Prayer: Father, may I find power in You, in Your presence. Amen.
Reading: 1 Samuel 21 key: vs. 12-14 “But Achish’s courtiers said to him, “Isn’t this David king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’” David took these words to heart, and he became so afraid of King Achish of Gath that he changed his demeanor before them and acted like a mad man while in their hands—scribbling on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.” TLV
Attention: I remember taking a college preparatory class in English Literature and one of the required readings was a book titled One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. This is not an endorsement to read the book or see the movie as the movie based on the book, both herald from the Theater of the Absurd literature genre’, which operates from the philosophy that there are no absolutes, no truth, and there is no God.
So, Ken Kesey writes from the bases of the absurdity of life as an existentialist, he includes scenes which show the power the insane can and do exercise over the sane both inside and out of the hospital.
It is no surprise to me that David once recognized, felt that he had to do something out of the ordinary to save himself. Yet if I am reading this chapter correctly, David had stopped by Abimelech the Kohen for food for him and his men. While he was with the kohen, he asked about weaponry. The only weapon he has just happens to be Goliath’s sword, to which David gladly replies, “There is nothing like it!” David said, “Give it to me.”
The text is silent about whether David was carrying it around in Gath. One must think that the Philistines would quickly identify Goliath’s sword and its presence would send chills down their spine. It seems strange to me that David would have any fear with God’s presence accompanying him. At any rate, David convinces those around him that he is insane.
I am not a psychologist or a professional counselor. So, I am not diagnosing anyone. Yet, there is a spiritual aspect which needs to be addressed. My abbreviated comment comes from the apostle Mark, “Now they came to Yeshua and saw the madman who had had the legion. He was sitting there, dressed in clothes and in his right mind.” Yeshua (Jesus), cast the demon out of the man and he was “dressed in clothes (he formerly was running around naked) and in his right mind.”
The man was delivered (not in his right mind, terrorized by demons and terrorizing an entire town), from a legion of demons who had taken residence in him. Only the divine has the power to transform a man who isn’t in his right mind, to his right mind. David was faking it; the demoniac was not.
Action: I choose today to recognize the spiritual battle for a human soul and their mind.
Yield: I choose today to yield and submit to the Holy Spirit’s mentoring of my life.
Engage: I choose to engage with the Holy Spirit in conforming my life, heart, mind, and soul to the Lord.
Relationship: I choose to live in the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Father, I have chosen to live a submitted life unto You in the power of Your Holy Spirit. Please continue to order my steps and life! Amen.
Memory Verse: Philippians 3:10-11 “My aim is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death— if somehow I might arrive at the resurrection from among the dead.” TLV
Music Video: Darrell Evans—I’m Trading My Sorrows https://youtu.be/YqjivEw7gzE
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”