A Certain Choice

I Samuel 23: 7 "Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars." And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod." David said, "O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant." And the LORD said, "He will." Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will."

So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there. David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.”

I know that's a lot to read, but this passage underscores a point that I think is more important than we realize. Where does our decision-making fit in with the sovereignty of God?

In this passage, we read that David is on the verge of being surrounded by Saul and his men, with the distinct possibility that the men of Keilah will turn him over to Saul. As he inquires of the Lord, David founds out that these things will happen. They are certain to happen. God knows the future and He knows that this will be the result if David stays in Keilah.

So David makes the decision to leave, and these things do not happen. God has laid out a certain end to specific decisions. In His absolute sovereignty He knows the result. So David does something different. He moves away from the absolute certainty of the consequences of staying. If he had stayed he would have been devoured. For sure. So he decided to leave.

There it is in a nutshell: We always have a certain choice.

I believe in the sovereignty of God. I have staked my life upon it. If I thought that He didn't know the end from the beginning, that He wasn't the Alpha and the Omega, then why would I put everything I treasure into His hands? I'm not going to entrust my life and the life of my family upon the whims of a Divine Roulette Wheel.

David had the same belief. So he listened and acted accordingly. Set before us in this passage is the perfect picture of sovereignty and free will in action. He lays out what will happen and lets us decide upon that information. Information we can base our entire life upon. Choices based on certainty. Can there be a better plan than that?