The Vision (12/8/11): Assurance when tempted to despair

Image:  CRBC ladies fellowship after a recent Lord's Day worship service.

In last Sunday morning’s message on David’s Despair (1 Samuel 26-27), I shared this anecdote from the Puritan John Flavel, as shared by Dale Ralph Davis in 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (pp. 273-274):

Sometimes the Lord’s encouragements can be quite dramatic, at other times rather mundane. John Flavel wrote of a certain Mrs. Honeywood, an earnest Christian woman who nevertheless felt God had cast her off and that she was without saving hope. One day a minister was meeting with her and marshalling reasons against “her desperate conclusions.” It was then she took a Venice-glass from the table and said, “Sir, I am as sure to be damned as this glass is to be broken,” and with that she threw it mightily to the ground. To the astonishment of both, the glass remained intact and unbroken. Obviously, the minister did not fail to apply the assuring sign.

In 1 Samuel 27, David had reached a “glass breaking moment” of despair, as he said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul…” (v. 1). But the Lord would not abandon David. He remained with him, protecting and preserving him, till he came into his kingdom. So is the Lord with all his saints. May we remember this when we are tempted to despair.

“For the LORD will forsake his people for his great name’s sake…” (1 Samuel 12:22).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle