David Leaves Vengeance to God

The central theme of these chapters is David's willingness to leave vengeance against his enemies in the Lord's hands. In the course of going through these difficult circumstances God is preparing him to lead His people.

David's commitment to wait on the Lord and to continue to respect Saul because of his position as the ruling king demonstrates his great faith and humility before Lord. He continues to live confident of the fact he will be king and as one who has service to the Lord yet to be rendered, knows he is in that sense immortal as are all the the Lord's servants until their work is done.

Amazingly Saul is completely clear on the fact that David is God's chosen man to rule after him. He at times will seem repentant but worldly people only generate a temporary repentance over their circumstances, not being sorrowful over their sin before God.

The end of an era does occur in this section as Samuel, the last of Israel's judges dies.

Lessons from this study include:

1. Rulers are appointed by God and must be respected accordingly.
2. We are not to avenge ourselves upon our enemies.
3. The ungodly, when honest, should have to proclaim the righteousness of the saints because they observe their godly character and conduct.
4. A godly woman is a powerful influence.
5. We must be careful that great victory is not followed by great defeat.
6. We must be prepared to resist repeated temptations. Wrong will always be wrong.