The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/1_samuel/24.htm

How much self-control do you have? If someone was threatening your life, could you defend yourself? Would you defend yourself.

I’m not too worried about myself, but I do have three special needs adults that live with me, and as their guardian, I am responsible for their safety. As such, I keep weapons on hand and at the ready.

Do I think I’ll ever have to use them? No, I hope not, I pray not. Do I think I’ll ever have to use my fire extinguisher? Also no, I hope not, I pray not, but I keep one just in case.

And none of us really know how we would react to a threat against our lives. Many of us have egos that convince us of what we would do and that we would be victorious, but until the time comes when you are faced with injuring someone, perhaps fatally, you’ll never know. And while our world has become a violent world, I have to stop and tell myself that it is highly likely that it isn’t as violent as it was in the times of David. Yes, I know some terrible things happen every day, but it has been a while since I’ve heard about someone killing someone with a rock, then to seal the deal, cut their head off and display it.

No, this isn’t a discussion (or debate) on “stand your ground” laws or on 2nd Amendment Rights. This is about whether or not you could avoid the temptation to kill someone who is trying to kill you. And that is what David was faced with.

But it wasn’t even a decision for David. In fact, it was never even a consideration.

David and his army was hiding in a cave, and Saul and his army happened to pass by, and Saul entered the cave to relieve his bladder. David had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul. Twice, Saul had thrown his spear at David in an attempt to kill him, Saul and his army were pursing David with the intent to kill him. Saul had sent men to David house, the house of his own daughter, to seize David and bring him back to be killed. Saul was mentally ill, it wasn’t just a matter of poor decision making in which Saul could be reasoned with, he was going to kill David as he knew, or highly suspected, that David was the next King of Israel, but rather than blame himself for that, he placed all the blame on David, thinking David was undermining him.

And David’s own men urged him to ill Saul. And David chose not to. Saul was the King, and David respected that. David likely knew that Saul was mentally ill, and he took mercy on that. Saul’s son Jonathan was David’s best friend, and David wouldn’t hurt his best friend’s father if his life depended on it, and indeed, his life depended on it.

Instead of doing what every other person would do, sneak up on Saul and take him out, David chose to simply cut a piece of Saul’s robe off, to show Saul that David was within distance to kill him, but chose not to.

And Saul left the cave unscathed.

Once Saul was in the distance, David yelled at him and showed him what he had done. It was his way of showing him, “Saul, I’m not trying to kill you. I just had the perfect opportunity, and I didn’t do it.” And Saul realized the error of his ways, and made up with David, and they all lived happily ever after.

Or did they? Remember, Saul is mentally ill (my take on the story anyway), and mental illness does not go away that easily. So history will repeat itself; for now, Saul has swung to the opposite side of the bipolar pendulum, but if for just a short while.

Think of the character of David. Think of the reserve he had, the self-discipline, to be within arms reach of the man who was trying to kill him, and not take the opportunity to eliminate the threat. And if David had that much love and respect for the kingdom, think how much love and respect he had for God.

Not only did David have love, respect, and loyalty, he was also smart, because he no longer trusted Saul. Despite Saul’s speech outside the cave, David knew not to trust him, and David and his army stayed out in the wilderness.

And David sent his men to a home owned by a man named Nabal, asking for food and water, but Nabal was not a very smart man, nor was he hospitable. And that was the sign of a good man in those days…showing hospitality to strangers. Abraham showed hospitality to Jesus and the two angels, letting them rest at his test, and Sarah preparing a meal for them. Gideon prepared a meal for Jesus when he came to tell Gideon he would be a judge for Israel, and the Benjamenite invited the traveler from Ephraim, whose concubine was killed that even by evil men raping her, into his home to spend the night and eat a meal.

But Nabal wasn’t very hospitable, and denied aid to David. As David prepared to raid Nabal’s land, Nabal’s wife Abigail was smart enough to have heard that David was the next king, and not only should she respect him, she should be hospitable towards David and his army. So she sent rations to David, and even went herself to David to plead for mercy and understanding.

The next morning Abigail told Nabal what she had done, and Nabal’s heart failed him. Scripture says he died ten days later, “struck by the Lord”. Now again, I tend to believe that Nabal, not being hospitable and not helping the future king of Israel, had separated himself from God so far that Satan was able to have his way with Nabal, and it was actually Satan that caused Nabal’s death. I can’t begin to see Jesus take the life of anyone over sin, and Jesus and God are of the same character.

And after Nabal died, David sent for Abigail, and married her because she was a good woman. And you can still see the good works of David because Nabal died indirectly because of the actions David initiated, so David showed mercy on Abigail and took her as a wife so she wouldn’t have to struggle alone.

We can still see the good in the character of David, and bad in the character of others. More lessons from God on how we should and shouldn’t live our lives.