Author: pjstate

David Honours God’s Sovereignty

After David had killed the Philistine, the women from all the towns of Israel danced and sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Sam 18: 7) This displeased King Saul and made him very angry. From then onwards, Saul had intention to kill David. Saul arranged for David to be in battles with Philistines in hope that David will be killed by the Philistines. However, David had killed the Philistines and even two hundreds of them (1 Sam 18:27). The Lord was with David and David had more successes in battles with the Philistines than the rest of Saul’s officers. Saul was afraid of David and he tried to kill David (1 Sam 19: 1). The Lord God had been with David and David constantly sought God’s will.  David was safe.  Despite Saul’s plot to kill David, David called Saul his master as David honoured Saul as the Lord’s anointed (1 Sam 24: 6). David spared Saul’s life twice – once in a cave near the Crags of the Wild Goats (1 Sam 24: 2-3) and once in Saul’s camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon (1 Sam 26: 3).

I believe at some time in our lives, there are people who have sinned against us. We may have resentment and bitterness because of people and the circumstances in our lives. Some people choose to blame their origin, their parents, their spouse or even their children for their life circumstances. We cannot choose our parents but we can choose what kind of children we want to become. We cannot choose our children’s intrinsic characteristics but we can choose what kind of parents we want to become. 

If we study David’s life, we see that God was with him, he was anointed as King Saul’s successor and he had many successes in wars. On one hand, David was really successful but on the other hand, he caused jealousy and displease in Saul, his master. David had been serving King Saul as a shepherd boy who played lyre. Later, David served Saul as armour bearer (1 Sam 16: 21).  We could imagine how David has served faithfully as a servant during King Saul’s reign.  Because of David’s reverence for the Lord, he honours God’s sovereignty and His plan.  Even though David had two opportunities to kill Saul but he honoured God by choosing to spare Saul’s life – a person who wanted to take his life. Let us learn from David’s exemplary life by not taking revenge on our enemy but let God be the ultimate judge.  David said, “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.  As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.” (1 Sam 24: 12-13). 

We can choose to become a person after God’s own heart in our everyday life by honouring God’s sovereignty and forgiving people who have sinned against us. For instance, instead of holding grudges on people who has said something negative to us, we can consider the person as lacking of communication skills. We see it as a training for us to be more mature in interpersonal relationship. It is so much easier to take negative words with an open heart when we change our thinking. As we forgive others and let go of bitterness, we continue to accomplish God’s plan for us.