Sometimes You Have To Flee

“David went to Nob..." 1 Samuel 21:1

Yesterday morning, before I left for church I was in prayer. God so impressed upon me this message. David here was fleeing from King Saul. Saul hated David so much he planned on killing him. Saul was out for blood.

David then flees to Nob. Just a brief explanation of Nob. It was a sanctuary city. The priests lived and ministered to the Lord in that city. It was the home of the Tabernacle. David arrived there with his men hungry and without weapons.

You see, in this story, there’s much to learn. Yesterday, God through His Spirit showed me something so important, I'm sharing with you. David did not try to make peace with King Saul. Even if he tried it wouldn’t have worked because God had rejected Saul and anointed David to be the next king of Israel. David couldn’t have done anything to change that. David would have been killed, period. God knew and preserved his life.

There’s much wisdom in David’s actions, and we can certainly learn from it. Do you know there’s times when we have to take the high road and just leave the situation? David knew nothing was going to change the situation he was in. Therefore, he needed to get up and leave. He was a sitting duck. If he stayed there, he would have been murdered in cold blood, which is a gruesome thought but nevertheless, true. There are situations and places that will “kill” us if we stay.

David knew there was no such thing as “talking” things through." There was no rationalizing and no reasoning with King Saul who was a sick man, a madman. He was disturbed in mind and soul. The hatred was too strong, deep, and intense. His mind and heart was made up. He was prepared, ready, and willing to commit a hideous crime. His was engulfed into a burning rage of hate.

As I thought about this moment in David’s life, the Holy Spirit began to give me a mini sermon before church ever began. The Glory of God had departed King Saul. But, was now resting on David the man. David was not King David yet, but God was seeing him as King already. Please catch this truth. David knew his destiny and calling. In order to fulfill his personal destiny and his calling, he had no choice. He had to flee. He had to leave.

Listen please, there are times in our lives we must go. David left with no food, no money, no clothes, and no weapon. He knew the danger of hanging around would have cost him, his very life. We make the biggest mistakes in life, costing us misery, and spiritual death when we do not flee that which will ultimately, destroy us. Wise decisions are made from God’s wisdom not human wisdom. We must learn the difference or it will cost us everything.

David left something else behind. He left behind two very important relationships. First, his wife. Remember, Michal? In the beginning she loved him. David never did anything to hurt her. Yet, Michal eventually ends up despising him. One would think he would leave with his wife. God knew what was to come, her heart was like that of her father. A wife who despises her husband in her heart already killed him. There’s no greater betrayal. She detested and loathed him. You can’t get more hateful than this. He also had to leave his best friend, whom he considered his brother. Jonathan went behind his father King Saul’s back and saved David from being killed, sealing his own fate. He had to leave someone he loved and cherished.

There comes a point in all our lives when we must choose what’s right before God. This means we must flee, run away, and turn our backs on anything that is or anyone is around us that despises us and hates us. And even leave those whom we love behind. God could not fulfill David’s destiny if he did not get up and leave. He had to do something in order to become King. You understand, David could have stayed? Forfeiting God’s call and his own life. He could have tried negotiating, try to make alliances and so called peace treaties. The problem was the hearts of the people were hardened. King Saul, (also his father in law,) and his very wife regarded him with contempt. You can’t reason with hearts filled with hatred. Hate destroys everything in its path.

This is where we make the most costly mistakes in our lives. When we still want to stay around, hang around, and try to work things out in places and with people who hate and despise us. We die emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It’s the worst kind of death. God was so clear with me yesterday. I pray you see in the Spirit what God is saying. We can’t stay and we cannot take anyone with us when the Glory of God has departed from those places or those people. They will bring us down with them. We are not God, we can’t change people’s hearts. And we cannot always change circumstances.

We must leave immediately, when God shows us the places, or the people around us are there to hurt, destroy, and kill our destiny. We are not always called to defend, set the record straight, protect our reputation, or whatever it is we think we need to save. God fights those things for us once we have left. The greatest hurdle for me has been accepting I can’t keep anyone from talking negatively and lying about me. David couldn’t, and Jesus himself couldn’t. So, you and I can’t either.

Final point. Notice where David flees. He goes to the sanctuary city, the city where the Tabernacle was, and where the priests were. We, too, must run into the Throne Room of God. Before the greatest Priest of all, the Great I Am, the Lord our God. We go there empty handed as David. No money, No food, No weapon. He is our only Provider, Shield, Daily Bread and Water, and Lifter of Our Head. What we give up in exchange has no monetary value.

Learn to flee from places and things immediately. Leave as you are. God had made provisions for David already. Incidentally, there at Nog behind the alter was Goliath sword. The very man, David had slain. Now, the priest gives David that sword. That’s a sermon for another day. But think about this, David left, with nothing. God gives him the sword of the very man who mocked him and tried to take his life. When we do what God says without rationalizing and without fear God gives us back the very things our enemies tried to kill us with.

Righteous living is everything. The Glory of God in our lives can’t be killed by anyone or anything. What a message and what a word. I know God spoke that to me because my pastor spoke about the Glory of God at church yesterday which concluded what God said to me before my feet entered the church.

There’s times we just have to flee!

Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

Founder and President of Thread of Hope, Inc.

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