SURVIVING HARD TIMES (4)

HOW TO SURVIVE BAD TIMES (4)

The fourth strategy to survive hard times is DON’T BE SURPRISED IF PEOPLE LET YOU DOWN. David was finally out of the cave, a band of supporters surround him, but that did not mean the hard times were over. It was not long until David learned again the hard lesson that when the bad times come, people often let you down - people you have never harmed, maybe even people you have helped. Keilah was an Israelite city behind enemy lines, thus doubly vulnerable to attack. It was Saul’s job to fight the Philistines, but he was wasting his time looking for David instead of fighting the enemy. Therefore, the people came to David seeking help. By God’s instruction David went to the battle and defeated the Philistines. He settled in Keilah thinking that he had gotten a place of rest, but it was not long before Saul discovered his location and when David enquired of the Lord, he was told that the people of Keilah will deliver him to Saul (1 Samuel 23:12).

Here was a city delivered by David—their city was intact; they still had their produce and livestock; their families were safe—and yet they were ready to betray their deliverer. Perhaps they had heard of Saul’s destruction of the city of Nob and knew he would not hesitate to destroy them if they sided with David, but it still was a bitter pill for David to swallow. David, however, did not retaliate. He and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah” – 1 Samuel 23:13. David and his company went next to the desert of Ziph in Judah. The Ziphites were from the tribe of Judah, the same tribe David was from. These were his own people! No doubt he felt safe here. Again, however, David was betrayed by people he had never harmed, perhaps had even protected. The Ziphites went to Saul and told him where David was, and offered to surrender David into the king’s hand. Only by divine intervention did David escape.

It was not the first time David had been betrayed, nor would it be the last time; but no matter how many times it happens, it still hurts. You probably know exactly what I am talking about. You put your confidence in someone. You would have trusted him with your life. Then he betrayed your trust. He let you down, and you were filled with pain. Times like these impress upon our minds that our reliance must not be in men, but in the Lord. Paul, the battle-scarred warrior of the Cross, once said, “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:16, 17). Arm yourself with this truth, if you focus on the people, they will let you down, so always look up to God and put your total trust in the Lord. God is safer than men, all the time.

Word Affirmation: “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." - Jeremiah 17:7 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“God is safer than men, all the time.”
MIND THIS