May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.
1 Samuel 24:15
It is in the midst of a strikingly mundane moment that God's sovereignty played an important role in the life of David. Saul is in hot pursuit of David and his band of refugee fighters. And the chase has now taken them into the wilderness of Engedi. There is the rocky cliffs and caves, David has a strategic advantage in the high ground, yet chooses to run rather than engage the king in battle. He is by no means going to stand against the Lord's anointed king.
Then the providential occurs in the inconsequential. While David and his men are hiding in a cave, Saul enters the cave alone. He has to go potty. The imaginations of ten year olds run wild here. Let's face it. This is a vulnerable moment for anybody, and David's men whisper to him to take advantage of the situation. David sneaks forward in the cool darkness and cuts off the hem of Saul's discarded robe, refusing to kill the king. Even that little boldness leaves David regretful of his cunning.
When Saul is finished with his business, and presumably about to move his company forward, David steps out of the cave flanked by his warriors and begs the king to stop seeking his life. The request has maximum effect. Saul is dumbfounded. He immediately agrees to stop pursuing David, in effect lifting the price on his head and pardoning him of the non-existent charges of treason.
It is worth noting that when David made his appeal, he made it in trust of God. He did not trust his own cunning. He instead simply acknowledged that everything that had occurred was under the sovereign rule of God first and foremost. He appealed to God's greater justice, and strangely, Saul was in a frame of mind to acknowledge that appeal and enter into a covenant of peace with David. When we see God's sovereign work in our lives, making circumstances we could not contrive in our wildest dreams work out for His glory, it can lead to greater trust than we ever thought possible.
- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13
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