Honor the king’s King

Saul hunted down David.  David could have killed Saul, but he did not.

"May the LORD judge between us. Perhaps the LORD will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. As that old proverb says, 'From evil people come evil deeds.' So you can be sure I will never harm you. Who is the king of Israel trying to catch anyway? Should he spend his time chasing one who is as worthless as a dead dog or a single flea? May the LORD therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and He will rescue me from your power!" (1 Samuel 24:12-15 NLT)

Even though the king of Israel had made David his enemy, David showed respect to Saul.  He respected the person, who was made in the image of God.  He respected the office of king, that was selected by God.  He honored Saul, the king who was chosen by God.

Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17 NASB)

Even though we don’t really know, there’s a good chance that Peter penned these words when Nero was emperor of Rome.  Nero was said to dip Christians in oil and then put them on a post and burn them for light at night.  Nero is famous for burning Christians, feeding them to dogs, and crucifying them.  This is the emperor, the king, that Peter told Christ followers to honor.

When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, "Is that really you, my son David?" Then he began to cry. And he said to David, "You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the LORD put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn't do it. Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the LORD reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today. (1 Samuel 24:16-19 NLT)

As the story goes, Nero probably didn’t see the error of his ways.  In fact, it was probably under his reign that the Apostle, Peter, was crucified.  Nero never got it, but Saul saw the error of his ways.  That only happened when he faced the truth of God.  David was living out God’s truth and Saul repented when he was confronted by this truth face to face.

"Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. (Luke 6:35-36 NLT)

You see, Jesus gave us our marching orders.  He sent us out to make disciples of all nations.  That includes our best friends.  That includes our families.  That includes our neighbors, fellow-students, and coworkers.  That includes everyone who loves us, everyone who is indifferent to us, and everyone who hates us.  The mission never changes.  Our mission is not to destroy.  Our mission is to go, make, and build.  When David honored an earthly king who was trying to kill him, he was actually honoring the real King who had made both of them.  In loving his enemy, David was honoring God as King.

Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38 NLT)

How about you?  Do you love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind?  Do you honor the king’s King?

Honor, Integrity

Saul, the king of Israel, wants David, his best warrior who had slain Goliath, dead.  He’s jealous.  He’s angry.  He’s gone round the bend.  Now, he is hunting David down like a predator seeks out his prey.  He has a lead.

So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats. At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave! (1 Samuel 24:2-3 NLT)

David has done nothing but treat Saul with kindness, respect, and honor.  He is loving his neighbor as himself, even when his neighbor is abusing the power of his office to hunt David down.  Now, Saul is served up to David on a silver platter.  David is faced with the very man who wants him dead.

"Now's your opportunity!" David's men whispered to him. "Today the LORD is telling you, 'I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.'" So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul's robe. But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul's robe. "The LORD knows I shouldn't have done that to my lord the king," he said to his men. "The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD's anointed one, for the LORD Himself has chosen him." (1 Samuel 24:4-6 NLT)

Sometimes, we are surrounded by friends, family members, and neighbors who tell us it is ok to get angry.  “We shouldn’t keep it in,” they will tell us.  “You should get people back for the way they treat you,” they will say, “They’re only getting what they deserve.  Don’t hold back.  Let it out.”  The problem with this is the voice inside that keeps saying, “Stop.  Let it go.  They’re fighting battles of their own.”  That voice is the voice of God.

So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul. After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, David came out and shouted after him, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him. Then he shouted to Saul, "Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn't true. For the LORD placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, 'I will never harm the king--he is the LORD's anointed one.' Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn't kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me. (1 Samuel 24:7-11 NLT)

It doesn’t matter what they say.  It matters what God says.  It doesn’t matter what they think.  It matters what God thinks.  It doesn’t matter what they want.  It matters what God wants.  God says that we need to love.  God thinks that they are valuable, important, and knit together in God’s image…just like you.  God wants a world with people who don’t hurt one another but, instead, love one another just as God loves us.  No matter how we are treated or guided by those around us, God empowers us to live a life of love.

It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. (1 Peter 2:15 NLT)

David lived a life of love.  Even when Saul gave in to temptation and turned against him in a terrible way, David lived a life of love.  David honored the king.  Whether visible or hidden, in public or private, around enemies or friends, David lived a life of love.  That’s integrity.  That’s a man after God’s own heart.

For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. (1 Peter 2:16 NLT)

How about you?  What will you choose?  How will you live?  Will you live a life of love?

The Haters, Our Enemies

Saul is in an all out assault against David now.  He is hunting David down so he can eliminate him once and for all  Saul wants David dead.

