Respect the King

1 Samuel 24:1-7 ESV
1When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. 3And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 6He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.” 7So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

I have brought this up before about David and Saul. Even though Saul turned away from the Lord and was out to kill David, David never rose his hand against Saul. The main reason is that God put Saul in place - he was God's anointed.

David had the perfect chance to destroy the one who was after him, to end his current problems. He even felt ashamed for clipping off part of Saul's garment. Why? Because he trusted in God's sovereignty.

There are two important lessons that I get from this. I need to respect those in authority over me. Just because their methods are different from mine does not give me the right to destroy them. We find this too common in the church - a pastor or leader comes in doing things different than what the church body is used to and the guy gets nailed to a tree through his back. And many times its not because he, the pastor, is straying from God's word but has decided to try new methods in ministry. Be careful if you are one of those who stir up trouble because a leader has instituted change in your stagnant life.

The second thing I learn from this passage applies both to my response to leaders and laypersons - if I'm endeavoring to live godly in Christ Jesus, then God my Father will take care of the injustice that occurs in my life. David chose correctly when Saul's life was in his hands: he chose to let go and let God the Father take care of the situation. When revenge grips us, when we are obsessed with our justice, we start to stray from the glorious creation that God had in mind for us. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we die to self. We don't die to let jealousy and strife to control us. We die to self so we can have an easier time of obeying the Father and choosing to love Him and others.

Many times we have the ability to obtain justice for ourselves, but think, is it worth the cost? Are you willing to make yourself god? Respect your KING.