Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 26:5 (New Living Translation)

David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors.

This is part of the (hi)story of David staying one step ahead of King Saul in Saul’s pursuit to kill David. That was a sad state of affairs. In this (hi)story, we have this scene where David slips into Saul’s camp to find the King and the commander of the army surrounded by slumbering warriors.

Warriors? Slumbering? Huh?

There are all sorts of ideas about this scene. Perhaps God put the warriors into a slumber so that David could approach Saul and show how David respected God’s King. The slumber was God’s way of illustrating how David was a man after God’s heart. Perhaps.

Still, warriors? Slumbering? What was wrong with these guys? They were to protect the King given to them by God. They failed miserably. Why, if I had been there, I would have…surely done better than this, huh?

Probably not. I see this as one more illustration of how fatigue wins. It is simply, “I know what to do, but, I’ve had a tough couple of days and I need to just take a nap and rest and then…”

Tired? We all become tired. Notice fatigue. Go to another Christian and ask for help. Some of these tired warriors could have taken turns slumbering and doing what they should be doing. Christians can turn to other Christians and take turns resting and recreating. God gave us a church—a gathering of Christians so that we can take turns. Let’s not neglect that gift of God.