Walk Through Scripture | 1 Samuel 24

Welcome to the last few chapters of 1 Samuel. We’ve read about the rise of Samuel, then Saul, and now we are reading about the trials of David as God prepares him to become the next king of Israel. Today we see David faced with the ultimate opportunity to get ahead.

Start by reading 1 Samuel 24 for yourself, take notes, and compare what you hear from God with what I see and hear. The Bible is alive and active. You and I may not see the same things. And if you’ve missed any of the past posts of earlier chapters, you can find them all HERE.

Ready? Let’s learn together about 1 Samuel 24!

The Values Driven Leader

Let me begin by reminding you of a core belief I have. You are a leader. All of us are leaders in some capacity. It could be within your family, job, church or community. Someone is looking to you – formally or informally – to lead them.

With this in mind, as a leader opportunities will come and go in your life. Some choices will be easy to make a decision on, but others will be much more difficult. How will you know what to do, especially when you realize the choice before you is one of monumental proportions?

In these moments we need guiding principles or values. This is how David makes many of his decisions as a leader.

In this chapter, David is faced with a golden opportunity to simultaneously be rid of his enemy and make a huge step toward his destiny. It seems God has placed Saul in David’s lap to assassinate. How does David make this decision? He falls back on one of his core values — the anointed leader of the Lord is sacred. David values Saul’s life.

In his conversation with Saul, David goes on to share another core value:

“May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you.

May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!” ‬

1 Samuel‬ ‭24:12-13, 15

David believed God was the ultimate judge and defender of his life. It was a value or principle he lived by. But the values David has doesn’t end there.

Finally, David leaves Saul by promising him to spare his family when he becomes king. David valued loyalty – even when those same people weren’t loyal to him!

In this one chapter we see three core values of David:

• God’s anointing is sacred.
• God is the ultimate judge and defender.
• Loyalty to friends and family (even when their actions don’t deserve it).

As you read through the story of David’s life, you’ll find these values repeated over and over in David’s life – honoring God’s anointed leader, believing God is his defender and loyalty. It should cause you to ask the same question of your own life, “What are my core values? What principles will I ‬‬live my life by?”