Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. Today, we're reading 1 Samuel 29 asking the question, does God take care of his people, even when they're disobedient?

As some of you might know, I do live with a family. I don't live with

the roommates my own age. I live with a family, and they've got little kids. And I've lived with

them for over a year now, so I've definitely seen, at least firsthand, seen the highs and lows of

parented, though not a parent myself. And what I've observed, what has stood out to me, I should

say, is the amount of patience

I have seen these parents demonstrate with their toddlers. Now, if I was holding my child and this

two-year-old thought it was a good idea to attempt to repeatedly smack me in the face,

I think I would lose my mind, or at least that's what I felt

internally as I watched this situation go down. I could not believe how gently, though firmly,

but how gently and patiently this mom responded to her frustrated toddler. And so when we ask the question, does God take care of his people even when they're disobedient?

Think of this mom, who held her crying an upset child, who was rightly upset in this instance,

and when the only way he knew how to express his emotions was to lash out violently at two years old,

who can blame him, she was patient,

so patient. She taught him not to hit, but she also met him in his moment of need. And in a similar

way, that's kind of how God deals with us. If we go too far, he'll always teach us that something

is wrong. But at the end of the day, no matter

how far wrong we go, he will always care for us. So let's jump into the text. Ever since David

fled from Saul in Chapter 27, he's been with the Philistines, because he was hoping that Saul would

get tired of searching for him within Israel. Literally,

we actually know this was David's motivation because it was explicitly stated in chapter 27.

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