Perhaps his men, like the disciples later, were looking forward to the positions of honor they would occupy when the kingdom of David was established. They had reached the place where they were not satisfied with the meager fare and the days and nights of vigilant watching and running away. Now that Saul was in their hand they exultingly thought the cause was won, and were impatient to end their long vigil. David corrected them by apologizing for even the slight liberty he had taken in spoiling the king’s garment. He probably informed them, as he later told the king, that the only way to true success is to await God’s hour.

Abraham awaited God’s suggestion, and was able to deliver Lot, a man who plunged ahead in his own wisdom. Moses refused the honors of Egypt, yet after 40 years of testing became the prophet of the Most High. How else can man, going into the laboratory of life to apprentice himself to Christ (see DA 297), work the works of God?