The Plan

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

THE PLAN

1 Sam 23:19-29

19 The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 20 Now, O king, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for handing him over to the king." 21 Saul replied, "The LORD bless you for your concern for me. 22 Go and make further preparation. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. 23 Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah." 24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David. 26 Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land." 28 Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.   29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.

NIV

The best laid plans of man are no match for the plan of God. We are not even sure we can use the word match as “Who is man, that you are mindful of him,” and to consider that any of our plans could possibly have any chance against the plan of God is a more accurate view of what we see in this narrative. Saul has received the most definite information about David’s hiding place, and the Ziphites believe they have the perfect plan to hand David over to Saul. But just as Saul is closing in on David and his men, God intervenes with his plan as he had decided David is to be king over all Israel. It was not David’s plan, nor was it Saul’s plan, and it was not the plan of the Ziphites. We can make all sorts of plans that we may think are so good, and that will be a benefit for ourselves or maybe even for someone else. But do our plans line up with the will of God? We believe it is best to always put our plans on hold until we stand, sit, kneel, lie prostrate, or however our method of being before the Lord, God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, is, and seek his counsel, so that his plan becomes our plan. We have the Holy Spirit within us so that we can hear his voice, his thoughts, and sense his plan per the Father and the Son. Because Jesus calls us friends, He has given us the major plan for our lives. Yet, as we live in this material or physical world, and require a certain amount of content for our daily, or even our years of life, as to our direction in which we should head. We make so many choices throughout our days, such as where we live, what kind of car we buy, or what we do for a living, what kind of career or job we pursue, and where we attend church, as well as a host of other choices. But what does the Lord want us to do? Where does He want us to live, and to do for a living? Where does he want us to fellowship in worship with others? Even the plans of the church are at stake. Do the leaders make their plans, or do they seek the plan of God? This may seem a radical way to live, but we need to be mindful that our ways are not His ways, so we need to line up our ways according to His, for we know if we are trying to live by our plans, God will intervene to accomplish his plan.