A Right Heart

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

A RIGHT HEART

1 Sam 24:1-7

24:1 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi." 2 So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." 7 With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

NIV

There is more to the story of David and Saul, but we can learn a valuable lesson from the heart of David. Although Saul was filled with anger against David and sought to kill him, he took time to relieve himself. That sounds like he needed to empty his bladder, but a more direct meaning of the Hebrew is to cover his feet, which would mean to take a nap, fall asleep. This is why David was able to snip a corner of Saul’s robe, as Saul was sound asleep. However, David was conscience-stricken for doing such a thing. Interestingly, although David had been anointed by Samuel as the king of Israel under the direction of the Lord, for He had rejected Saul as king, David still considered Saul his master, the LORD’s anointed. This is a humbled-hearted man, one who knows the LORD, and who the LORD knows that David is a man after His own heart. At least this far in the whole struggle of Saul, we can see him represent wickedness, or evil, and David represents a man after the heart of God, just and righteous. It was and now stands as what we would call the ancient battle between good and evil. Of course, we believe we are the ones who represent good, as we believe God and have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, while those in the world who have not yet or may never believe in Jesus represent the evil in the world. It is easy to judge that difference, but are we being self-righteous? “See how good we are”, “We go to church every Sunday”, “ We know Jesus”. However, we wonder, because our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the forces of evil in this world and in the heavenly realm. The fact is, we do battle with evil, and if we are to be honest, we battle against our own evil thoughts that can sneak in. Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts, see if there is any wicked way, or anxious thoughts in me, and lead me in ways everlasting. David wanted God to make sure that the Lord would show him if he had any anxious thoughts, or a more wooded translation, any pain, sorrow, or idol thoughts. Anxious would fit in this idolatry or pain and sorrow, as all of that kind of thinking surrounds self-centeredness. Could we have anxious thoughts? Could we battle with some aspect of evil thinking? Do we judge others or criticize their actions? Do we think more highly of ourselves than we should? It appears David did not, although he had the anointing of God on him. Is gossip a form of evil thoughts? Let us ask the LORD to search our hearts, to try us, and see if we have any wicked thoughts. Let us desire to have a heart after God, a right heart.