A Moral Victory

Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” –I Samuel 26:13-16

David calls out to Abner rousing all to see the completeness of his victory. And yet, even with this emphatic triumph, the kingdom is not David’s. As we will see in the next days, what David did settled much regarding his future interaction with Saul, but, it did not give him the throne.

The reason David did not receive the throne was because it was not God’s time to give it to him. As we saw yesterday, David succeeded in taking the spear because God lulled Saul and his men into a deep sleep. God is the true conqueror in this episode; demonstrating to David what it meant to have his strength, and to Saul what it meant to be without it. David showed that, by God’s power, Saul was now completely at his mercy – he could do with him as he pleased. And, by David’s words, Saul could now see that all of his men, all the resources of the kingdom, all of his power, was worthless in this struggle.

Yet, for all that David did, he has only a spear to show for it. Some might call this a ‘moral victory’, because nothing tangible was gained in it, but what a moral victory it was! What was done, was done by God, and what David would receive, he would receive from God. David did have the kingdom, but his belief in God and his promise was as strong as ever.

In this episode God does not give David the kingdom, but rather strengthens David’s faith in the promise of the kingdom. He further demonstrates his power to his “anointed” and reveals the impotence of his enemy to resist him or one he favors. We seek many things in God and have been promised much by him, but our reward will come in his time. Our God is a God who strengthens and encourages his people. We may not see that encouragement as vividly or dramatically as David, but seeing what God has done reveals his character, and knowing this gives us expectations as to what he will do and how he will do it. In our daily walk we should expect encouragement. God brings what he does into our lives to reveal himself to us, strengthen our faith, and lead us on to our appointed end. All power is his, and he will demonstrate this to us and encourage us in his way.