But David learned of Saul's plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the LORD what he should do. Then David prayed, "O LORD, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him? And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell me." And the LORD said, "He will come." Again David asked, "Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD replied, "Yes, they will betray you." (1 Samuel 23:9-12 NLT)

Now David has a decision to make.  He isn’t in a situation where he can just hope Saul will change his mind.  Saul clearly wants him dead.  Now the question: Does he continue to honor the king or does he turn on Saul and fight.  Saul may have killed his thousands, but David killed his tens of thousands.  David killed hundreds of Philistines to win Saul’s daughter’s hand in marriage.  Come on, David brought down Goliath!  David can surely win this battle.  Besides, David is already anointed as king.  Perhaps it is time.

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. (Luke 6:27-28 NLT)

But when we start thinking that way, we forget two very important things.  First, David won all of these victories in the power of the LORD.  Secondly, Saul is the LORD’s appointed king.  To go up against Saul means going up against the LORD and the LORD’s king.  David, knew that would not work.

If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! (Luke 6:32-33 NLT)

So, David fought the right battle.  He loved God, fought the real enemy, and honored the king. Even when the king hated David and set himself up as David’s enemy, David loved his enemy and prayed for the one who persecuted him.

So, how about you?  Do you love those who hate you?  Do you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?

Round the Bend, Abusing Authority

Saul had now reached a point beyond reason.  David didn’t have much opportunity to speak into Saul’s life.  Saul just wanted David dead.

Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, told him what his father was planning. Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. "You stupid son of a whore!" he swore at him. "Do you think I don't know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you'll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!" "But why should he be put to death?" Jonathan asked his father. "What has he done?" Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. (1 Samuel 19:1-2, 20:30-33 NLT)

Saul had gone round the bend.  His anger for David was so fierce that it boiled over onto his wife and son.  He is fighting God and, as a result, he won’t win.  Notice what his anger is about: David will become king.  This truth is already done in God’s eyes.  The LORD already had Samuel anoint David.  Now, the LORD is building David’s popularity with the Israelite people so they will want David as their king. 

Saul can win the battle for love by simply aligning himself with God’s plans.  Instead, he holds on to his own plans.  Saul is fighting a losing battle and it will result in casualties all around him.  Even the LORD’s priests are not safe from Saul’s downward spiral.  They provided David food and a sword to defend himself.  They didn’t even know David was defending himself against Saul.

"Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me?" Saul demanded. "Why did you give him food and a sword? Why have you consulted God for him? Why have you encouraged him to kill me, as he is trying to do this very day?" And he ordered his bodyguards, "Kill these priests of the LORD, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn't tell me!" But Saul's men refused to kill the LORD's priests. Then the king said to Doeg, "You do it." So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. (1 Samuel 22:13, 17-18 NLT)

The further a person goes down the path of rebellion against God, the harder it is to love them.  They are hurting everyone around them.  They are killing people to get their way and continue fighting against God’s way.  This is when we need to remember that they are human beings made in the image of God.  They are described as people taken captive to do the enemy’s will.  We can’t let them kill us or other innocents around them, but we must always look for ways to bring them back even when they’ve gone round the bend and abused their authority.

How about you?  Do you love people, even when they’ve gone round the bend?  Do you love them even when they abuse authority?  Do you love those who are in complete rebellion against God?  Have you learned to protect yourself, other innocents, without hating the captive who is doing all this evil?

The Schemers, Our Attackers

Saul is losing the battle for love.  Jealousy is turning in to outbursts of anger.  David now needs to go into battle.  Will he fight the person, Saul, or fight the real enemy and love Saul.  David chooses to stay, build a relationship with, and unconditionally love Saul.  The result: David and Saul are in each other’s lives.

Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the LORD." For Saul said to himself, "I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!" But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.  (1 Samuel 18:17-19 NIV)

You talk about tough potential father-in-laws.  This is as bad as it gets!  Saul tries to have David killed by sending him into battle, but it doesn’t work.  David continues to treat Saul with respect as a person and as the king.  He is humble about Saul’s offer to marry one of his daughters.  David continues to be a man of God, even when his mentor and king is scheming against him.  The result: Saul’s next daughter falls in love with David.

Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. "I will give her to him," he thought, "so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law." (1 Samuel 18:20-21 NIV)

Saul finds out the reason David would not accept: he doesn’t have a way to pay the bride-price for the king’s daughter.  Saul sees the opportunity and seizes it.  He tells David that the bride-price can simply be the death of one hundred Philistine soldiers.  Saul figured that a hundred Philistines could take David out of the picture.  Saul was wrong.  David killed twice as many and gave the proof to Saul.  His scheme to have David killed did not work.

