ABOUT LOOKING AND LEAPING

READING: 1 SAMUEL 24: 1-12

Verse 10: “Look, this day your eyes have seen that he LORD delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch our my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’S anointed.’”

Sometimes people conclude that situations, events and circumstances are acceptable simply because they occur. Particularly if something seems to be a favorable opportunity, people may step into it without much consideration or examination. In fact the counsel of the world is to take advantage, leap in and, “not look a gift horse in the mouth.” However, the counsel of the word is to “count the cost.” For Christians there times when righteousness demands that what appear to be opportunities are to be turned down. This was true for David, a man who was special to God. The Book of Samuel relates two times when David could have killed King Saul in defense of his own life. David refused those opportunities. There was a higher principle in operation, and His respect for God caused him to not harm the man who the Lord permitted to be king. As the people of God we should be like David. We should inspect our situations and not automatically be guided by what appears to be good advantage. After that our decisions should be made by applying godly standards as our guidelines. That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. How does a person “count the cost”?

2. What would have resulted from David killing Saul?