You Will be Safe With Me

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

YOU WILL BE SAFE WITH ME

1 Sam 22:6-23

6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul, spear in hand, was seated under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing around him. 7 Saul said to them, "Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today." 9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul's officials, said, "I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine." 11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his father's whole family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, "Listen now, son of Ahitub." "Yes, my lord," he answered. 13 Saul said to him, "Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?" 14 Ahimelech answered the king, "Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king's son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father's family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair." 16 But the king said, "You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father's whole family." 17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: "Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me." But the king's officials were not willing to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 8 The king then ordered Doeg, "You turn and strike down the priests." So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. 20 But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David. 21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 Then David said to Abiathar: "That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father's whole family. 23 Stay with me; don't be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me."

NIV

Nothing is more terrible than being under the influence of evil. The heart of Saul has turned to the darkness that was infested with hatred, jealousy, and murdering priests, men of God, the whole family of Ahimelech, eighty-five in all,  because Ahimelech gave David bread. Although many of Saul’s servants would not strike a hand against the priests, maybe they still feared God, but this Doeg, the Edomite, could not have been a God-fearing man, for he was the one who killed all the priests. Interestingly, God allowed this kind of evil man to be recorded, having evil men in his word. There is a purpose for us to read about this kind of evil in the hearts of men, so that we can open our hearts to the examination of the Lord, asking, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” These were the words in one of David’s Psalms, as we believe David was a man of faith, a man of God who loved the LORD and wanted to do everything the LORD asked of him. God testified concerning David that he was a man after His own heart. When we see how David responds to Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, when he escaped and found David. David told him, “Don’t be afraid, you will be safe with me”. Jesus has told us many times, “Don’t be afraid”, in many different situations, like in the storm on rough seas, as he stood can calmed the wind and waves. Jesus has command over all the earth and over all our lives. We have no reason to live in fear and anyone or anything, for the world might be able to take our bodies, that is, kill our bodies, but our soul belongs to Jesus. In fact, the world, or the order established by God as a result of Adam’s sin, is that we should die. We know it was God’s intent that Adam should be an eternal being, but sin intervened and death became man’s fate. However, God was not finished, as he established a way before the foundation of the earth for man to be redeemed through Jesus. So, as we are now a person of God, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are now once again an eternal being. We accept those words of our Lord, “Don’t be afraid”, and we can hear Jesus tell us, “You will be safe with me”.