1 Samuel 16

Today’s chapter begins with mourning, and I believe that is rightfully so. As we read about Saul, it’s easy to have this self-righteous attitude. All his mistakes, selfish choices, and acts of rebellion are laid out in a story for us to read. The king chosen by His own people, scandalously falling from favor. As we are introduced to David, the humble shepherd boy, my heart is drawn to the underdog. As humans we reflect our Heavenly Father with our desire for justice, but as we read today, would we remember that without Christ, we are no different than Saul. Lost without hope, turning away from God to our own desires.

This chapter isn’t just about the evil king Saul and the humble king David, in this chapter we see that without the power of the Spirit of God, the servant of God is helpless to do His will and glorify Christ. David’s success in life didn’t come from his time, treasures or talents. It’s clearly stated in verse 18, “The Lord was with Him.” David’s success came from abiding with the Lord.

God ordained who we would be. Before our parents even knew we existed, He was knitting us together in our mothers womb, creating each one of us to be unique and set apart. He set all our days before us, before we even knew one. God has a good plan for our lives and if we aren’t careful, we can easily allow envy to torment us, just like Saul.

The Lord doesn’t look at things the way people do, He looks at the heart. We can trust Him to see the things we can’t, and when our circumstances seem unfair, we must believe that the One who knows the plan for our lives will lead us. As Jesus says in John 15, “apart from me you can do nothing.” As we abide, we are able to fully live into God’s will for our lives. 

So you may be asking yourself, what does it mean to abide? As John Piper puts it, “abiding is believing, trusting, savoring, resting, receiving.”

As you process this scripture ask yourself, are you believing, trusting, savoring, resting and receiving the word of God and the love of Jesus?