RUNNING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

Most of us are familiar with the story of David. He was born into a family of seven brothers, and some historians believed his mother, unlike his brothers, was a concubine. In the family, he was the youngest brother, and therefore while his older brothers got enlisted into King Saul’s army, David was at home watching the sheep.

During a war with the Philistines, David’s father sent him to check on his brothers, and it was there that David encountered Goliath and killed him with a slingshot, a stone, and Goliath’s sword. This act of bravery landed him in the king’s army, where David found favor with King Saul, Saul’s servants and the people. Eventually, due to David’s military successes and prowess, King Saul made David, an officer in his army. All was well with David until after a military campaign; the women began to praise David in a song more than they were praising King Saul. From that time forward King Saul viewed David differently and attempted to kill him twenty-one times.

David had to leave the king’s palace, his wife, Michal, his family, his friends, and his best friend, Jonathan. David was on the run for approximately eight years. During this time David went and hid out in the Cave of Adullam, and God sent word to David by the prophet Gad to return to the land of Judah (Praise) which he did; however, in time with the continued attempts of King Saul on his life he became more and more fearful.

David always had the divine protection of God, but after his last encounter with King Saul, he allowed the fear of Saul to grip him, and he convinced himself that one day Saul would kill him. Instead of consulting God, David ran, and he ran in the wrong direction.
David left Israel, went to the land of the Philistines, and joined himself and his men to King Achish, the King of Gath. The king gave David and his company housing in the town of Ziglak, and the bible recorded that during the sixteen months that David was there, he did not communicate with His God. David and his men pillaged and killed the people of the surrounding nations and lied about their exploits to King Achish.

David came to his senses after Ziglak was burnt to the ground by the Amalekites, and the women and children were taken captive while he and his men were on the military campaign with the Philistines. With their families gone, David’s men talked about stoning him. The Bible says, “David inquired of the Lord,” and God said. “Pursue for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all. Following God’s instruction, David pursued, and he and his men recovered their families, their goods and the spoils of the Amalekites. When they returned to Ziglak, David was informed of the death of King Saul and Jonathan, and once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord told him to, “Go up, unto Hebron.”

As I previously stated, David was on the run for years, and God protected him. When he feared what a man could possibly do to him rather than the power of God who protected him from a lion, a bear, Goliath, and numerous attempts on his life, he ran in the wrong direction. Consequently, David, the mighty psalmist became a murderer, a liar, and a deceiver. God permitted him to experience loss of family and home, and hear the plot of his murder from his men to restore godly communication and relationship.

If you are presently running in the wrong direction and are no longer in fellowship with God, I urge you to be restored to your rightful place in Him. Stop running in the wrong direction because it is going to bring you pain and not the true happiness and protection that God provides for those that trust Him. Learn from the life of David, do the good things that he did, and not the bad, don’t run in the wrong direction.