Recovery Devotional 312 Playing the Fool

JMD Devotional 312 1 Samuel 26:17-24 Playing the Fool

[In another encounter between Saul’s army in hot pursuit of David and his men, we have a seeming ‘golden opportunity’ for David to avenge himself. Saul’s whole army is sound asleep! David and a servant just walk in, and David takes the spear and water bottle laying besides Saul’s head. They then climb to another ridge line and call out to wake up Saul.]

And Saul knew David's voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, My voice, my lord O king! And David said, Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? What have I done? Or what evil is in my hand [tonight]? Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel is come out to seek one flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains. Then said Saul, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly. David answered, See the king's spear! Let one of the young men come and get it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed. And behold, as your life was precious today in my sight, so let my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.

Saul in his shock and surprise blurted out something too true; “I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly!” Wakened suddenly, he did not have time to put his mask on; caught off guard, he forgot about his posture: he was real for a moment. His own words probably embarrassed himself when he realized all ears around him heard his frank confession. It is almost always folly for a politician to speak off the cuff, to go unrehearsed, to engage the media in real time: because the truth comes out. But the real folly is to pursue a course of action that is contrary to one’s core beliefs. For Saul, it was the pragmatic course of holding onto power and position that God was taking from him. What greater folly is there than to fight God? It was not that Saul quit believing in God; but that he put other interests ahead of his spiritual life; he compartmentalized religion into one corner; and his professional life into another. Any time we move out from under God to under anything else; we play the fool and err exceedingly.

Dear God,

Human beings are expert at self-deception! Like a child playing with power tools, we use the little wisdom we have to justify rebellion. Our self-inflicted pain must be miserable to watch. Thank You for the lucid moments, the epiphany that opens our eyes to our own folly. Please do not let the light of those moments of sanity fade out; help us to abandon independent living in favor of Your rule over every area of our lives. May our obedience be taken for outstanding wisdom and may all the good that results bring glory and honor to God.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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