Know When to Fold Them

And the King sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.
1 Samuel 20:25

David is missed from the feast on the first day, but nothing is said of him. The King sat upon his seat, to feast upon the peace-offerings as at other times, and yet had his heart as full of envy and malice against David as it could hold. He should first have been reconciled to him, and then have come and offered his gift; but, instead of that, he hoped, at this feast, to drink the blood of David.

When the king came to take his seat Jonathan arose, in reverence to him both as a father and as his sovereign; everyone knew his place, but David's was empty. It did not use to be so. None more constant than he in attending holy duties, nor had he been absent now but that he must have come at the peril of his life, self-preservation obliged him to withdraw. In imminent peril present opportunities may be waived, we ought not to throw ourselves into the mouth of danger.

Christ himself absconded often, till He knew that his hour had come.
(Matthew Henry)

David knew Saul would try and kill him at this feast; so he was a no show. The last part of this struck something inside of me; although it is hard for me to put my finger on it. Matthew Henry said that we ought not to throw ourselves into the mouth of danger; Christ himself would walk away from situations where His life was in danger, until He knew that the time was right. As Christians maybe we need to pick our confrontations, use some common sense when situations arise. Again, David knew what God wanted because he had an ongoing relationship with Him. Not everything needs to be a battle; sometimes the right thing to do is walk away.

For those old enough to know, sorry for the Kenny Roger's analogy; the song for some reason keeps going through my head! Warning to the young--be careful what you put in your head--it will come back to haunt you!