Read: 1 Samuel 26:12-27:1
Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. (v. 25)
I never anticipated how complicated neighborly relationships would be until my husband and I bought our first house and chose to put up a fence. The neighbors on one side loved the fence, and the others hated it. Like so many relationships, this was complicated to navigate. Learning to love, trust, understand, and endure one another in any relationship is a process.
I find myself shaking my head in bafflement over Saul and David’s complicated relationship in 1 Samuel. Early on, their relationship was kindly and loving, before strife came between them. They’ve taunted, threatened, and frustrated one another at every turn, yet David refused to go so far as to harm Saul. In today’s reading, we see the men separate after Saul offered a somewhat flippant parting word to David before David left with his men for a new, safer location.
Saul’s words seem to have rolled right off David, but hopefully he stored them away for a later date when he would understand their prophetic value. David was young when Samuel anointed him to become king, he was chased ruthlessly in the interim, and then eventually he did become a successful king. Fulfillment of God’s plans can take just as much endurance and patience as relationships. I would encourage you to approach both with abundant patience.
As you pray, ask for patient endurance.
About the Author
Katy Sundararajan is a specialized minister in the Reformed Church in America. She has garnered her pastoral perspectives from posts as a college chaplain, a missionary, an international student advisor, and a higher education and leadership ministries program coordinator.
