Saturday, November 8, 2014

Year 4, Day 312: 1 Samuel 26

Theological Commentary: Click Here


Discipleship Focus: Character

  • Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

We’ve been able to talk a fair bit about character with respect to David lately.  David has an absolute refusal towards coming up against Saul and taking matters into his own hands.  When it comes to Saul, David refuses to end his life and take his rightful place as king.

This is an interesting contrast to what we saw yesterday with Nabal.  David seems to have no difficulty lashing out and doing harm against Nabal in what seems to be far less dire circumstances.  What is the main difference?  David continues to use the words, “The Lord’s Anointed.”  David will not go against God and God’s assigned rulers.  It is one thing for David to take matters into his own hands against people.  But from David’s perspective he will not go against God’s chosen leader.

I find this refreshing – even though I know how flawed David’s character happens to be.  As many mistakes as David makes, he will not go against the person of God’s choosing – as flawed as Saul actually is and as often as Saul will take his life.  This is character.  It takes an incredible amount of character to not attack God’s chosen leader even when the leader comes out and seeks to end your life.  David’s character and respect for his relationship with God is astounding here.

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