An escape in Him

What fueled more Saul’s jealousy of David, after the latter has killed Goliath, was the fact that the women went out from the towns to meet Saul with dancing and singing: Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens thousands. The celebration was intentional but the women appeared to be insensitive to their lyrics and so Saul was galled and kept a jealous eye on David thereafter.

That is why David became a seemingly restless wanderer. He perhaps could be aptly called as the character in the Bible with No Permanent Address. It seems that it is a never-ending hide-and-seek game between him and King Saul. From Ramah to Naioth, to the great cistern at Secu, to Nob, to Gath, to the Cave of Adullam, to Mizpah in Moab, to the forest of Hereth, to Keilah, to the hills of the Desert of Ziph, to Horesh, to the Desert of Maon, and to the Crags of the Wild Goats. Name it, David was almost everywhere.

Saul was so desperate to have him a dead meat that he even attempted to give his daughters, Merab first and when it was unsuccessful, he gave Michal next to be a noose to David.

In all these attempts, I appreciated David’s understanding of the responsibilities of a king’s son-in-law that he did not accept the marriage proposal right away. And that I appreciated how David is passionate of being a warrior when he became please after hearing what the price is for Michal: a hundred Philistine foreskins. In the end, he and his men even went beyond what was expected. They killed two hundred Philistines.

Add to the stress of evading from the evil attempts of King Saul is the fact that David was with people who are in distress, in debt and who are discontented. It was an additional depressing emotional cargo for him. Like seriously, who would like to be with this kind of people at a time of crisis? But David did and even led these people.

Nevertheless, amidst the situation, the innocent David was successful in eluding the jealous King Saul. He has avoided thrice the spear that King Saul threw in his attempt to pin David to the wall. David is very crafty it was said but more than his craftiness and the friendship he had developed with Jonathan, the king’s son, I believe that it was because the Lord was with David that is why he survived from King Saul.

David was all over the place because there is only a step between him and death. Every day, it was a crazy trip for David and his men. But the Bible tells us that Day after day Saul searched for him but God did not give David into his hands.

From whom and what are you evading today? Remember that it only takes to be with Jesus for us to be delivered from our enemies.