Waiting Upon the Lord

This morning I was reading from 1 Samuel. In the latter part of this book we read how David is fleeing from Saul. David has been anointed as the new king of Israel because Saul has turned his back against God. In contrast to Saul, David is a man after God's own heart. So God continually blesses everything that David does. This makes Saul jealous to the point that he wants David dead.

So David flees from Saul, but God continues to bless David and provide for him. On several occasions David could have easily killed Saul but he does not. Instead David says, "The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the Lord's anointed one, for the Lord Himself has chosen him" (1 Samuel 24:6).

David could have easily said, "I have been faithful to the Lord and the Lord has protected me. Surely the Lord is the one who delivered my enemy into my hands, therefore I will kill him." But instead David is patient to wait upon the Lord and he is not eager to take matters into his own hands.

I find this fascinating and challenging. I wonder how often I see what God is doing and take matters into my own hands, instead of being patient and waiting upon the Lord for His timing. Clearly God calls us to action, but how often do we act too soon? May we learn to be patient and wait upon the Lord for His timing and His way, in our lives and in our churches.