“And
David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of
Saul.”
1 Samuel 27:1
The
thought of David’s heart at this time was a false thought,
because he certainly had no ground for thinking that God’s
anointing him by Samuel was intended to be left as an empty unmeaning
act. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted his servant; he had
been placed in perilous positions very often, but not one instance
had occurred in which divine interposition had not delivered him. The
trials to which he had been exposed had been varied; they had not
assumed one form only, but many—yet in every case he who sent the
trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not
put his finger upon any entry in his diary, and say of it, “Here is
evidence that the Lord will forsake me,” for the entire tenor of
his past life proved the very reverse. He should have argued from
what God had done
for him, that God would be his defender still. But is it not just in
the same way that we doubt
God’s help? Is it not mistrust
without a cause?
Have we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father’s
goodness? Have not his lovingkindnesses been marvellous? Has
he once failed
to justify our trust? Ah, no! our God has not left us at any time. We
have had dark nights, but the star of love has shone forth amid the
blackness; we have been in stern conflicts, but over our head he has
held aloft the shield of our defence. We have gone through many
trials, but never to our detriment, always to our advantage; and the
conclusion from our past experience is, that he who has been with us
in six troubles, will not forsake us in the seventh. What we have
known of our faithful God, proves that he will keep us to the end.
Let us not, then, reason contrary to evidence. How can we ever be so
ungenerous as to doubt our
God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbelief, and let the dogs
devour it.
