David was in his early 20s when he fled to the wilderness to escape from King Saul. His parents, four hundred men and eventually his wife, Abigail joined him there.
His adversary, King Saul, handpicked three thousand warriors to hunt David down, hoping to kill him. This kept David looking over his shoulder for seven years, never allowing him a moment’s rest, day or night.
When David moved his parents to safety in Moab, the prophet Gad came to him there and said, “David, you can’t stay here, you have to go back to Judah.”
Wait a second!
God – who loved David – wanted him to continue in his life-threatening trial?
YES!
Why?
You see, it was this agonizing, painful, fearful trial that God used to change David into the man who would eventually become the King of Israel, a noted psalmist and an encouragement for future believers like you and me. Look at the words he wrote in Psalm 23:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me… (Psalm 23:4)
David lived these words for seven years while King Saul hunted him down.
But even David, who had such great revelations about the heart of the Father, could only handle so much stress. He ended up rebelling against the prophetic word spoken to him by Gad and spending his last sixteen months of the trial in Gath. He stayed there until King Saul was killed.
What did the back-slidden rebel David say was the reason that God delivered him from King Saul?
He rescued me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19 AMP)
Hey, most of us are going through seemingly endless trials right now. Some of the time, we are walking in faith and victory, but during others, we may be standing on the edge of a cliff, thinking about jumping off and quitting altogether.
Yet, no matter where we are right now, let’s remember this: if the Lord delighted in a back-slidden David, He delights in us.
Why?
Because we are His beloved.
Larry Who 