Grace with dignity

April 14, 2008

Saul has been pursuing David to kill him. He takes a few moments to go to the bathroom in a cave that he thinks is empty. David and his men are in it. They all say that David should kill Saul and take over the kingdom. David refuses and instead, goes up to the king quietly and cuts off a piece of his robe, saying he should not harm the king, God's anointed, and in fact, he feels bad in doing what he did. When Saul leaves David calls to him and shows that he had been merciful to Saul. Saul realizes the error of his ways and then:

1 Samuel 24:20-22 KJV
(20) And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
(21) Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.
(22) And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.


David did not have to show so much graciousness. I am not sure that I would have done the same if I had been him. The promise that he made to the king, one that someone could say was made under stress and would not have to followed through on, was done. There was one son of Saul left and he went to become a guest at King Davids table.

From this we need to learn to be gracious to our enemies. There is nothing they can do to harm us unless God lets them. Saul could have sent the troops to get David, he did not. Show your enemy grace and see what happens to you.

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
1 Samuel 21:1-24:22
Tomorrow
Psalms 7:1-17, Psalms 27:1-14, Psalms 31:1-24, Psalms 34:1-22, Psalms 52:1-9
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool