Passage Read: 1 Samuel 13-16
Meditation Verse: 16:1
Thought
How did the Lord intend to transfer power from Saul to David? Did He expect all Israel to naturally turn to David, now that he was anointed king? That didn't happen. Did He expect all Israel to remember and accept David as king when Saul died? There was the possibility of that, since Jonathan, Saul's son recognized David as the next king; he would have given the kingdom over to David. But God allowed Jonathan to die with his father, and no one else in Saul's camp seemed to understand that David should be made king next, not one of Saul's other sons--at least not until Abner was insulted by that other son. Then, when Abner was ready to hand the kingdom over, he was killed! It seems the only thing left was civil war, which David didn't hesitate to engage in. He would fight Saul's son for the right to be king as God promised, but he wouldn't fight Saul. The anointing mattered, not the normal structures and processes of men.
Application
If Israel had been spiritually mature and obedient, the transfer of power from Saul's house to David's would have been smooth and without conflict. But Israel wasn't spiritually mature, and war was necessary. Paul says to the Corinthians that sadly conflicts must arise among them, because not all are spiritually mature. If that's true for a church, how much more for any other Christian institution among men? Battles must be fought, though not with swords, but with words. Battles have been fought, and battles will need to be fought again. There is no joy in that. Rather, it is judgment.