Waiting on God
Let mercy be your guide
Psalm 23 was written by a man who knew how to wait for God.
This is the fourth in a series of articles about the life of King David. It forms part of a companion to my book “THE PSALM 23 LIFE: Experiencing the Love of God Every Day”.
Samuel’s anointing of David contained a promise from God, that one day David would be crowned king. But that promise was a long-time coming; in fact, it took something like twenty-two years. Can you imagine waiting twenty-two years for a promise to be fulfilled, especially when the waiting contained the kind of pain and trials experienced by David?
Nevertheless, the time came for David’s patience to be rewarded, and in fact the kingdom came to him. First, the tribe of Judah asked David to become their king, followed seven years later by all Israel.
David’s time of waiting presented him with many trials and tests, and while he was on the run from King Saul, one test in particular reveals David’s character to us:
After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, ‘David is in the Desert of En Gedi.’ So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
He came to the sheepfolds along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, ‘This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, “I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.”’ Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. (1 Samuel 24:1–4 NIV)
How quickly a situation can change — David, the dispossessed and hunted, now becomes the hunter. After years of running and hiding from Saul, God has now put Saul into David’s hands. Do you feel trapped by circumstances? Be patient; trust in the Lord; you do not know what tomorrow may bring.
David’s men quickly saw the potential. They reminded David of God’s promise to him, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ So while Saul was busy with his business near the front of the cave, David crept up silently from the back of the cave, knife in hand. Can you imagine the anticipation in David’s six hundred men, as they wait the few minutes until their time on the run and living in caves is over because Saul is dead? Surely David has a “no brainer” of a decision to make here, God has provided him with a way out of his troubles.
So David crept up unnoticed and cut off… a corner of Saul’s robe. Is that all? It has to be a miracle that Saul did not hear the six hundred jaws dropping to the ground, and the six hundred hands hitting six hundred foreheads.
Afterwards, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. (1 Samuel 24:5–7 NIV)
So David returns to his men, not with a part of Saul’s anatomy but with a part of his robe. Between clenched teeth his men might have been whispering to David, “You were supposed to cut his throat not his robe!” When it became clear that David was not going to do any such thing the mood changed to, “Well if you’re not going to kill him, and end our suffering, then we will!” But David rebukes them and does not permit them to attack Saul.
What we see here is the core of David’s heart and motivations, which were on a completely different level from those of his men. David’s men saw the God given opportunity to kill Saul: as the way out from their troubles; as completely justified payback and revenge. David on the other hand was concerned about faithfulness, God’s covenant and mercy:
- Faithfulness, because David referred to Saul as his master. After all this time and mistreatment by Saul, David still felt a loyalty and responsibility to him. David had probably sworn an oath of allegiance to Saul as his king and he would not act against that loyalty.
- God’s covenant, because David knew that Saul was, “the anointed of the Lord”, and he would not lift a hand against Saul, even though David knew that God had anointed him to be king one day. Covenants and promises were very important to David, as they are to God. In this he shows himself again to be a man after God’s own heart. But David shows himself to be a man after God’s own heart even more through his concern for…
- Mercy, because like God, even though he had the power to execute judgement, David chose to show mercy instead.
This situation was a test for David, to reveal what was in his heart. If you read God’s promise to David carefully it said, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ What David’s men heard in that promise was, ‘Take advantage of for your own ends’. But David WISHED to show costly mercy. David had the right from a human perspective, and the God given opportunity, to eliminate his enemy, but he made the decision to show mercy even though it could cost him years more in the wilderness. David passed the test! He made the decision to show mercy and in doing so unleashed the power of mercy. Mercy had the power to do what thousands of men could not do — defeat the hatred in Saul. David followed Saul out of the cave and showed him the corner of his robe that he had cut off. David showed Saul that he had been merciful to him, and how did Saul respond? He wept aloud and said:
‘You are more righteous than I,’ he said. ‘You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord gave me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 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. (1 Samuel 24:17–19 NIV)
Saul left that cave alive due to one thing and one thing only — David’s decision to show mercy. In the same way, you and I are alive in Christ today due to one thing and one thing only — God’s decision to show mercy. About our salvation, the apostle Paul wrote:
It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:16 NIV)
Let God’s mercy to you, be your motivation. If waiting is hard, let God’s mercy be your reason to persevere. If you are struggling to obey God over something, let God’s mercy be your reason to obey. If you have the opportunity to show mercy to someone, do it, you will make God smile. After all, has God not said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”? (Matthew 9:13 NIV)
Psalm 23 was written by a man, who like God, was merciful, faithful and kept his promises.
Read “The Psalm 23 Life” to make King David’s experience of God’s love your experience too…
You can access the other parts in this series on the life of King David below:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 5
