Morning By Morning #291

David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul.”

1 Samuel 27:1

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

This thought of David’s heart was false because he certainly had no grounds for thinking God’s anointing of him by Samuel was an empty, meaningless act. Not even on one occasion had the Lord deserted His servant David. Quite often he had been placed in perilous positions, but not one instance had occurred in which God’s divine intervention had not delivered him. The trials to which David had been subjected were quite varied, yet in every case He who had sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not point to any particular entry in his journal and say, “Here is the evidence that the Lord will forsake me,” for his entire past experience proved exactly the opposite. Instead of doubting, David should have argued that God would continue to defend him based on what the Lord had done previously.

But don’t we doubt God’s help in the same way? And isn’t it distrust without cause? Like David, have we ever had even a shadow of a reason to doubt the Father’s goodness? Hasn’t His loving-kindness toward us been wonderful? Has He ever failed one time to warrant our trust?

No! Our God has never forsaken us. We have had dark nights, but His star of love has shone forth amid the darkness. We have faced difficult conflicts, but the Lord has always held a shield above us in our defense. We have endured many trials but always to our advantage—never to our detriment. Thus, from our past experience, we can conclude that He who has been with us through six difficulties will not forsake us during the seventh. What we have experienced in the past from our faithful God proves He will keep us to the very end.

Therefore, may we never allow thoughts contrary to the evidence. How can we ever be so selfabsorbed as to doubt our God?

Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbelief. May the dogs devour it. (See 2 Kings 9:33 – 37.)

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Trust is as simple as believing the promises of God. Shortly before Moses died, he told the Israelites, “The LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). Soon thereafter the Lord said to Joshua, “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5). Hundreds of years later, David said to his son Solomon, “The LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” (1 Chron. 28:20).

Do you see a common theme here? God, through His Word, has gone on record. Thus, His very integrity is at stake were He to break this promise. Yet, as Paul told Timothy, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). Still, there is nothing wrong with reminding the Lord of His promises if it is done in faith. In fact, David prayed: “Fulfill your promise to your servant” (Ps. 119:38).

Finally, don’t forget these words reiterated to us as Christians:

“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5 – 6).