1 Samuel 22

“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So, when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and mother come here with you till I know what God will do for me.’” 1 Samuel 22:1-3 (NKJV)

In 1915, San Francisco hosted the World’s Fair. In preparation for the event, the city fathers funded the construction of the Palace Of Fine Arts, with its grand entrance. To the astute art enthusiast, the 1915 World’s Fair is commonly known as the moment where American impressionists overtook the Europeans to become the most prominent artists of their day. And the California artists led the charge. At the fair’s opening, a California impressionist artist named Frank Coburn set up his easel to paint a depiction of that monumental Palace Of Fine Arts entrance.

2009 is a year that many Americans would rather forget. The housing market collapsed, and 25% of the homes in Riverside County, California, were in danger of foreclosure. I know because I lost my home in that market crash. When you suffer foreclosure, the loss of your home is just the beginning of your problems because often, people amass a great amount of debt leading up to that catastrophic event. So, when the home is gone, the debt remains. I prayed, “Lord, I have followed You here, and I believed You would never let something like this happen to me!” His response? Silence.

Eventually, we found a rental home. Shortly thereafter, my son outgrew his baby bed. One morning, my wife pulled me out of bed to haul a twin bed she’d bought at an estate sale. As I entered the sale, I noticed the estate’s former owner was an amateur painter. VERY amateur. But amid the junk paintings, from across the room, I spotted an unframed painting on an old board. Masking tape price tag: $5. Signed: Frank Coburn 1915. Inscribed on the back: Entrance, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco Fair. Misti & I quickly realized we had a “Providential” treasure in our hands. Three months later, I received a call from an art dealer in Newport Beach, California, who we had enlisted to sell the painting for us. She sold it for the exact amount we needed to pay our debts completely!

In today’s Scripture passage, in David’s case, all the unusual arrangements for his survival (along with the survival of his family and friends) had been made over a century before when a relative named Boaz married a righteous Moabite named Ruth. The Lord plans His kindness long beforehand. He directs circumstances long in advance. Refuge in Moab was not something David set in place; it was a gift. YHWH “arranged” this long before. This is not something God does only for chosen kings. A great number of us have stories to tell about our desperation and God’s providence. The unbeliever (like Saul) is a man on his own, shut up to his own schemes, without God’s direction. But gleams of God’s guidance shine on David: Five loaves of bread, the backside of the Gath city-limit sign, a Moabite ancestress, a prophet giving orders - God goes before us. Be bold!