Wait on the Lord

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. --------1Samuel 26:7-11

Twice David had the opportunity to destroy his adversary and rid himself of the problem at hand, but twice he restrained himself. Certainly, his flesh was tired of constantly running from Saul, the jealous king, and his spirit was frustrated because he had done nothing wrong to deserve this exile. In addition to his inner feelings, his friends were encouraging him to take advantage of this opportunity to remove his persistent foe from his life. Yet, David resisted his fleshly desires to handle his problem by the way of the world. He was a man of resolve. He was not about to take the matter into his own hand, but leave it in God’s hand. Saul was God’s anointed and if anyone would deal with Saul, then it would have to be God Himself. David waited upon the Lord and was honored for this patient resolve. How many times have we made the mistake of not waiting upon the Lord by taking matters into our own hands? Not only do we miss God’s blessings but also cause even more problems for ourselves. God was keeping a close watch over David, protecting Him in his trials and also testing him to examine how he would respond in the midst of life’s fires. David passed the test and let us do the same. Wait on the Lord!