Text:
Psalm 142: 3-7
Memory Verse:
“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk They have secretly set a snare for me” (Psalm 142:3).
After David slew Goliath, the women came out to meet Saul singing a song which aroused the green-eyed monster, jealousy, which had remained dormant in King Saul for so long. David actually killed only one person, but the women sang that he had slain tens of thousands. When one reads the Bible, one might not know that David’s troubles with Saul lasted for 13 years. David was like a son to Saul, but jealousy spurred Saul to make several attempts to eliminate him. David ran and kept running for 13 years. He ran to the wilderness, to caves, to different towns and, finally, to Gath
in the land of the Philistines.
David did everything right, yet for more than a decade he found himself in the midst of incredible suffering and hardship which he described as, ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ in Psalm 23:4. When he left his father’s flock to check the welfare of his brothers, who were in the battle, he never knew what was going to happen to him in the years ahead.
Just like in David’s case, in the pain, the waiting and the wilderness of our lives, God is shaping us into the people He wants us to be. He knew David would need the seasons and experiences as a leader and king in Israel. Even his own son, Absalom, drove him from the throne! David’s story gives hope for the bad days. We must learn to trust God and wait patiently (Habakkuk 3:17&18).
Prayer Points:
1. May I learn to trust You, Lord, when my times of testing and training come.
2. Help me to remain faithful to You in tough times.
