THE GOD WHO RULES AND REIGNS (3)
(From the novel: WHAT CHANGED YOU? – By Pastor Taiwo Iredele Odubiyi)
David remained where he was and waited for an instruction or word from Samuel who saw the men, but there was no word from Samuel as he went on prophesying with the other prophets.
Saul’s men came into the midst of the prophets to take David, but suddenly fell down on their faces. Soon, they threw their swords away and began to laugh and prophesy as well.
David was shocked. He was experiencing another dimension of God’s power and he wondered in his heart – how great is this God?
Much later in the day, when he was alone, he felt inspired and began to write.
I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends Your works to another; they tell of Your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty—and I will meditate on Your wonderful works. They tell of the power of Your awesome works—and I will proclaim Your great deeds. They celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. All Your works praise You, Lord;
Your faithful people extol You. They tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, so that all people may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.In the morning, Samuel asked the servants of Saul to be fed and afterward, they left, terribly shaken.
David began to think again. But why did Saul want him dead? Would he send another group of people to arrest him? With Saul’s determination, David hoped he would not get Samuel and the prophets into trouble as Saul could order them to be killed.
After praying, he began to meditate on the words of God.Some days after, as David had thought, another group of men came from Saul to take him. This time, David was certain that the same thing would happen to these men and it was so. He was very happy.
Some days after this, David and the prophets were together again, and the prophets were prophesying. Suddenly, they heard a man talking in a loud voice. They couldn’t hear his words as he was far away. As the person came closer though, they could hear him and realised that he was prophesying. Surprised, they wondered who it was.
When the person got closer still, David recognised the voice. Saul!
Soon, he reached where David and the prophets were and got into their midst. Throwing his sword away and tearing off his clothes, Saul fell on his face and continued prophesying on top of his voice.
“The Lord will bring the counsel of the evil people to nothing! He will make their plans of no effect! The evil people will perish! Only the counsel of God will stand! Why have the people taken counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed, saying ‘we will stop them!’ The Lord will laugh at them …”
David knelt down and worshipped God for saving him, yet again.
That night, he did not sleep as he thought and planned. It was now obvious that Saul was determined to kill him. And with the way he was going on, if David remained with Samuel, Saul might order all the prophets to be killed for harbouring David. He wouldn’t want to get the men of God into trouble. If he told Samuel he was leaving, Samuel might ask him to stay but if he did, he would be risking their lives. He had to leave and run away.
Another thought occurred to him. After Saul had prophesied, was it possible for his mind to have changed concerning him? Could he have repented and turned to God?
David would love to return to his house and wife. He was missing Michal terribly. How was she? There was only one way to find out – get in touch with Jonathan.
With his mind made up, David ran away from Naioth without telling Samuel. He hid himself close to the place where Jonathan came regularly whenever he was in town. He had been there several times with Jonathan, to talk and meditate on the words of God. He didn’t know if Jonathan was back from fighting against the enemies but he would wait until the day he came to the place.
The next day, Jonathan came to the place. Happy, David waited to ensure Jonathan was alone before coming out of his hiding.
Jonathan was very happy to see him and he ran to meet his friend.
“What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he is trying to kill me?” David asked with trembling voice.
“Calm down, my friend.” Jonathan told him. “When I returned from battle, I went to your house and saw Michal. She told me some things. Tell me all that happened.”
David did, beginning from when Saul threw the javelin again at him, to the present.This #Novel #WhatChangedYou is available on okadabooks
Read and be blessed.
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