So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel. – 1 Samuel 29:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 22, 2019): 1 Samuel 29

Author Vineet Raj Kapoor asks “​Who gets to Live? You or Your Rules?” It is an interesting question. Another might be if it is possible to separate ourselves from the rules by which we live. If I am stripped of convictions, who am I? Who are you if I remove all of the things that you believe. Often, this is the essential challenge of life. The question that we are continually asked in our culture is “do we believe in the right things?” Often, I have to admit, that I am not sure of the answer. It is part of my daily struggle.

For me, what makes this situation worse is that we are besieged by people of violence that insist that there is only one way to believe and be saved. For this group, every Christian must behave and think similarly, or else we are not Christians. There are some issues where this is true. The Lordship of Jesus and the love of God are among the things that we must believe. But we have been convinced by people who want us to donate money to their cause that there is a list of other things which are also essential, and I am not convinced that that is true. Among these non-essentials are beliefs like a strict six-day creation or even some of our hot topic issues. One pastor argued that six verses in the King James Version which refer to the phrase “pisseth against the wall” (for those who doubt me, the six verses are 1 Samuel 25:22, 1 Samuel 25:34, 1 Kings 14:10, 1 Kings 16:11, 1 Kings 21:21, and 2 Kings 9:8 – KJV only) meant that Christian men should only pee standing up. If these are the rules by which we live, then these are rules that deserve to die. So, who gets to live? You or your rules?

David is in trouble. The choice that he is going to have to make is whether he and his men get to live based on whether he will sacrifice his rules and beliefs and wage war against Israel. Some have argued on the strength of verse 8 that David wanted to be part of the battle plan against Israel. But I am not convinced. It would seem to be against the essential character of David to want to wage war against Israel. If David refuses to attack Israel, then he and his men would likely be executed on the spot. If David attacks Israel, he will forfeit any moral claim to the throne that had been promised to him. The question did not lay easy on him. At this moment, there did not seem to be a right answer.

But the Holy Spirit provided a third alternative. Through no fault of David, but because of the mistrust of the other Philistine leaders, David is excused. The result is that he does not have to choose between sacrificing himself or his rules; the moral beliefs on which he had based his life. He could pretend to want to go into battle, a pretense that is excellently presented in verse 8, and still hold onto his values. Where David could not find a way out of his dilemma, God found a way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 30