The Lesson of the Wilderness

# 332 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 23:24-29, “So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hasten and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi. ( 1 Sam 23:24-29) David gets drift of Saul's plans and heads for the wilderness. The wilderness is the place where we, the church need to be. It is the place where we learn to be entirely dependent upon God. There is nothing in the wilderness that is able to sustain the necessary basics of life, like food and water. When the Israelites wandered in the desert, where did they get their food and water? They God it from God's miraculous supply of manna, and the rock that Moses struck. God wants His church to learn the lesson of living completely dependent upon Him, because, that is the essence of grace. In Revelation Re 12:6 we read, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” The woman here is a picture of God's true church, living by grace, (dependent upon God) being fed by His Word until the Lord returns. How did Jesus put it? “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" (Mt 4:4) Observe what happened after David spent time in the wilderness. God placed himself squarely in the form of a mountain between David and Saul, and then created a diversion that delivered David from Saul. Learn the lesson of the wilderness. Trust God, feed on His Word, and know that He will protect you from the evil one, just as he protected and delivered David. Father, help us to trust in You and not lean on our own understanding.