Over the past few weeks I have been reading through 1st and 2nd Samuel. Now I originally started reading 1st Samuel because I wanted to know more about King Saul. I mean, here's a guy who was the first King of Israel, the people's choice and God's. Yet he ended up dishonoring God in such a way that before he even died God had rejected him and anointed a new King to take his place! There's so much that can be learned from that! And yet, as I continued to read through the book, I found myself even more enthralled with David and gleaming even more from his life, so I kept reading into book two.
Now through out the years, I've heard a lot about David. I grew up going to Sunday school and knew all about his interactions with Goliath and Bathsheba well before I hit middle school. Yet something I've never really noticed before about David is just how much respect he gives to God and God's "anointed" through out his life. I mean, you always hear about how David was a man after God's own heart, but when you really think about it...taking it all in....it's awe inspiring!
Here's Saul, the King of all Israel, chasing after David...trying to kill Him. He's thrown spears at David, backed him into caves, and pretty much neglected his entire country to get his hands on him. Yet when David has the opportunity to kill Saul, he doesn't!!! Twice he refuses to lay a hand on "God's anointed"!! Not only that, but when Saul is eventually killed in battle, David goes as far as to kill the man who claimed to kill Saul because he stood against the "Lord's Anointed!!! That is amazing to me....To show that much respect for someone, despite how they have treated you, just because they were once anointed by God..... It just goes to show how much respect and honor David had for God!
David's attitude here is also a HUGE reminder to me that it doesn't matter how other people treat me or make me feel, I am not responsible for them, I am responsible for me and how I respond to them! I should be more concerned with whether or not my attitude honors God, than what I think somebody else's attitude is like! That's a hard lesson....and it's even harder to live out!!! Even now I can think of certain relationships in my life where I have been hurt by people in authority over me and my immediate reaction is to lose respect for them and not trust them any more. But if I could only remember that God has given them the position and authority they have and therefore out of honor and respect to God my attitude in return should always be one of respect and honor, then maybe I too could be like David...a person after God's own heart!
No comments:
Post a Comment