On Waiting

Today’s verse is 2 Samuel 1:3, but let’s back up and get some context. 2 Samuel opens with David learning about the death of Saul and Jonathan. The Israelites were in a battle against the Philistines, and verse 9 tells us that Saul knew he was about to die. Rather than dying at the hands of the enemy, he asked one of his own to kill him. An Amalekite living among the Israelites came to David and told him that he was the man Saul asked to kill him. He said that he complied, took Saul’s crown and arm band and fled to where David was hiding out. After grieving briefly for Saul and Jonathan, David turned to the man and said, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?” (v.14). He then had his men kill the Amalekite.

David’s response seems cruel, doesn’t it? The Amalekite said that he was doing what Saul had told him to do. However, if we look back at 1 Samuel chapter 31, we find that the Amalekite wasn’t the one who killed Saul. Saul had killed himself. I’m not sure why the Amallekite lied to David, but in the end, he died for it. And whether God would have saved Saul’s life or not is anyone’s guess, but Saul’s act of manipulating the situation and taking his own life took away the opportunity for God to do something miraculous.

Regardless of who killed Saul, I think the “point” for today remains this: Let God be God. Is there something you’ve been praying about for a long time without an affirmative answer? Don’t try to force God’s hand. He has a plan and specific timing, and when we try to manipulate people or circumstances to get our way, we take away the opportunity for God to surprise us with what he as in store for us. Yes, we may get what we want, but what will we have missed? How do we know that what we want is what is best? Perhaps God had something we would have liked even better in mind. So even though it’s hard, continue to pray and wait on the Lord.

[But here’s possibly even a better idea (and a bonus “point”). I have a couple of things I’ve been praying for for years, and I’m still waiting to see what will happen. A few days ago, I decided to stop praying about those specific things. God knows what I want. I don’t have to keep telling him over and over again. (Yes, Jesus told us in Luke 18:1-8 to pray persistently, but I think I’ve reached the point where I’m just whining about things instead of simply being persistent.) So now, instead of praying for myself all the time, whenever I start thinking about these issues, I stop and pray for someone else instead. If you find yourself being consumed by something you’ve been talking to God about, maybe it’s time to take the focus off yourself, spend your prayer energy on someone else, and bless their life instead.]