The Monday Memo from John Stanko

Memo 1049: Go Crazy All the Way

David was in full panic-mode when he left the priests in Nob: "That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath" (1 Samuel 21:10). Fear will cause people to do unusual, uncharacteristic things, and David, God's mighty warrior, was no exception. Armed only with Goliath's sword and a few loaves of bread, he fled west to the land of Philistia where he was captured by the very enemies he had conquered on more than a few occasions. Let's examine this week what happened when David arrived and how he escaped in this week's Memo titled "Go Crazy All the Way."

THE PRICE OF FAME

David had not gone looking for fame and notoriety, but he certainly had them as we learn by what even his enemies knew to be true about him: “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” (1 Samuel 21:11). The songs sung about David among his own people had gone viral and were bestsellers among the heathen. It's often the case that people see your purpose more clearly than you do and even when you know it but try to run from it, they will bring you back to reality.

Before we move on to the rest of the story, let's make a quick detour to look at Psalm 56, where the heading reads, "[A Psalm] of David when the Philistines had seized him in Gath." David didn't just venture into enemy territory, he was captured by his enemies. It's possible for God's servants not only to visit the sins of despair and hopelessness, they can also be incapacitated by them—as David clearly was. While David was a prisoner, we read about his spiritual journey and subsequent revelation in Psalm 56:

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down (Psalm 56:3-7).

THE WAY OUT

David came to his senses and reminded himself that God had protected him thus far, which caused him to conclude "What can mere mortals do to me?" Yet David was outnumbered and surrounded, so there was no way he could fight his way out of his captivity, which was his usual response to trouble. That's when the Lord gave him another strategy that worked pretty well as we read:

David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” (1 Samuel 21:13-15).

It's almost as if the Lord said, "David, you've been acting crazy lately, but don't stop now. That's what got you here in your own power, but now I'll combine your craziness with My power to get you out." The plan worked, for we read how "David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam" (1 Samuel 22:1). Only God could redeem David's worst and turn it into behavior that demonstrated God's best. What a God we serve, the God of crazy David!

Have you been acting crazy lately? Are you overrun with fear thoughts which have caused you to act out your fears? Have you been acting like you don't know what to do but in reality you do know, but are terrified, not of failure but of success? If so, i urge you to read Psalm 56 and Psalm 34 in their entirety, for David composed both of them during his crazy times in Gath. He did great creative work even while he was less than God's hero of faith and power.

When you read with journal close by, record what you hear from the Lord. Why? Because when you read those psalms, you see that even though David wrote them in the midst of his crazy act, God still used them along with the entire act for His purpose and glory. That's good news for us, for if God used David's nuttiness for His ends, then He will certainly do the same when we act the fool, too. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1048: Stale Bread

David was officially on the run, a fugitive, and his only crime was being successful and serving the king and his people with distinction. His downfall was his success and he had no choice but to run for his life as Saul sought to eliminate the rival to his throne. David had enjoyed success that belied his age, for he was still a young man who had a lot of maturing to do. We can't blame David for being young and inexperienced, and the only "remedy" was for him to go through some things that would mature and prepare him to serve as the king he was anointed to be. In this Memo, let's examine what happened as he began his life on the run with Saul in hot pursuit.

BREAD AND A SWORD

David's first need when he fled was some food for him and his companions:

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here" (1 Samuel 21:1-3).

The priest only had the twelve loaves of the week-old bread of the Presence which the priests ate as their food. That tells us that David's traveling cohort was small, for 12 loaves would not feed many for very long. Then David turned his attention to another need he had:

Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me" (1 Samuel 21:8-9).

At some point, the trophy from David's most notable triumph, Goliath's sword, had ended up in the possession of the priests. If David didn't have a sword, then it's doubtful any of his traveling companions had one either. So there was God's anointed, starting his survival trek with no food or weapons. Stale bread and an over-sized sword were his lot, while the crazed King Saul sat in the palace with a large army and all the food he wanted.

