Fleeing for his life from city to city, from cave to cave, from nation to nation David wearily said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.” (1 Samuel 27:1). David did not know why Saul wanted to kill him. He felt he was loyal to the king and was being pursued without cause. He even asked king Saul why he wanted to kill him, what had he done wrong? But got no answer. David did not realize that the issue was not what he might have done wrong, but what he had not done and should have.

David had killed the giant that had defied the armies of Israel so king Saul then placed David at the head of the army and in charge of protecting the nation from all their enemies. When David would return from a victorious battle, leading his army through the streets, the bystanders would shout praises to David. “And the women answered [one another] as they sang, and said, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’. And Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, ‘They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [but] thousands: and [what] can he have more but the kingdom?’ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.” (1Samuel 18:7-9)

Saul felt that for the security of his kingdom he had to get rid of David, who had become a threat to him. What had David failed to do? God tells us later. Joab learned this lesson when he saw what happened to David and what David should have done that would have given him favor with Saul and security in his job as head general of the armies of all Israel. We read of this in 2Samuel 12:27-30:

“And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, ‘I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters, therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.’ And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.”

Joab was the head of the armed forces under king David and was committed to making David successful and making sure that David got all the glory of the conquests. Joab therefore was an asset to David and not a threat so he had great job security. David, however, had been content to take all the glory of his battles and thus became a threat to king Saul and not only lost his job, but spent years of his life fleeing from Saul’s attempts to kill him. How can we handle success without losing our job? First we must give God all the glory and next we have to give those over us all the credit.

God then will bless us in His own time and in His own way. “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)