Seize the Moment – Day 762
Be Warned of Displaced Loyalty!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 18.
In 1 Samuel 22:9-10, we see one of the mighty men of Israel start on an evil path in the name of loyalty to his king: “Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.’” Then, when none of the king’s guards would follow Saul’s blasphemous command to murder the priest and his whole household for helping David, Doeg did, killing eighty-five priests and striking down Nob, the city of the priests, as recorded in verses 18-19.
This was an evil day for Israel as King Saul demonstrated the evil that had now thoroughly consumed him in his jealousy for David. But it could not have happened if it weren’t for Doeg and his misplaced loyalty to his own ambition in the name of honoring his king.
In a place of great brokenness over this brutal slaughter, David showed humility by confessing to the priest’s only living relative, Abiathar, that all of this was his fault because when he saw Doeg at the priest’s house, he knew that he would betray him to Saul, but did nothing to prevent it. In this place of deep sorrow, David penned Psalm 52 as a lament unto the Lord. Listen to how he described Doeg in verses 1-3:
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long. Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
Seize the moment and be warned against displaced loyalty to your own ambition, even when you are doing something in the name of God. Put your whole hope in Jesus Christ and walk in His ways.