Mercy

 

    This Remembrance Sunday I am focusing on mercy.  It is not a human concept.  It does not come natural, but it is required to live in a world of peace.  Mercy is a personal characteristic in taking care of other people, sometime at your own expense.  It is going out of your way to help a person in distress or need.  Mercy displays God's forgiveness.

    Saul never did get the concept of mercy.  If he ever considered the word at all, then he probably thought it displayed weakness.  David had gone out of his way to make Saul's life better, yet he had to flee from Saul.  Saul pursued him tirelessly with 3,000 of his strongest men.  David's death was his single focus.

    David along all of his men hid in a cave, so you know that these caves are pretty big in the middle east.  Saul had to go to the bathroom so he went to a cave for privacy.  He chose the very cave David was in.  David snuck up and could have killed Saul before he knew what happened.  It could have all been over and David could have gone home.  Instead, David chose mercy.

    David cut a piece of Saul's clothing.  Saul was anointed by God, so David would never kill him and would not allow his men to kill him either.  He was a leader that led by example, but had a way to make it logical to his followers.  They obeyed willingly.

    Saul left the cave and once he had gotten a ways away, David stepped out to show himself.  He called out to Saul showing the piece of clothing.  He declared for all to hear that if he wanted Saul dead, then he would be dead.  He was not rebelling against his king and never would.  God was both their judge.  

    Saul wept because mercy always has an emotional impact.  He declared that day that David was more righteous than himself.  In this moment of  clarity and sanity, Saul understood why David would be the next king.  He asked David to vow not to kill his descendants.  David gladly made the oath and Saul returned home.  

    It must have been horrible for Saul to have an evil spirit plague him.  He know that God allowed the evil spirit to haunt him because his actions.  He knew he was the cause of losing all that he took for granted.  I imagine it would drive most of us act uncharacteristically.  Thank God for Jesus and having the opportunity to repent.

    David and his men stayed in their stronghold.  He understood that he had won that small victory, but that Saul would get wound up again.  He was never going to be able to go home as long as Saul was alive.  He won, but he still was not seeing the perks of a win.  Sometimes showing mercy does not give you immediate results.  We have to wait.  God is working in the stillness, in the waiting, in the frustration.

1 Samuel 24