1.06.2009

David's Mercy


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." (1 Samuel 24:6)

This verse is David speaking in a cave where he was hiding as Saul was pursuing him. David had the opportunity to end the pursuit with ease because Saul had entered into this cave not knowing that David was there. However David would not consider over throwing the Lord’s anointed (Saul), even though Saul was a vile man without the Spirit of the Lord. David understood the authority that was in place by God, and David had utter respect for that authority. God would eventually give David authority in due time, and would ultimately bring salvation to the world through the line of David, in fact other than the Lord Himself you may be able to say that David ended up with more authority than maybe any other man has ever had. Nonetheless he was utterly submissive prior to being crowned king.

Fast forward to the present time- how easy is it for you to speak against the Lord’s anointed rulers today? Seriously? At some point we need a reality check on this. Christianity is certainly a nonconforming religion, yet true Christianity refuses to conform to this world while still functioning under the existing authority structure. David is a wonderful example in this, especially how he deals with Saul. I have found we have in our culture today men who are chasing down the truth faith to do it harm whether they know it or not. The purpose driven movement, Best Life Now-ism, willow creek this and that, all seem to be so focused on bringing in the unchurched that they have become an unchurch. Evangelism is incredibly important, but evangelism is a sending more than it is a drawing, and they focus on drawing more than anything else. Anyway many fundamentalists will look at the Rick Warren and Joel Osteen and want nothing more than to see them fall. There will be great rejoicing in the fundamentalist camp if these men are exposed. I do not sense that would be the attitude of David, and I am certain that is not the attitude in Heaven. “There is great rejoicing in heaven when a sinner falls and is exposed.” Is that how the verse goes? Not at all, there is great rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents! Do you share heaven’s desire for repentance concerning men like these? Or in the back of your mind to you want to see a big nasty fall first, and then think it would be a bonus if they repented?

Looking at David’s life is fascinating, do you remember his enemy of a son Absalom? People expected him to rejoice at Absalom’s death, but did he? No he mourned the death of his son, enemy or not. You see God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. Do you pray for God’s wrath upon the corruption of the church in America or do you plead His mercy? Do you desire to see Mr. Osteen converted, and hear Him truly preach the gospel to his huge congregation, or would you rather see him fall?

Was God inconsistent when He showed David mercy in the Bathsheba incident, recall He had doled out fiercer punishment for lesser crimes in the past? David showed mercy to Saul, Absalom, Methibosheth, and others. What is mandate of Christ? Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. David certainly in many cases was merciful. Can you be merciful to your enemies and the enemies of God, knowing that you too were an enemy of His at one point? I believe in exposing false doctrine, I believe in showing lies for what they are, I even believe in mocking at times the foolishness of men, but nonetheless do you desire mercy? Vengeance is fine says the Lord... oh wait, ‘Vengeance is MINE says the Lord.’

Ok well this was a random post, but I have seen my need for repentance with regard to the way I view the wolves in sheep’s clothing. I typically never consider that heaven is ready to rejoice in the event of any of these men’s repentance.

Well I ran a lot of circles there, and this was a pretty random post, but maybe it helped someone.

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