The young annointed king David was chosen by God to be the rightful king over Israel. King Saul was whom the people of Israel chose.., so that they could be like all of the other nations. After a series of disobediences by Saul, the Lord took the kingdom from him and gave it to whom HE chose- David, who God called “a man after My own Heart”. God still annointed Saul in the beginning , to where Saul was even given the gift of prophecy, but by degrees, Saul chose his own way over God’s way. By appearances he honored God, but in his heart, he elevated himself over God. In fact, Saul even had a monument erected for himself.– not to honor God, but to honor himself. (1 Samuel 15:12 )
When Samuel directed Saul (through the Holy Spirit) , he only half obeyed God’s leading, and made sure that with his partial obedience, he also snuck in his own choices as he saw fit. An example of this is when God , through Samuel, directed him to totally slay the Amalekites (including their herds) in battle, yet while he slayed the Amalekites, he spared the best of their herds for animal sacrifices as well as sparing the king of the Amelakites. When Samuel called him on this, he made excuses and only superficially repented after he was backed into a corner by Samuel. Saying: “The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Notice how Saul refers to God, not as HIS God, but Samuel’s God when he says, “your God”.
After Samuel told him that God was going to remove the Kingdom from him, and give it to another who the Lord was more pleased with, Saul repented.. but only to save face before the people. “Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.”
We know that by degrees, Saul kept on making his own choices apart from God.. even contacting a witch after Samuel died, instead of praying to God for advice… so that he eventually opened himself up to demon attachment to where young David had to play soothing hymns on his harp to soothe Saul’s anxiety. Saul , who was at one time blessed by the Holy Spirit and given the gift of prophecy when first annointed king, but who, through his own continous acts of disobedience, pushed the Holy Spirit out of his own heart. Leaving a vaccum where God used to reside, demonic entities took over and Saul resembled king Herod more than someone who was at one time annointed by God. He became prey to fits of jealousy and rage… especially toward David whom he realized was to be the future king to take his place.. the one God told Samuel about. Hearing the local villagers applaud David after he slew Goliath, and singing in the streets, “Saul slew thousands but David Ten Thousands”, this created more thorns of jealousy in his heart that grew into hate toward David.
Samuel confirmed to David that he was to be the king over Isreal , but David refused to take that position until GOD would choose HIS timing. Until then, David lived as an exile, with men who committed themselves to following him. Many opportunities came for David to slay Saul , who continuously chased after him with an army of men to kill him.., but he refused to slay him… even contradicting his own faithful advisors.. His Advisor was the Holy Spirit. “
In 1 Samuel 24, we read: “He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.”
Nevertheless, after David revealed to Saul later that he could have killed him, but refused to , and even honored Saul by laying prostrate before him., there was a degree of compuction by Saul.. but in time, he allowed the Dark Side to win over and he resorted back to his old hate, continuing to hunt David down and forcing him to live as a future king in exile. Only until the Death of Saul, did David become the king over Israel. The heart David had was so full of the love of God, that he wept over Saul’s death… in spite of the fact that Saul hated him.
The difference between Saul and David is.. that while David made his moral mistakes, he allowed the Holy Spirit to convict and renew his heart, and he never made that same mistake again. “Make within me a clean heart, my God, and renew a right spirit within me.” He would pray. Saul didnt make the same moral mistakes before others… noone could point a finger on him for anything immoral, yet his heart refused to yield over to the Holy Spirit , thinking he was good enough and as long as he looked holy enough before the people, that was the important thing. He didnt realize that He needed to be sanctified and holy before God First, and have God’s approval… not the approval of the people. David lost approval from his own people on various occasions.. rebuking his men for advising him to slay Saul, and going against what seemed the right thing to do , so that he could do what GOD desired of him… cost what it may. His followers were tired of constantly running from Saul and wanted David to finally kill this king once and for all .. partly so that they could stop running and hiding. David never forced anyone to follow him, yet when they tried to influence his decisions, he never conceded with them if it meant disobeying what God’s Spirit desired of him.
God was at home in David’s heart. Saul’s heart did not leave any room for God’s Spirit to dwell so that , by degrees, demonic entities took Saul’s heart over. Saul made a monument to honor himself, yet David desired to build a Temple to honor GOD alone. But God was already at home in David’s heart. He was already the Temple of the Lord … pleased at David’s love for Him, he permitted David’s future Temple.. but only that it would not be built by David but by his son, Solomon.
Like king David, our Lord Jesus Christ is also a young king in Exile awaiting the Day of the Father when He can build His Father’s Kingdom on this Earth, as in Heaven. As of now, His Kingdom is being built in the hearts of those who receive the Holy Spirit’s full way within them.
St. Therese of Lisuex was led to share once, “Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him -the heaven of our souls.” If you look within the eyes of St. Therese of Lisuex, and others who follow our Lord , you see our King in Exile looking out through their eyes because they , like king David, made room for Him. These souls are His Temple that He may rest His head; The eyes are the mirror of one’s soul, and through His Temple, you can see the Light of our King shine forth. They are One with Him.
Jesus- King in Exile 