David and Vengeance

David used to tend his father’s sheep before he was anointed. From the time he was anointed by Samuel, his life completely changed. Saul, the king tried to kill him, he had to flee to foreign lands, and spent his time in the desert, in caves, in mountains and forests.

Twice, David spared the life of Saul while being on the run. On the first occasion, David and his men were inside the cave at En-gedi when Saul went in. David’s men saw this as an opportunity to kill Saul so that David would become the king. But David refused to kill Saul and said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to raise my hand against him; for he is the Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam. 24:6). David only cut a corner of the king’s cloak for which “David was stricken to the heart” (1 Sam. 24:5). What a gentle man!

At Ziph, Saul was once again after David’s life and he went with his army to look for David. At night, when Saul was sleeping among his men, David and Abishai went to the king while they were sleeping. Abishai was tempted to pin the king down with his spear. But David did not allow him to do that saying, ““Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him down; or his day will come to die; or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed; but now take the spear that is at his head, and the water jar, and let us go” (1 Sam. 26:9-11). 

There are many other instances when David showed kindness to people and refused to take vengeance on others.

Let us look into some lessons we can learn from our story today:

1. Christians are relentlessly attacked by sin the moment we become one. David came under severe attack from the time he was anointed. There must be a lot of us who do not need to be ‘bothered’ or ‘tempted’ by  sin because we are already under its control. Though tempted, tried and attacked on all sides, David never gave up. He fought against sin to realise the plan God made for him. Those whom the LORD really use do suffer, but never cave in because of the onslaught on sin.
2. There may be people whom the LORD used before. It could be you and me. But there is always the danger of becoming a stumbling block for others to serve the LORD because we are standing on the way. Saul was. He defeated Israel’s enemies, but he stood in the way of David. It would be prudent to take a note of this: we may be doing something good in our own eyes, but it is possible that that could become a snare for others.
3. Today, the trend among self-proclaimed intellectuals, and learned men is to develop their own criticism of the Church and the people serving the LORD with all their lives and abilities. Indeed, they may have their own failings, they may not be perfect, and they may be weak. We might be tempted to pin them to the ground at their weakest time (just like Abishai). But let us remember to be careful of who we are insulting, condemning, disrespecting and ridiculing. Let the LORD decide, not us. Jude 1:9 says, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
4. Vengeance belongs to the LORD. Many of the problems we are facing today stem from our intentions and conducts regarding vengeance. David knew vengeance belongs to the LORD and refused to touch Saul, even his family (2 Sam. 9:9-13). The LORD takes vengeance. In Psalm 94:1-6, we see that the LORD avenges wrongs against the weak and also against the enemies of His people (Joel 3:19-21). Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (cf. Lev. 19:18;  Deut. 32:35; Ps. 94:1; Prov. 20:22; 24:29; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 12:14; Heb. 10:30; Rev. 6:10). David waited upon the LORD to take vengeance and avoided having blood on his hands.
5. There will be many times when we see opportunities that will make us think, “this is God’s plan.”  But more often than not, such opportunities will involve doing something that will be against the LORD’s will. Abishai also saw the opportunity and thought it was the will of God. But it was not. Christians need to be careful every turn.
6. The LORD never abandons His people and his chosen ones. He stays with them in the wilderness, in the desert, in the caves, and even in foreign lands and among enemies.

Today, have we suffered hardships because of our faith? Have we been suffering without ever receiving acknowledgements and praises? Do we harbour hatred against people who have been bad to us? Do we have the chance (or looking for it) to take revenge upon them?

Let us learn from David and make it a habit to wait upon the LORD to deliver us from our hardships because we know that the LORD never leaves His people. He knows the plans that He has for all of us.