SAVE ME O LORD FROM MY FRIENDS (1Sam. 23: 1-14)
… When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." Then David said, "O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down." Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will deliver you." So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition. And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
If one has a known enemy, one will device the means to always avoid such or how to handle him or her. But how can one avoid his friends? There are enemies that would appear to one as best friends who are ready to do everything within their disposal to please one but inwardly they are the worst enemy one can have. They may not appear to be evil towards one but necessity and the devil can make them to become bad. Let’s take the case of Peter for an instance, in chapter sixteen verses thirteen to twenty, Peter did well to an extent that Christ called him a Rock, not only that, He promised him the key to the kingdom of heaven. In the save chapter, do you know that Christ called this same Peter “Satan” because Peter loved Christ and would not want any bad thing to happen to Him? Peter was not expecting the life of Christ to be terminated the way He had predicted. Peter’s mind was not in consonance with that of Christ and whatever opposes the mind of God is of the devil. There are some of our friends we keep that will become bad simply because of the situation they find themselves.
From verse one of our passage this morning, we read that the people of Keilah were in trouble, the Philistines came to rob them of their valuables and there was no one to save them not even Saul the king. When David heard about it he enquired from the Lord if he could go to help them. The Lord gave him the permission to go which he did. After saving them, ordinarily one would think that they would forever be grateful to him but for the fear of the king, the Lord knew that they were going to deliver their helper, their friend into the hand of his enemy. They could not do otherwise because Saul had destroyed even the city of the priests of the Lord on account of David. As Christians we should not rely so much on people, but rather we should hold on to the Rock of ages. He is the only one who will never disappoint us. It is easy to escape from enemies but not so with friends. You need the direction of the Rock of ages so that you will not be caught in the web of the craftiness of your so called friends. As Christians we need to learn from King David that we should cultivated the idea of running to the mountains that is higher than us for safety. Look for the strong hold in the wilderness of this world to hide so that you can live a fruitful and fulfilled life. Do not take the word of God too lightly, be serious with God and do whatever He asks you to do so that it will be well with you. Remain blessed in the Lord.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: - Lord I thank you for strengthening me this far IJN
Tuesday: - Father, I praise you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in my life IJN
Wednesday: -Please Lord; frustrate the efforts of my enemies all the time IJN
Thursday: - Lord change all the evil plans of my so-called friends against me to good IJN
Friday: - Let all the enemies of Seed of Life be disappointed always IJN
Saturday: - Give us peace O Lord in Nigeria IJN.
… When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." Then David said, "O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down." Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will deliver you." So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition. And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
If one has a known enemy, one will device the means to always avoid such or how to handle him or her. But how can one avoid his friends? There are enemies that would appear to one as best friends who are ready to do everything within their disposal to please one but inwardly they are the worst enemy one can have. They may not appear to be evil towards one but necessity and the devil can make them to become bad. Let’s take the case of Peter for an instance, in chapter sixteen verses thirteen to twenty, Peter did well to an extent that Christ called him a Rock, not only that, He promised him the key to the kingdom of heaven. In the save chapter, do you know that Christ called this same Peter “Satan” because Peter loved Christ and would not want any bad thing to happen to Him? Peter was not expecting the life of Christ to be terminated the way He had predicted. Peter’s mind was not in consonance with that of Christ and whatever opposes the mind of God is of the devil. There are some of our friends we keep that will become bad simply because of the situation they find themselves.
From verse one of our passage this morning, we read that the people of Keilah were in trouble, the Philistines came to rob them of their valuables and there was no one to save them not even Saul the king. When David heard about it he enquired from the Lord if he could go to help them. The Lord gave him the permission to go which he did. After saving them, ordinarily one would think that they would forever be grateful to him but for the fear of the king, the Lord knew that they were going to deliver their helper, their friend into the hand of his enemy. They could not do otherwise because Saul had destroyed even the city of the priests of the Lord on account of David. As Christians we should not rely so much on people, but rather we should hold on to the Rock of ages. He is the only one who will never disappoint us. It is easy to escape from enemies but not so with friends. You need the direction of the Rock of ages so that you will not be caught in the web of the craftiness of your so called friends. As Christians we need to learn from King David that we should cultivated the idea of running to the mountains that is higher than us for safety. Look for the strong hold in the wilderness of this world to hide so that you can live a fruitful and fulfilled life. Do not take the word of God too lightly, be serious with God and do whatever He asks you to do so that it will be well with you. Remain blessed in the Lord.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: - Lord I thank you for strengthening me this far IJN
Tuesday: - Father, I praise you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in my life IJN
Wednesday: -Please Lord; frustrate the efforts of my enemies all the time IJN
Thursday: - Lord change all the evil plans of my so-called friends against me to good IJN
Friday: - Let all the enemies of Seed of Life be disappointed always IJN
Saturday: - Give us peace O Lord in Nigeria IJN.
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