saul knows that his time is ending; he can’t change that without changing himself.  The cost is too great to change, but the final cost will be greater than it is now.  When we lose our ability to humble our hearts before God and repent of all fearful and foolish thoughts and actions, our destiny becomes death.  He sees the end, but he can’t change his direction.  It’s sad. It’s the end he deserves, because it’s the end of his own choices.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 123

He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. ¹⁸ And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands.

1 Samuel 24:17-18

No amount of good words can change a bad heart.  When the heart is bad, everything else will be brought into question.  We often want to deal with what rather than the why, but the devil is always in the why.  Relieved that he is alive and yet resentful of what David had done, Saul speaks good but sees bad.  There is no relief if you make others your problem.  Relief comes from dealing with the you of your problems.  Only a good soul can truly speak good words.  The answer is to deal with our problems, not the problems we see with others.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 122

As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

 1 Samuel 24:16

Paul wrote about godly sorrow that leads to repentance.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)   This isn’t that.  Don’t be fooled by emotions.  You’ll always find the devil in the why.  Saul isn’t crying because he is sorry for what he had done but because he was sorry he got caught.  Repentance should always deal with the why, not just the what.  Be wise!

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 121

May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

1 Samuel 24:15

Now the truth comes out.  This isn’t just about playing nice or fear of offense; this is David trusting it to God.  God, whom King Saul claims to serve, will settle this issue.  Just keep trusting. Because David was trusting God, God could bring him through the dangerous circumstances of his life.  Valuable lessons are being learned not just in the head but in the heart.  Often, we want God to change our circumstances for us, but God often changes us through our circumstances.  By the time God moves David from the pasture to the palace, everyone will know who God has chosen and who David has chosen too.   Trust God and let Him complete what He has started in you.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 120

See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.                           

 1 Samuel 24:11

There are some things in life that we don’t see, but they are there, and they are big.  Saul could know and see that David did no wrong and had no wrong in his heart.  When people know that about you, that’s a big deal.  Secondly, David didn’t let Sual live in his head.  David didn’t let Saul determine who he was going to be, what he was going to do, and how he was going to live.  You can’t see those kinds of things, but you can know them, and it is a wonderful thing.  David had accepted God’s word, God’s way, and God’s will for his life, and just that trumped anything King Saul could do.  It’s a good thing to live free.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 119

Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’S anointed.’

1 Samuel 24:10

Sometimes it’s just important to see!  For people bound up by fear and foolishness, sometimes only seeing will touch their hearts.  The problem is that we can get deeply invested in our hurt and hate, and appealing to the heart and mind just won’t work; we have to see.  Let people “see” your heart, your convictions, and compassion.  That can only happen when we live out what we believe in.  That means we can’t afford to get too invested in our hurt and hate.  Those things lead to violence and the violation of other people’s dignity.  What David did, in obeying God, was to let the world see his heart, and it saved him.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 118

Now, afterward, David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!”

 1 Samuel 24:8

There’s a special gift God gives those who live in His favor rather than in their frustration.  David would never have to take out King Saul and would raise up a mighty army of loyal men at the same time who would respect what David respected.  Functioning spiritually, God would give him favor physically.  In this moment, there in front of King Saul and all his personally chosen men, God would favor David to demonstrate his love and his leadership.  If David had acted out of frustration with King Saul and his own struggles in life, he would never have discovered what it means to live and work in God’s favor.  Don’t give up on His favor to vent your frustrations.  It isn’t worth it.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 117

It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.

 1 Samuel 24:5

We can learn a lot from the little things that bother us.  David’s conscience bothered him. Now, some may say that it was fear or just favoring the wrong things like Saul’s family over his friends who were fighting with him and for him.  But this was a spiritual feeling in David’s heart that was connected to his relationship with God.  It’s this God relationship that matters, and God works first in the heart.  Don’t let anyone besides God determine the attitude of your heart.  And don’t let that voice from the heart just become background noise.  You were made to live from within, from faith with hope in love in this relationship with God.  The earlier we learn to hear the heart, the sooner we’ll learn to walk with Him.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 116

The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.

1 Samuel 24:4

Sometimes things seem right, but they’re not right.  In those times, don’t let others be the voice of God to you.  Listen to your heart for God’s voice for your life.  What you’re sowing now you will reap later.  It’s easier to give advice than to live with it.  David listens to his own heart; he wants the drama to be over, and he is tired of running and hiding.  He’s got a chance to help God, but God doesn’t need our help.  What David does today will impact what he’s able to do tomorrow.  When it comes to hearing God, don’t let others be God’s voice for you or to you.  Listen for God’s voice, look for God’s peace. He is with you.