Gods Sabbath

D AVID C HOOSES THE W AY OF S UCCESS

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all possible, worked tirelessly in this direction. The eternal Fa ther was pleased when David’s perceptions of righteousness and his submissiveness to the divine leadership enabled God to speak powerfully and convincingly to Israel’s sovereign. As David made known to the surprised king that he had been completely in David’s power (see 1Samuel 24:8–16), Saul was touched to the depth of his being. “When David finished saying this, Saul asked, ‘Is that your voice, David my son?’ And he wept aloud. ‘You are more right eous than I,’ he said. ‘You have treated me well, but I have treat ed you badly. You have just now told me of the good you did to me; the L ORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away un harmed? May the L ORD reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the king dom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the L ORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” 1Samuel 24:16–21. Saul’s confession confirms that God accomplished a mighty work in him that day; a work which also required David’s recog nition and acceptance of His Lord as the one and only Problem Solver and Plan Maker. How tragic it would have been if David had taken these roles to himself and killed the king before Saul’s probation had ended. It is sad of course, that Saul’s repentance was shallow and short-lived because it was based on feeling. He followed the pat tern so commonly revealed by many who come under the Holy Spirit’s influence. When in the presence of that divine power, they become softened, subdued, contrite, and apparently repent ant, but when removed from the sacred atmosphere, they revert to an even worse manifestation of the same evil state they were in before their conviction. Such was the superficial repentance of Israel’s first crowned ruler.

David’s Success in the Wilderness of Ziph

David, fully aware that Saul’s repentance would be only tem porary, chose to ensure his safety by remaining in the natural