Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The story of Saul, the first king of Israel, next to that of Judas Iscariot, is the saddest in the Bible. The problem was initially the fault of the people. They had demanded of God that He give them a king like all the nations around them. God selected the best man available in the nation. The prophet Samuel anointed him, and all went well for a time. He proved to be politically and militarily a success.
When the Lord directed him to take a step that would establish Israel forever a secure nation, that is, to annihilate the Amalekites, King Saul disobeyed, and lied. Patiently, the Lord tried to help him, but he became stubbornly rebellious. Then the Lord did the most terrible thing He can do to any man or woman--backed off and left Saul to himself. He sent no lightning bolt from heaven to destroy him, just turned His back and walked away.
But God could not forsake Israel. They needed a king whom the Lord could be with, so He instructed Samuel to anoint young David.
Saul yielded his soul to become insanely jealous, and "the anointed of the Lord" persecuted young David. But he still respected Saul as such. A few people believed in David and supported him; but the youth bore a heavy burden: Why was "the anointed of the Lord" against him? Could it be that the Lord also was against him? Had he misinterpreted Samuel's very humble "anointing"? Could he trust the "Spirit of prophecy" of his day when absolutely everything was stacked against him?
David's all-time low came at Ziklag in a disaster that seemed to say he was totally forsaken of the Lord. His own few men talked of stoning him (see 1 Samuel 30). The Lord had to let David suffer being apparently forsaken, or else he would never have been able to write Psalm 22! The Lord did appear to leave him; but in his anguish, David did the right thing--which you and I must do: "David strengthened himself in the Lord" (1 Sam. 30:6).
In principle, it's what the future "Lamb's wife" will do when she "makes herself ready for the marriage of the Lamb." It's something the Lamb cannot do for her, and this was something the Lord could not do for David at Ziklag. There was a choice David himself had to make, something to do himself--believe!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 5, 2006.
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