But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night. Then Saul sent troops to watch David's house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't escape tonight, you will be dead by morning." So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. (1 Samuel 19:9-12 NLT)

When we love our neighbor as ourselves, it gets complicated very quickly – especially when they are listening to and following negative spirits.  We need to fight the enemy and love people.  We can’t help in the battle here, however, once we leave this life.  So, sometimes, we can stay.  Sometimes, though, we need to leave so we can live to fight another day.  David continues to be a man of God who loves the LORD, loves Saul, and fights the spiritual enemies through the power of Spirit within him.

How about you?  Do you love people even when they scheme against you?  Do you love them from a safe distance when they try to attack you?  Do you love God, fight the enemy, and love people?

The Jealous, The Angry

It’s easy to love someone when that person is your best friend and you have a lot in common.  Even close, best friends can stir up feelings that are not love.

When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals. This was their song: "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!" This made Saul very angry. "What's this?" he said. "They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they'll be making him their king!" So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (1 Samuel 18:6-9 NLT)

This time, Saul is challenged to love.  It’s hard to love someone when you don’t trust him, everyone loves him more than they love you, and you think he’s out for your job.  To make things worse, all these things were true.  Saul did not trust David.  People did sing David’s praises more.  David was already anointed as Israel’s next king.  Saul didn’t know this last fact and he had no need for the first – David was worthy of his trust.  Saul, however, needed to battle the thoughts of jealousy so he could love his neighbor as himself.  Love is not jealous (1 Corinthians 13:4).  Saul needed to fight jealousy and love David.  He needed to fight the enemy and love people.

The very next day a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began to rave in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did each day. But Saul had a spear in his hand, and he suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to the wall. But David escaped him twice. (1 Samuel 18:10-11 NLT)

Saul let his jealousy fester.  Whatever you feed, that will grow.  Saul fed his jealousy and it boiled over into anger.  Love does not do this.  It removes jealousy and replaces it with kindness.  Saul didn’t fight the good fight and it resulted in an outburst of anger (Ephesians 4:26-27,31; 2 Corinthians 12:20; Colossians 3:8; James 1:19-20).  Love failed.

How about you?  Do you ever feed jealousy instead of love?  Has it resulted in anger, even to the point of outbursts?  Has love, in you, ever failed?

Honor as Love

David slays Goliath and becomes famous among all the Israelites.  He shows himself to be a mighty warrior just like Saul’s son, Jonathan.

After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king's son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David.  And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. (1 Samuel 18:1, 3 NLT)

It makes sense that these two boys, becoming young men of battle, would become best friends.  They both understand the life of an Israelite under Philistine oppression.  They both want to remove that oppressive force.  They both did something about it already.  It would make it easy for them to live out one of the greatest commands the LORD has given us. 

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18 NIV)

My best friend growing up was a girl.  We did everything together.  We played football, baseball, basketball, kick ball in backyard and street pick-up games together.  We rode bikes, rode skateboards, played in an air-garage band, built forts, camped out in our back yard together.  We played board games, built plastic connector buildings, raced hot wheels, and played with dolls together.

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 NLT)

Tracey (that was her name – spelled differently from my wife) and I were best friends.  We loved each other.  Many times throughout the years were were accused of being too butch (since she was a tom-boy) or too feminine (since I played dolls with the girls).  More than once people would say that “Pete and Tracey were sitting in a tree…”, but it wasn’t true.  We had a lot of life in common.  We went through a lot together.  We were best friends.  We loved each other as much as we loved ourselves.  The other accusations were false implications from other people who didn’t understand.

From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn't let him return home. Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul's officers alike. (1 Samuel 18:2, 5 NLT)

David moved from the household of Jesse, his father, to the household of Saul, the king.  He would get to grow up through his teenage and young-adult years in the household of Saul, with his best friend, Jonathan.  All the while, he would become a mighty warrior of God.  Not only that, he would be living in the household of the reigning king, knowing he has been appointed by the LORD as king.  David finds himself in a particularly difficult position.  Does he overthrow the king and take his rightful position as the next king of Israel?

For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority--whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. (1 Peter 2:13-14 NLT)

David doesn’t take the route of violent overthrow.  Instead, he respects the king.  In fact, he shows honor to the king.  He loves all his neighbors as himself, not just the ones he likes.  He shows his love for this neighbor by honoring the king.

How about you?  Do you love your neighbor as yourself?  Do you see your leaders as your neighbors?  Do you love them as much as yourself?  Do you honor your “kings”?