The thought in David's heart was a lie. A complete lie. He had absolutely no reason to think that God's anointing through Samuel was just some empty, meaningless ceremony. Not once had the Lord deserted his servant. Not once! David had been in dangerous situations again and again, but there was not a single time when divine intervention had failed to deliver him.

The trials David faced came in every shape and size. Not just one kind of trouble, but many. And yet in every single case, the God who sent the trial also graciously ordained the way of escape. David could not flip through his life story and point to one page that said, "Here! Here is proof that God will forsake me!" Every page told the opposite story. He should have looked at what God had done and concluded: God will defend me still.

But don't we do the exact same thing? Don't we doubt God's help without any real reason? Tell me, have you ever had even the shadow of a reason to doubt your Father's goodness? Haven't his lovingkindnesses been marvelous? Has he failed even once to justify your trust?

Ah, no! Our God has never left us. Never. We have walked through dark nights, yes, but the star of love has shone forth amid the blackness. We have faced stern conflicts, but over our heads he has held aloft the shield of our defense. We have gone through many trials, but never to our harm—always to our advantage!

And the conclusion from our past experience is this: he who has been with us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh. What we have known of our faithful God proves that he will keep us to the end.

Let us not, then, reason contrary to evidence. How can we ever be so ungenerous as to doubt our God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbelief, and let the dogs devour it!