REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Cami King—now a friend of AMI—was first posted on March 22, 2015. Cami served faithfully as a staff at several AMI churches in the past.
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
“A False Security”
1 Samuel 26:1-2, 6-9
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph… 6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”
We are all familiar with the story of the Titanic – the massive ship that ended in a massive crash and a tragic loss of life. The Titanic is certainly famous for sinking after receiving a fatal blow from an iceberg, but one thing it’s less 0known for is the ad campaign that preceded its first and final voyage. The Titanic was marketed as a ship that could not sink. Can you imagine – an unsinkable ship? It seems silly to us now, but it was believed very much back then by not only the passengers aboard, but by those who produced and navigated the Titanic, so much so that they didn’t bother to supply it with enough lifeboats for every passenger. It just wouldn’t have been necessary on an unsinkable ship.
One thing we can learn from this tragedy is the danger of false security. And in our passage for today, Saul reminds us of that danger once again. He is encamped with 3000 men (v. 2) surrounding him for protection – a formidable army that had set out against David and his men, a group of merely 600. In comparison, Saul must have been assured of his safety. But when it was least expected (literally as Saul was asleep) David made his move and was given an opportunity to claim Saul’s life right in the midst of his fortified army. Saul was much more vulnerable than he knew.
David on the other hand, with his measly 600 men, was protected all along the way – both in this encounter with Saul and the one we read about a couple chapters prior. David was not protected because of his great skill and his great army and his great resources. He was protected because of the hand of God. And in the end, it was God’s hand that even protected Saul – as his life was only spared in David’s pursuit of righteousness before the Lord.
Any means through which we acquire security is vulnerable to attack of some kind and penetration when least expected if that means is not God himself. He is our only true and reliable source of security—not our financial security, our family stability, our skills and gifts, our opportunities and open doors, who we know and what we do, not our personal histories or who we are or where we come from. None of these things where we are so often prone to search for security can provide what we so desperately desire. No. Only God himself can secure us.
Where do you find your security? Surrender those areas to the Lord and ask him to remind you that He alone is our security. May we declare as David does in 2 Samuel 22, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.” All other securities will indeed fail.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, may my security always be anchored in your Son Christ. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Acts 15-16