From the Kitchen Table

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.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 115

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

1 Samuel 24:2

Life is made up of many, many decisions, and you can’t really afford to be driven by things that get personal rather than purposeful.  When personal issues interfere with purposeful issues, we get distracted by lower priorities.  King Sual’s personal issues pulled him, and the best he had, away from the purposeful.  Later, we find out that King Sual was wrestling with personal paranoid issues, and that’s what happens when we lose sight of the higher purpose.  David will face the same issue that day.  Keep your purpose in God your priority for God. 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 114

Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”

1 Samuel 24:1

There is always an opportunity to make the right decision in life, but there are always people who want you to make the wrong decision.  It’s important to think about how you will decide and why.  Without a life after God, we find ourselves with a life after God.  Saul once knew what it was to have God’s direction and discernment, but now, after God, he was left to the counsel of mere men.  If it wasn’t for David, whose life was led by God, this choice would have been fatal.   Be careful about who you listen to and determine how and why you will decide what you decide. 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 113

And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.

 1 Samuel 23:29

There are times when God gives us an oasis opportunity.  He knows what we need and when we need it.  God’s plans for our lives are good, and we will recognize that when we live thankful.   We must stay grateful for everything God does in our lives, looking for every opportunity God gives us.  This place too will become disrupted by a tormented man and king, but take the moment, stay thankful, and let God renew the soul.  Remember, God is working in our lives and in the lives of those who don’t care for us.  Be thankful today.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 112

But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.”

 1 Samuel 23:27

It often seems like God keeps us just a step ahead of our trouble when we want to be totally free from that trouble.  Just keep moving and trusting in God.  Get on the other side of your mountain and keep marching. We don’t know how God is going to save us.  King Saul was on the heels of David, ready to put an end to his adversary, and all it took was a messenger to change his focus.  Get on the other side of your mountain and quit thinking about it like everyone else.  There’s a reason why David is on one side and Saul is on the other side of this mountain; David’s following the Spirit, and Saul is following his own senses.  Ask God to send His messenger to your mountain.