Why You Should
Honor Your Enemies
1 Samuel 24:1-13; Psalm 57:1-11
February 2, 2004
Humility is sometimes measured by how losses are
handled. Humble men don't make excuses. They don't point
fingers. They accept that even a valiant effort sometimes isn't
enough. On other occasions it's measured by how victories--or
potential victories--are handled. Humble men realize God is the
ultimate source of victory. Instead of gloating, or crushing an
opponent, they treat them with honor.
If ever a man had a reason to grab victory and
gloat it was David. King Saul had chased him from the palace and
pursued him like "ravenous beasts" (Psalm 57:4), spreading nets
and digging pits for him to fall into. David's only crime was
devotion to God and the courageous defeat of Goliath. Saul's
problem was an intense jealousy that blinded him to David's love
for both God and himself.
While hiding in a dark cave David encountered the
unexpected. Saul's 3,000-man army waited outside while the king
entered the cave to relieve himself. David's band of warriors
told him God had finally given the king into his hands. Instead
of taking Saul's life, David quietly took a corner of the king's
robe. A few minutes later, after the king had left the cave,
David stood beneath the sun and told the ruler, "Some urged me
to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand
against my master, because he is the Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel
24:10).
Great and godly men are humble. And humble men
treat even their enemies with honor.
|
