1 Samuel 26: I have been a fool . . .
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
I have been a fool and I have made a serious mistake.
David and Saul had at one time a close and personal relationship and David and Saul’s son, Jonathan, become hard and fast friends; yet Saul becomes envious of the admiration the people have for the young warrior-psalm-writer, David. Today we read a portion of the story in which we see the rupture between them – David and his followers have become fugitives; Saul rants and looks to take David’s life.
In today’s Noontime we watch as David creeps into Saul’s tent where the king sleeps surrounded by bodyguards. Most of us would expect David to take revenge for the treacherous way Saul has treated him but this does not happen. Instead, he takes Saul’s spear and water jar to demonstrate his presence and exits the tent. Admonishing his companion for thinking that they might do God a favor by eliminating Saul, David shows us that he understands his proper place in God’s plan. He is a servant. Later, Saul admits he has been wrong and he utters the words many of us need to say to others, or wish that others might say to us: I have been a fool and I have made a serious mistake.
We can spend our days waiting to hear these words from one who had wronged us. We can also spend our days weaving convoluted plots in order to avoid using these words, but in the end, the effect is the same: we become exhausted.
When offenses are committed and there is no apology, we must leave the unraveling of the consequences to God. When we offend others and find it difficult to ask for forgiveness, we must surrender our pride and ask God for the best way to repent and atone. In this way then, our exhaustion will be transformed into a new exuberance for life.
Written on May 21, 2010 and posted today as a Favorite.
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The Noontimes 