Jonathan had a son who was just five years old when Jonathan died in battle. The woman in charge of his care feared for his life. It was a normal practice to kill off sons of kings so that there wouldn’t be a challenge for the throne.

Of course, the fear was unwarranted. David, if he had known about the boy, Miphiboseth, David would have protected him, and David does take him under his care in the future.

It was during this fleeing away in fear that Miphiboseth became lame in both feet. In trying to save their lives, when there was only a felt danger and not a real danger, she caused the child she cared for to be lame for life.

Then we have the story of two men who led raids for Saul’s sons. Once Abner is killed, they don’t see much hope for Saul’s son who is currently king over Israel. They want to win favor with David and switch sides. They think that will be better for them.

Their plan, again, was unwarranted. Abner just went to David and made a peace agreement together.

These men kill Saul’s son, the king of Israel, to show David their loyalty to him. But they didn’t know David. Knowing David meant knowing his love and loyalty to Saul and his family, despite all that had happened.

The men invoke the name of the Lord and speak as if they believe they were acting on the Lord’s behalf, killing the king. They say that the Lord has avenged David. But the Lord hadn’t. They had done the act. They hadn’t let the Lord bring justice. They acted on their own behalf.

The men are killed and dishonored.

When will Christians learn that their plans are bad plans? When will Christians learn that waiting on the Lord is the only true path to salvation, whatever the situation is?

Can we wait on the Lord? Well, we don’t just wait. We go to Him! We talk to Him! We ask Him His plans and then work with Him. That’s different from making plans and asking Him to help and bless.

When we’re going ahead of the Lord and carrying out our own plans, it’s because we don’t trust the Lord to bring about what we want. But it shouldn’t be about what we want. We should want His good and perfect plans for us and we should be willing to wait for Him to bring them about.