The Godly Behavior of a Champion

David’s Behavior Contrasted to King Saul

I Samuel 18:14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

Introduction:

After killing the giant, David was suddenly placed at the head of the army. He was acclaimed by all. After returning from a successful battle against the Philistines, the Israelite women sang: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. David was confronted with fame, a far more dangerous situation than failure. We could say: Failure has destroyed its thousands, and fame its ten thousands. But David behaved himself wisely in this situation. We find the following admonition in Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. We need to remember that one day we will face a holy God. Fortunately, we have an advocate to remind and empower us to prepare wisely for such a situation. I John 2:1b And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We should also remember that the sin of Satan was pride, and he passed on that sin to Adam and eventually to us.

Saul, on the other hand, had already been warned by God that God was seeking a man after his own heart to replace the king. I Samuel 18:8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he said: They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands; and what can he have more than the kingdom. 9. And Saul eyed David from this day and forward.

The following day, an evil spirit troubled Saul, and David played his harp to drive away the evil spirit and comfort Saul. Saul had a javelin in his hand, and suddenly cast it at David to pin him to the wall. David avoided the javelin, and now Saul was even more afraid of David because he knew that the Lord was protecting David and had left Saul.

David’s behavior with his fellow servants:

David did not get puffed up with pride. He led with concern and the servants appreciated him. Many believe that they are better than those under them. In the eyes of God, this is not true. We should not depend on titles. When we do, we remove God’s blessing on our lives. Notice the contrast with Saul, who was all wrapped up in preserving his position as king. We must behave wisely with our fellow workers as David did.

David and fame:

True honor comes from God. David knew that his victory over the giant and his victory over the Philistines came from God and not his own ability. He behaved himself wisely in the face of fame. Fame is deadly because it leads to that greatest of all enemies of our spiritual life and empowerment from God, the sin of pride.

David’s behavior with foolish King Saul:

David behaved wisely with King Saul, who had a deadly rage to kill him. Saul cast a spear to kill him. David avoided the spear but did not retaliate. He could have pulled out the javelin and thrown it back at Saul, but he did not. Later we will find two occasions when David could have easily killed Saul. In both situations, it would have been easy to say that God Himself had opened the door to David, but he refused to kill the Lord’s anointed.

We too should behave ourselves wisely in the fear of the Lord. It has been said that the fear of the Lord removes all other fears. How many unnecessary heartaches could be avoided if we would only behave ourselves wisely. We would find a new stability in our lives which would make us more usable for the Lord’s service. Let us show true wisdom and respect for the Lord.

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