Take a risk and help
1 Samuel 29:1”Then they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors."
It is imperative that I give the background of the above verse and this chapter very crisply before I delve into the subject which would be pure missionary call, if you are looking for ‘bless me’ message then skip this. People of Keilah were in dire need for help to save them from the hands of the Philistines who were plundering them, therefore they seek the help of David. Why David? Because he was the anointed one of God! David was like a ‘Savior’ in this chapter. He did not emotionally take decisions, he enquired the Lord if he should go, the Lord said, ‘go’. However, the David’s men were apprehensive about this and they said, ‘why take risk?’ (verse 3 - I have simplified it)David again checked with God and God gave the green signal. David wins but something else happens, the people of Keilah were ready to surrender David to Saul because Saul threatened to attack them again.
So, what is the lesson we learn here: we need to take risks and help people, true leaders do not stay in safe zones but would not hesitate to face dangers to help others, even though people may not be grateful for the help received; yet, we need to have the heart of Jesus and help people anyway, never expecting anything in return. This message comes to people who are serving the Lord in some capacity: Youth leader, church leader, women’s group leader…whatever, when people come to you for help, it is because you are God’s chosen one and you are called for such a season as this. Arise leader!
During this COVID 19 period, anointed children of God are to be a light in the darkness, you were not redeemed, cleansed and baptized to hide inside a bushel. Despite running from pillar to post with the devil chasing him ceaselessly; yet, David had the true spirit of a leader and he stands brave to help people in need. We are running free school for the poor, with schools closed for very long period, my heart was broken and we were looking for ways to help the children who do not have the facilities to attend zoom classes. Besides giving the students groceries, we wanted to help them in their studies, parents were pleading me to help them, so we took a step forward to help them.(with lot of risks involved) Are you being of some help for God or are you having fun during this lockdown?
Part 2 - Back stabbing! ( we have more lessons from this chapter, let’s explore)
1 Samuel 23:19”Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?”
It cuts really deep, when your own people stab your back! Just when you need lots of love and hugs, that’s when you get another blow to add to the pain and sorrow. Have you experienced that? David felt the same way here in this chapter, David had just heard from the Lord that the people of Keilah would surrender him and his men to Saul if he prolonged his stay there, so he left that place and came to the wilderness of Ziph and remained there. However, there is something ‘lovely and excellent’ that we see squeezed between the verses, read: “15 Now David knew that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.” ?” Observe the words ‘David knew”, can we call this intuition, discernment, smart, alert, eye for details, shrewd, insightful, astute, sharp, perceptive, wise and aware? An efficient leader needs all these above qualities, without which the enemy would gobble him down his throat. Caveat!
David felt secure with the Ziphites because they were of his tribe (Judah) and he trusted the people of Ziph, unaware that they were serpents, slyly plotting and conniving to betray him to the treacherous enemy Saul. Saul did not approach them for help, but still the Ziphites desired to gang up with Saul, so they go on their own to give Saul specific details of David’s hiding, “David is hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon”, isn’t this heinous and monstrous? From Ziph David goes to the wilderness of Maon (v. 24), and at this time he penned the 54th Psalm, in the title of the Psalm David calls the Ziphites strangers, though they were Israelites, because they behaved like traitors ; but David puts himself under the divine protection. Amen. In this one chapter alone, we see David moving from place to place because of the evil designs of the enemy. Danger is always lurking in the corner, so be alert!
Personal applications from the above subject: don’t ignore the ‘signs and signals’ that God gives you while you decide to marry somebody, have eyes all over and continuously check with God like David. Don’t ignore God’s voice that would come through pastors, servants of God and elders, be humble and listen to advice. Your closest buddy at times would turn up to be your brutal enemy conniving behind your back, sometimes the predator camouflages his identity. Beware! Outward appearance, smile, smooth words like butter can all be fake. Watch out! While I was recruiting teachers for our Abide School, free school for the poor, a young widow attended the interview and before leaving she knelt down before me and asked me to pray for her. I melted. The greatest, craziest, silly mistake I ever did was when I hired her. She crept into my school like a serpent.
We had a staff room where the teachers had their lunch and also relaxed behind closed doors, I made sure that the teachers were given their space and privacy from intrusion by students. However, after this widow joined, she changed the staff room into gossip room and conducted gossip conferences inside the staff room and spoke ill of me and the management, betraying the people who were nice to her. Her evil tentacles also reached out and poisoned the students, I sent her out immediately. I also did one more important thing and that is to convert the staff room into class room so that there would be no room for ‘closed door conferences.’ We got to learn lessons from our past experiences, get wise, alert, and not believe anybody and everybody but analyze things spiritually.
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