GOD’S GOODNESS LEADS TO REPENTANCE
Romans 2:3-4
“And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest
them which do such things,
and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?”
In I Samuel 24, we find the testing by God of both Saul and David. “The goodness of God leads to repentance” is a truth illustrated all through the Scriptures, and it is put before Saul and David to test them here, a test which Saul failed and David passed. To wait upon the Lord and not to act urgently and impatiently in the flesh, is the strong temptation. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay” is a part of the “waiting upon the Lord” that we must commit ourselves to do.
Saul had been blessed by the Lord to defeat and drive out the Philistine army. When he was returning from doing so, he was informed that David was in the wilderness of Engedi. (I Samuel 24:1). And he immediately began to pursue David again. Some may suppose that outward prosperity indicates God’s approval of one’s life, but that may not be true at times. In the case of Saul, it was the goodness of God to lead him to true repentance, which means a change of mind and heart, but it did not have that effect on Saul.
David’s test came when God delivered Saul into his hand in a cave, David had opportunity to forever defeat his enemy who was so bitterly against him and desired so much to kill him. Just one stroke of the sword would have accomplished that; his men saw this as a great opportunity for David to get to the throne of Israel, which he was anointed to do. David would not ‘touch’ God’s anointed, though he was rejected as king of His people. David spared the life of Saul, and waited upon the Lord to avenge him, and to bring about His will in His way.
Waiting upon the Lord, at times, is the most difficult aspect of faith. Our general way is impatience, it is natural for us to be so, it is our nature, but it is graciously supernatural to be patient and wait on the Lord in times of testing, although there is such a feeling of urgency to act in those times. David did not act rashly and impatiently and God was pleased and even Saul was impressed when his life was spared, but his commitment did not last long.
David had learned another valuable lesson and that was not to trust in man, so he remained in hold, that is to say in hiding. He awaited the complete deliverance of the Lord instead of assuming that every opportunity put before him was God’s open door. Some are distractions from God’s will and cause much grief, let us seek the Lord to determine His perfect will for us in all circumstances of life.
In His wonderful name,
October 25, 2009