I remember one day when we were driving out in the country in a weird area.  We stopped to look at some goats in a pen and the people in the truck behind us became suspicious.  As I started driving away they began to follow us.  It began to get really creepy.  As I sped up so did they.  Finally I lost them but it was very uncomfortable being followed.  Especially considering the remote area where we were in.

David and his men were on the run from Saul when they heard that their enemy, the Philistines, had captured one of the cities in Israel.  Now David wasn’t king but he had been a military commander.

So he did what was remarkable.  He sought the Lord what to do and the Lord told him to go take the city back.  His men following him were afraid so David went back to the Lord and got even stronger confirmation.  So they went and delivered the city from the hand of the Philistines.

When Saul heard about it he decided to go try to capture and kill David and his men for their supposed sedition.  As David was in the city he just delivered, he asked the Lord if he should stay or go, and if the people of the city would hand him over.  The Lord told him to flee as the city would give him to Saul.  So that’s what David did.

David was on the run and Saul was pursuing him.  They come to a crisis point where literally the only thing separating them was a mountain.  It looked like it was going to be over but once again the Lord delivered David.  Saul got a message that the Philistines were attacking and had to run.

In these events we see some beautiful things.  The Lord’s hand was on David and protecting him and his followers from some very tense and deadly situations.  In the meantime David was growing as a leader.  He obeyed the Lord even when everyone was afraid and he sought the Lord and did what he said.

A good leader is marked by his fear of the Lord, seeking the Lord, and doing what the Lord commands even in fearful circumstances.  And that was David.  With every situation and trial, God was forging him into a leader that was trusting in Him.

We are God’s forging. He doesn’t cause these terrible situations, doesn’t even want them for us yet allows them so as not to violate free will, but he redeems them.   He redeems them for us and for His glory.