GOD'S PROVISION

David lied to the priests as to why he was on the run, and it eventually cost them their lives when Saul came a-callin' and accused them of harboring his criminal son-in-law. This indicates that David was confused and fearful, still trying to figure out what he had done to deserve such treatment, while also wondering how he was going to survive. Yet in the midst of his panic, God showed him the reason for his dilemma, and it wasn't anything he had done wrong, but something he had done right: his victory over Goliath. David's faith had brought him to where he was (for it was his faith that had won the battle with the giant and brought him great fame) and when he was presented with Goliath's sword, he was reminded that faith was what would carry him forward to the throne God had promised him.

Perhaps you find yourself in a tough spot right now. You launched out with the best of intentions to fulfill your purpose and do God's will. As you have, the enemy of your soul, who could not keep you from your purpose, is now trying to keep you from succeeding in it. He has created what I call "economic terrorism" to cause you to panic and run back to the comfort of what you used to do. Your friends seem to have disappeared and it's just you and God.

Like David, you may be eating "stale bread" as you struggle to make ends meet. As you cry out to God, He's silent or doesn't seem to move on your behalf. That's because He's allowed this season to prepare you for your future, and lean times have a way of imparting important lessons you will need later, lessons that teach you the reality of this truth:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Like David, you need to be reminded of your past faith victories because the way of your past is the way forward. You need to trust God and embrace this season of stale bread and limited means. One day, when your faith is rewarded (and faith is always rewarded), you will look back and thank God that He brought you the way He did, for you will have a testimony that no one can steal. You will have confidence that whatever you face, you will make it through because you're not alone—although it sure seemed like you were in the days when economic terrorism threatened to destroy your faith journey that had started out with such promise. Stir up your faith today, eat those hardened morsels of stale bread, and reflect not only on where you have come from but where you will be when your economic terrorism comes to an end. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1047: A Conflicted Friend

We have established the last few weeks that Saul was indeed intent on killing David and everyone seemed to know it except one person: his son Jonathan. Let's look at how that played out in this week's Memo to see how this impacted David and his anointing to be king.

DENIAL

David went to his friend and asked the reason for Saul's hatred:

Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?” “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!” But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death" (1 Samuel 20:1-3).

Jonathan didn't want to believe that David's depiction was true, but at least he agreed to investigate and pass on what he found to his friend. He and David concocted a plan that would inform David if it was safe to come back or if he had to flee. We then read,

Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!” “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David (1 Samuel 20:30-34).

Saul's venom spilled over into his relationship with his son and Jonathan had no choice but to recognize the reality that his father was a murderer. Jonathan kept his word and sent a message to David to run for his life, having said before he had his encounter with his father, "But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever" (1 Samuel 20:22-23, emphasis added). Jonathan saw God's hand in the matter that perhaps God was behind David's dilemma but that has always led me to ask one question about this matter.

Jonathan knew his father was a madman. He knew he was to serve as David's second-in-command. Jonathan loved David and had made a covenant of love and friendship with him. All that being true, the question is: Why did Jonathan choose to stay with his crazed father?

A COSTLY ERROR

Of course, we can only conjecture an answer, but in my mind, Jonathan made a fatal mistake. Perhaps he could not break free from his family's gravitational pull. Maybe he felt he would do more good in the court than on the run with his friend. My own sense is that he enjoyed life close to the throne and prided himself in being able to read his father's moods, which clearly he could not. Jonathan was conflicted concerning his role and place, and his decision to stay with his deranged father cost him his life in a battle fighting next to him, and David never had a second-in-command, for Jonathan died a premature death, falling short of God's revealed will for his life.

How about you? Do you have relationships like Jonathan did that are keeping you from engaging and fulfilling your purpose? Do you know where you are supposed to be, or who you are to be with, but you can't seem to break out of the orbit of your current world? Or maybe you are like David who wanted to stay with Saul and Jonathan but "the Lord has sent you away"? Jesus was clear that no relationship can or should be a priority over the will of God. David acted on this and prospered, Jonathan did not and failed. You may have to make the same choice between a relationship that has strong emotional bonds but has you tied down or being free to do what God wants you to do. As we learned in this lesson, that choice may be the difference between life and death. Have a blessed week!