Monday - 1 Samuel 29 - He Almost Lost His Cover

According to my Encarta dictionary, a cover is a "protective pretense: a false identity or a pretext that provides protection for somebody." David the son of Jesse was pretending to be Israel's enemy and was acting as if he was a friend of Achish and the Philistines.  In fact, he carried the act so far that he ended up marching toward the battlefield WITH (not against) Philistines (1 Samuel 29:2) and even complained when they decided that he shouldn't be allowed to go with them to fight against his own Hebrew brethren (I Samuel 29:8). It was most certainly a strange and potentially dangerous situation in which David had put himself. Thankfully, God protected him from the Philistines... and even from his own bungling.

Do you and I ever put ourselves in strange and dangerous predicaments? I do. I'm so thankful that God is willing to walk with us through the valleys that we end up in, even when we are there because WE took a wrong turn contrary to His directions. The potential arises to hurt fellow believers, to damage God's reputation among men, to inhibit spiritual growth and evangelistic progress, to fall into sin or to confuse unbelievers.  In such situations, we desperately need God's sovereign hand of providential provision, protection and usurpation. David had his men in a rather sticky circumstance... but, God was merciful and helped them out of it. Isn't God good! His mercy is everlasting and His generosity knows no bounds. Praise God for His wonderful loving-kindness!