…And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand,…” And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me.”

1 Samuel 23:7, 21 ESV

When I was reading this, what came to mind was the kingdom parables, the good who will inherit the kingdom and the bad who will end up gnashing their teeth.

Saul continues with his religious sounding talk. It’s all lies. If God had given David into his hands, David would be in his hands. He can’t pass on to others the Lord’s blessing because he doesn’t have it.

Some still follow Saul, convinced more by the outward appearance of things. It doesn’t hurt that Saul apparently paid them with fields.

Others seem to have their eyes open and see that the blessing of God with us doesn’t look like worldly power and wealth. The Lord was with David, who lived in the blessing and had the help of God. It looked like hiding in caves and being on the run.

In just what we read today, he goes from 400 to 600 followers. I can’t help but think they see God’s hand with him. He can’t offer them anything of the world, but they are loyal to him.

Who are you being loyal to? Can you see past the outward things to see if God is really at work in your life granting success? What does that look like? Sanctification.