Perspective

1 Samuel 26:25

“So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.”

Perspective is an amazing thing.  We see squirrels, pests, or a cute, fuzzy animal.  The squirrel sees our home and our trees as something he needs to survive.  Traffic cops often hear the speeder’s point of view of why they were speeding. After that the cops tells the speeder his version, which is usually different, and give out a ticket. The death of a family member, a sickness, a bad grade, a bad choice with friends are a few things in which perspective can be a game changer. 

In chapter 26, David again has a chance to kill Saul, except this time, he sneaks into camp and steals Saul’s spear and water jug less than 1 foot from his head and returns to his camp.  David then calls out to Abner, Saul’s guard, and says “you failed to protect the king,” mocking him.  David then shows Saul his own spear and water jug and again asks Saul why was he chasing him.  Saul accepts defeat and we read verse 25 above. 

A recap from Saul’s perspective: 

1.  David kills Goliath and becomes the favored young man more so than Saul. He gets angry and thinksthat David will kill him and take the thrown. 

2.  Saul is confronted by David in song and when an evil spirit comes over Saul he throws a spear at David and misses. 

3.  David begins a life of running from Saul. 

4.  After years on the run and not catching David, Saul is relieving himself one day in a cave. David cuts off a piece of his robe. 

5.  Outmatched, Saul goes home for the first time. 

6.  Saul, again, finds David with the help of some spies in the land. Saul goes to bed expecting to kill David the next day. 

7.  He wakes up and his spear and water bucket are gone. David is holding it. 

8.  Saul accepts defeat once again and goes home. 

Saul cannot catch a break.  It seems every time he finds out where David is, he comes so close to killing him but fails every time.  As you read this you might be thinking, “man my life is just like Saul’s, I cannot catch a break if one hit me over the head.”  Saul’s perspective in this journey is key, he only was thinking of himself and his crown and preserving it.  In perfect step with his narcissism, he made David promise not to kill any of his offspring in the cave after David cut off a piece of his robe. 

Can I submit to you that an inward personal selfish perspective on life will only lead you down paths where victory is always just out of your grasp.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 “ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  I challenge you to start seeking God’s perspective on life.  You might ask how do I do that?  Well,  he wrote a book and in it is His way to live your life.  Ask the Holy Spirit to unlock those mysteries and start reading it.  You can find it anywhere.  It has been the number one best selling book of all time,  the Bible. Yep you guessed it.   Maybe if Saul would have read it, his perspective would have changed but we read about his poor choices so we can learn from his mistakes.   

What is driving your perspective today?  Remember, it is not all about you!  Jesus said that he only does the will of his father. In other words Jesus had a God perspective.  Challenge your perspective today, begin to see life though the eyes of Christ. 

Prayer: Father, we often are consumed by our own personal issues. It comes out in our prayers which are covered with personal wants and sometimes you have become a life vending machine for us rather than a loving father leading us into righteousness. Jesus told his disciples that he can only do the will of the Father. Jesus had a God perspective. I pray that we would have a God perspective today. Help us not to be consumed by personal wants but rather be looking for chances to pray for people, encourage people, edify people, love on people instead. Just as John the Baptist said in John 3:30, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less.” In Jesus name, amen.