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102Sa004.mp3
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Commentary
2 Samuel 4
During the difficult time when David fled from Saul, he never once referred to Saul as his enemy, but many people did. Never mind that Saul was king of Israel. Never mind that he was the Lord's anointed. Now it is Saul, David's enemy. As the second king of Israel, it seems natural that the People would want to find ways to please David. They loved him from the very beginning, as did God. He is a man after God's own heart, after all. In those times it was a common practice to require "an eye for an eye". It is important for us to understand this is NOT the way of the Lord. "Vengeance is MINE, says the Lord". Romans 2 tells us to overcome evil with good. David did exactly that for the entire time that Saul pursued him to kill him. David had shown kindness to Saul because David loved Saul, father of Jonathan, David's very best friend.
How many times do we like or love someone so much that we do crazy things to please them, to earn their respect, or even just to get their attention? Do we really know the heart of the one we love? Is what we do in pleasing them really what they want? What do people want, anyway? Is there any way to really know for sure? No matter how smart we are, or how a thing seems, we can never be fully sure that anything we think is best for someone else. God provided a way that cannot fail. The Word says to trust in the LORD with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge HIM and He will direct our path. This is exactly what David had done in every situation so far. It is no wonder why God refers to him as "the apple of MY eye".
As far as recorded history is concerned, nobody taught David these things. What he done and how he done it was a result of his love for God. He loved God with all of his heart and as a result, God led him into all truth. Victory was a close companion for David because he trusted God and put His will first. Those people who sought to please David did understand incorrectly. Sure, David was relieved that he did not have to flee from Saul any longer, but it was not something he ever even considered. All David knew was that Saul, his well loved master, king of Israel, was dead and here stands a man boasting to have been the one to do the killing. Even in his grief, David did not folly from what is right. He didn't acknowledge if he did or did not believe the man. The man said he did it and David killed him specifically because he said it, not necessarily because he did it.
Along comes more people, appointing themselves as David's avengers. They go along in their zeal to punish members of Saul's family for something that David barely even acknowledged as right or wrong. These people thought it would please David if they went and killed innocents just because they were relatives of Saul. Oh, how wrong they were! David held Saul in very high regard. The People held David in very high regard. Why were they so wrong while David was so right? The answer is in the heart. Our heart must be right with God. If it is not, we cannot see clearly. God is light and without Him everything is dark. We need to be able to see things in the light of God's will. We need to seek FIRST His righteousness. We need to please HIM alone! Everything else will come to harmony.
Saturday, October 9, 2010 - 10:00 AM
