Warrior-king is a fit description of David. First, he battles a lion and a bear that terrorized his sheep; then he had words with his brothers; then he fought Goliath; and then David struggled with Saul.  His was a life of conflict, battle, struggle and strife.  It is no wonder that David got fed up and decided to take a breather in Ziklag.  But even there, war overtook David.  His wives and his children along with his followers’ wives and children were kidnapped and taken for slaves.

David was even at odds with his own loyal men. Twice in the book of Samuel, in 1 Samuel 24 and in 1 Samuel 26, David chanced upon Saul asleep; in both instances, David’s men urged him to take Saul’s life as he slept so that David can finally become King. But David refused.

And Saul, Saul was tireless in his pursuit of David even if he knew that it was all in vain: God had chosen David to be King of Israel after Saul.  David had demonstrated indubitably that he had no desire to oust Saul from the throne.  Why was Saul doggedly hunting David down?

My daughter asked me the same thing:  is Saul a sucker for punishment?  why was he hounding David?  He knows he can’t win.

Early this morning, as I sat at my desk reading my Bible, that question about David and Saul still lingered in my mind.  But then my neighbor turned on his car stereo full blast.  This was the third day straight  that he had done this.  Other neighbors have complained about him repeatedly but he still insists on imposing his music on everyone else.  I closed the windows to muffle the blaring music and I tried to shut it out of my mind. I didn’t want to be angry.  I wanted my peace and quiet.  All I could do was to ask myself: why is the whole world encroaching upon my quiet time with God?  Why did I have to get stuck with a boorish inconsiderate neighbor?

As I was reading from the book of Galatians, the Word of God answered me: “But as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuteth him that was born after the Spirit, so it is now.” (Galatians 4:29)

Hah!  Puzzle, solved.  Saul hunted David down continually because those who are born of the flesh will always persecute those who are born of the Spirit. My neighbor turns his music up loud because he knows it will irk me.

Christians are moving targets of the world and the devil, after all. And often, the devil uses people to provoke us.  So it was with David.  Saul was being moved to provoke David to do what displeased God.

The life of a warrior is tiring.  It is wearisome. And we Christians are soldiers of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes, we don’t even need enemies to do battle. Everyday we do battle with ourselves: we do battle in our minds, we battle with our human nature; we battle with our selfish desires; we wrestle with our wills.  We are to bring every thought into captivity to obey Christ.  We are in a constant state of war and the enemy is us!

David had to battle depression and distress in Adullam.  He battled confusion when he was first ordered arrested by Saul. He battled against his own desire for vengeance.  He battled against pettiness when he almost killed Nabal. Now, as David takes a breather in Ziklag, and his wives and children are kidnapped, he has to battle with his frustrations.

As it was then, so it is now. The Christian life is not a life of ease and comfort.  Our God comforts us in the thick of battle.  He empowers us to fight and he teaches our hands to war.  But we still have to get up; we have to stand up; and we have to show up.

Battle-weary reader, take heart.  The God we serve is Jehovah Sabaoth–He is the Lord of hosts.  The God we love is Jehovah Nissi–He is the Lord our banner.  He will see us through for our battle is the Lord’s.  So, fight on!