2 Samuel 1: "From the blood of the slain, from the
fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul
returned not empty. "Saul and
Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they
were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. "Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you daintily in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold upon your
apparel. "How are the mighty fallen
in the midst of the battle! "Jonathan lies slain upon thy high places
The word of Saul’s death reached David’s ears by way of a
greedy liar…an Amalekite who somehow gained possession of Saul’s crown. He figured to gain some sympathy from David…who
had run from Saul for so long…but he figured wrong. For as soon as David had fasted and mourned
for Saul and his best friend Jonathan...he killed the man who claimed he had
been insolent enough to kill the Lord’s anointed king.
Then David honored his friend and the king that had served
as king by writing a song …a song that spoke of the great things they had done.
….a song that memorialized the positive things that Saul had done….a song that
spoke of his deep love for his friend. The song he wrote contained no mention of the
sorrow and pain David had been forced to live with as he ran….David put aside
any feelings of hurt and bitterness…and showed the ultimate respect for his
fallen friend and his father.
The heart of David knew that God’s love sometimes calls us
to lay our own feelings aside… wrap ourselves in his merciful love for all
people… and let God’s heart take control over the bitterness and pain that
lives there. David was modeling for us
what the apostle John meant when he wrote 1 John 4:20…. “Whoever claims to love
God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their
brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not
seen.” What courage and deep reverence
for God must David had to be so mature in his love for others… David understood how powerful on-going forgiveness
is to a battered and broken heart.
Jesus used this very point to finish one of his great
sermons from the mountains where he shared his heart with the crowds that
followed him. In Matthew 5:43-47 it says… "You
have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.' But I say to you, Love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is
in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust. For
if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? And if you
salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the
Gentiles do the same?” Jesus was calling
them to be different…to take the love he was going to give them when he
sacrificed his life on that cross…and use it to love unconditionally… to love
not just the lovable…but love the unlovable as well.
I have to admit that I struggle with this one. It is so very hard for my human heart to completely
shake off the bitterness and hate that satan planted in my heart…and truly forgive
the ones who have hurt me. It is easier
to whine and cry and have pity parties…but that only embeds the pain deeper in
your heart. I guess I need more moments kneeling
at the altar at church….like the one night I cried out to God to help me let go…and
forgive. It wasn’t as hard as satan tricked me into thinking it would be…. and
I will never forget the awesome wash of peace that came over my mind…as I knew
in that moment that God had somehow melted my heart a bit…so I could tolerate
the pain a bit better.
Father…thank you for this reminder that I do not have to
live with the pain and bitter feelings of the past. Thank you for the moments where you get
through to this stubborn hard head of mine… and help me to tell satan to go way…and
stop lying to me….so you can help me to use your love to release the hurts you
have allowed in my life. Help me to take the small victories you have given me…and
multiply them. Help me to use the
memories of how you helped me that wonderful night…to repeat the process with
any more hurt I might have hidden deep inside my heart. Amen.
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