Thursday Thought -- October 27, 2011

Good Morning Friends,

After Absalom’s death, David returned to Jerusalem as king.  Among those who greeted him were some who had betrayed him.  They had gone over to Absalom and left behind their loyalty to David.  Some wanted these traitors killed.  “Abishai son of Zeruiah said, ‘Shouldn't Shimei be put to death for this?  He cursed the Lord's anointed.’" (2 Samuel 19:21)  Putting David’s enemies to death seemed the reasonable and right thing to do.  After all, could he ever trust them again?

Here is David’s response, “David replied, ‘What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah?  This day you have become my adversaries!  Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?  Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?’  So the king said to Shimei, ‘You shall not die.’  And the king promised him on oath.”  (2 Samuel 19:22-23)

David wanted no more fighting among the people of Israel.  There had been enough bloodshed in the civil war.  Now it was time to put that enmity behind them.  It was time for forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration and David would lead the way with that.  David forgave and restored those who betrayed him and went to Absalom.

That could not have been easy for David.  He had been betrayed and there must have been a sense in which David wanted vengeance for that betrayal.  But David said “no” to vengeance in order to say “yes” to what would bring healing to Israel.  There was also the matter of trust.  How could David trust men who had betrayed him?  Would there always be doubt in David’s mind about those men?  Could he trust them again?  David made a choice to trust them.  It may not have been reasonable for him to do so, but it was what the Lord wanted him to do.  Israel was to be brought back together again and David was the one to do it by his willingness to forgive and trust again.

It’s hard to be betrayed, especially by those you have trusted.  And having been betrayed, it’s hard to forgive and harder still to trust those same people again.  David trusted God first and in trusting God he was able to set aside his own desire for vengeance and his desire to turn away from those who had betrayed him.  You will probably never be betrayed to the extent that David was – after all, they were seeking to kill him!  But you will be betrayed in some less drastic ways, we all face betrayal at times.  And we all face the opportunity to show forgiveness and to trust again.

His, by Grace,

Steve