“Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” (Psalms 7:1-2 NIV)

David had a Best Friend.

Sure, you say. His name was Jonathon!

Well, yes. Jonathon was David’s good friend. But David had a better friend than that Jonathon. He had a best friend who would never leave him or betray him: His Heavenly Father!

David also had plenty of enemies. Jonathon’s father, to name one, but he had plenty of other enemies as well… The Philistines, the Amorites, even his own men turned against him (see 1 Samuel 30:6)! David’s response was always to turn to His Best Friend: “I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me…”

Of course, David didn’t always make the right decisions; but in many cases he was pursued unjustly, and he was able to say in good conscience, “LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands — if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe — then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.” (Ps. 7:3-5 NIV)

I’m sure that we all can understand how David must have felt when he was being unjustly pursued by enemies. Once, back when I was still teaching, a piece of paper covered in blood was found in the classroom. Naturally, no one would admit to having done it; however, many of my students said they had seen a certain girl wipe her own blood on the page and then throw it on the floor. Naturally, she denied it, and when I asked her to pick it up and throw it away, her response was an adamant, “No!” I could have insisted, but in this case, I felt God urging me to show mercy. I picked up the paper myself and threw it away. End of story.

Or so I thought…

The next day this girls parents came to see me. They were way beyond angry. They were nasty. They were livid! How could I have even asked their daughter to pick up a blood-covered paper! I quickly prayed to my Heavenly Father, reaching out to Him for help, and I was immediately impressed to invite the principal to join us. After hearing the story, the principal commended me for doing the right thing. Together we were able to help the parents understand that because their daughter had not needed to touch the ‘tainted’ paper, their perceived problem was resolved.

​​​​​​​The parents were much calmer when they left the school that day, and I praised my Heavenly Father, my “best friend”. Just like David of old, God had come to my aid. Remember: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6 NIV). When we trust in our Father, we can be sure that the problems will work out!

In His love,
Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “The Sling for God” devotional series, please click here.)