Walk In Quiet Humility

2 Samuel 16:9-12 -  "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?" Abishai son of Zeruiah demanded. "Let me go over and cut off his head!"  "No!" the king said. "What am I going to do with you sons of Zeruiah! If the LORD has told him to curse me, who am I to stop him?"  Then David said to Abishai and the other officers, "My own son is trying to kill me. Shouldn't this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to do it.  And perhaps the LORD will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses."

 

David was leading his family and friends out of Jerusalem…dejected and hurt because he thought Saul’s grandson had joined the ones who supported Absalom. And as he was walking by a town….a man related to Saul began to shout curses and throw stones at the king.  One of the men with David…Abishai…wanted to go take his head off….but David would not let him.  Instead…David quietly endured the taunts and stones as long as the relative chose to throw them. 

 

Maybe this characteristic of David was one of the reasons he was later said in Acts 13:22…to be a man after God’s own heart. Just like Jesus before his crucifixion…he quietly maintained his composure in the midst of injustice and slander.  He modeled for us the true heart of God…and walked through the difficult time….praying that God would see it and bless him in the end. Maybe his wise son Solomon thought of this time when he penned Proverbs 29:23… ‘Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.”

 

Satan takes our bitterness and anger…and multiplies it into more hate and anger…that eventually tears down and damages all the parties involved.  But God…if we let him control our bitterness….if we endure the injustice with a humble spirit…will take that seed of quiet humility …and turn it into something good.  It may not be easy…but it will definitely be worth it.

 

Father…thank you for this story that reminds me to control my anger. Father…you know that I struggle with this concept in your word…and I need a double dose ...maybe even a quadruple dose of your love that overcomes my humanness…. so I can have the power to be like David next time. Forgive me for all the times that I have allowed satan to multiply my anger and bitter attitudes into more hate and mess for you to clean up. Help me today to stop and use these words of David the next time I feel I have been wronged….so I can walk in quiet humility like Jesus did to the cross. Amen.