The Wandering Years

So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 1 Samuel 19:18

David suffered great injustice under Saul. Saul became so jealous of David that he tried to kill him five times while David was serving in the palace. Eventually, David had to flee for his life. 1 Samuel 19-27 records the wandering years of David. David first fled from Gibeah to Ramah, looking for Samuel the prophet (19:18-19).

At that time, Samuel was still very much alive. He understood the situation between Saul and David very well. To the rest of Israel, Saul was the man appointed by God to be the king. In his own right, Saul was a warrior worthy of respect. The people had no idea just how treacherous a king he could be. Who else could David have turned to except Samuel? The aging prophet was the only one who understood. When we experience trials in our lives, we need someone who can see beyond the veil and comfort us. Every Christian should have a spiritual leader-a discipler or mentor-whom we can run to in our moments of crisis.

After Ramah, David fled to the Philistine city of Gath (21:10-12). Having no other place to run to and ending up in the territory of Israel’s harshest enemy was the worst nightmare possible. And it was during this harrowing time that David composed two beautiful songs, Psalms 34 and 56. When we read these psalms, we often assume that David was writing them in the comfort of his home or temple. Quite on the contrary, they were written when he was fi ghting for his very survival!

The worst part of going through a trial is not understanding why the trial is occurring, or what the purpose of the trial is. You can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. You don’t even know where you are going. There will always be periods when you feel like you are wandering through life aimlessly. You are unable to grasp any sense of the direction you are heading. In those moments when you can’t fully comprehend everything that is going on in your life, just cling tightly to Jesus.

He is working out something wonderful for you. Matthew 3:11-12 says, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Hiswinnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fi re.” The process of winnowing takes place when the wheat is tossed up and down to separate the chaff from the wheat. God uses times of shaking to separate the bad from the good in you. Although it may be a heartbreaking time of weeping, God will use those seasons ultimately for your good.