(1 Samuel 24:1-7) Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.
We have already established the fact that there was a demon that would terrorize and influence Saul. (1 Samuel 16:14) Therefore Saul was "hell-bent" on killing David and would have listened to any lie or rumor about David in order to justify his desire to murder, even though David had the proof in his hands that he was not out to harm Saul...
(1 Samuel 24:8-15) Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? 15 The Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
Although he really didn't mean it, Saul played all "nice" right here, and even asked David for a favor - which was just taking advantage of his kind heart...
(1 Samuel 24:16-22) When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” 22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Saul chased David again. And David had yet another opportunity to do away with his arch-nemesis...
(1 Samuel 26:1-12) Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4 David sent out spies, and he knew that Saul was definitely coming. 5 David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be without guilt?” 10 David also said, “As the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.
Once again, there was proof for Saul to see - that David had opportunity to kill him but chose not to. And in the moment, there wasn't anything Saul could do to David...
(1 Samuel 26:13-25) Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. 14 David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all of you must surely die, because you did not guard your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.”
17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” 18 He also said, “Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 19 Now therefore, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, cursed are they before the Lord, for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.” 22 David replied, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
From this we see:
- demons amp up and urge on a person's desire to sin, especially in order to hurt believers
- demons help a person to think that sin is justified
Personal experience: when I asked my younger brother's permission to use all these various examples for this specific blog-topic, he was actually very excited that these dark experiences could be used in order to shed God's Light! Just further proof of God's love and how God can work on and change a person's heart. And - that includes mine!!!
Here is what can happen when you don't forgive a person. No matter what they have done or what they are doing at that moment. Forgiveness is key. When you don't forgive someone, you let fear and anger rule in your heart, which turns to bitterness, which causes you to slowly become the very thing that you hate.
By not continually forgiving my younger brother for all the incidences that had occurred over the years, I stored these all up in a memory bank. I never realized how this was all building up inside of me until we were in Puerto Rico, and me and my younger brother had THE stand-off.
There was one situation - which really was so ridiculous, but there it was - my opportunity. There were no witnesses around. This was the last straw! It was the trigger which brought up all the memories of (false) justification in a flash! But unlike David (in the scripture examples above), I had murder in my heart.
As we stood there, very still, facing each other, just inches away... I was waiting for him to just flinch, and then I was going to fight to kill him, or die trying. And then I was going to claim self-defense. It would not have been a stretch. He was already bigger and stronger than me, and he was trained in martial arts. AND - let's not forget - there were past incidences to support my defense.
I was NOT going to back down. And I knew he was not going to back down. This was it!!! But - suddenly - there was a force that pushed both of us apart. An angel - or God's own hands??? It was definitely God protecting me! And God was also protecting me from myself.
I locked myself in a room and started crying - still seething with murder on my heart! I was so spitting angry that I had not been able to do what I had intended. AND THEN - - - REALIZATION!!! I had murder in my heart. I was a murderer! I was no better than any man on death row. I - AM - CAPABLE - of committing any sin.
This was a huge eye-opener. I mean, I used to be one of those Christians who would pat myself on the back and say, "Well, I'm not THAT bad. I could NEVER do THAT!" Wow! I am so not perfect!!! And God is so forgiving and gracious, patient and loving...
Today's takeaway: it's actually difficult to simply say, "I'm not going to repay evil for evil." This has to be replaced with something else. In its place there has to be forgiveness and love. First of all - confessing our sins to God! And sometimes it's necessary to ask God to help us forgive ourselves.
And very importantly, we need to forgive others. This is not saying that - what the others did to us is okay. It's releasing ourselves from the fear, anger and bitterness. Jesus was our ultimate example! While He hung on the cross dying for everyone's sins - He asked God to forgive those who were persecuting Him. This was not to absolve them of their sins... this was the ultimate example of how we should forgive others.
You know, I struggled for many years to forgive my younger brother. I kept trying to do this in my own strength; until one day I had a heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. I said, "I know You tell us to forgive, but I don't want to. I don't think he deserves it. But then again, who am I to deserve forgiveness? And so, if You want me to forgive him, please - forgive him - FOR me."
Immediately, I felt an actual weight lift off of me. IMMEDIATELY my fear, anger and bitterness was replaced with love. I suddenly could empathize with my dear brother, who had been given up for adoption as a baby with fetal-alcohol-syndrome, and then went through several years in the foster care system experiencing negligent and sometimes abusive treatment.
This sudden outpouring of love and empathy was not my doing! So - does God work on and change our hearts??? YES, HE DOES!!!...
(Jeremiah 17:9-10) “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.
(Romans 3:21-26) But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
(1 John 1:5-10) This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
No comments:
Post a Comment