ESOCS Devotional 3 September 2023 – Save Thyself From This Guilt
MEMORY VERSE: ““But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” 1 Samuel 26:9 NIV
TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 26:1-END (KJV)
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?
2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
3 And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.
5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him.
6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
8 Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.
9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?
10 David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.
13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them:
14 And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?
15 And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.
16 This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.
17 And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.
18 And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?
19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods.
20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.
22 And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.
23 The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed.
24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.
25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In every generation, there are men anointed and ordained to carry out special assignments in the kingdom of God (Exodus 30:30). Some of these men might be kings, political and church leaders, priests; judges, even career and business men. These men are consecrated and positioned by Elohim to advance his course in certain territories.
Truthfully speaking, there are times when most of these men even though they be anointed begin to go out of alignment, they can start living lives or engaging in activities that are no longer in line with the terms of references guiding their callings. Some of these dealings most times pose threat to the preaching of the gospel of God, in the quarters of the unbelievers and it doesn’t go well with the rest of us.
There are times when out of our passion and zeal to preserve the gospel, out of our quest to see that sound doctrines are rightfully obeyed and truth of the gospel prevails, we would want to confront these men with every tool at our disposal, there are times when we would want to ensure that they are “dealt” with mercilessly, the worst is that most times, we consciously or unconsciously wishes them death, so that they automatically get out of the way and the shame they bring to the body of Christ permanently ends. Beloved, if you are doing this, please have a rethink henceforth.
An anointed man or woman of God is a servant to God. He/she is under the government, surveillance and probation of the Almighty. It is God in heaven who holds these men accountable for their actions and inactions; it is not given unto men to come up with assertions and maybe jungle justice.
This is not an indirect way of endorsing recklessness and lack of supervision amongst the anointed ones of God… No!
This is just a timely notice to us that the consecration of a man is beyond what the eyes can see, and what human wisdom can comprehend – it is not just an all-comers affair; NO, it is not. David made a powerful statement in our text today; he said, “But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish” (1 Samuel 26:9-10).
- It is not given unto us to nail and condemn the anointed ones of God when they err, we are to prayerfully bring them back to their senses.
- Oh Lord, even though I might have been guilty of this error in time past, I plead for your forgiveness. Henceforth, help me not to be guilty of this anymore.
FURTHER READING: 1 Samuel 24:10; 2 Samuel 19:21; 1 Chronicles 16:22; Galatians 6:1
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ESOCS Devotional 3 September 2023
