Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Humility

1 Samuel 24:8
Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

I know I would not have had the wisdom, restraint and humility of David if I were in his sandals. I would probably have killed Saul and forcibly fulfilled the promise of God cited in 24:4. And even if I did restrain myself and let him go, I would not have shown such honor to such a despicable and unfaithful man as Saul regardless of his position. Saul did not deserve any such treatment as bowing or titles of lord and king. I would have felt justified, claiming righteous indignation. Yet David bowed and honored Saul with his rightful titles even claiming him as his king. In David's gentle answer he turns away the wrath of Saul (Prov. 15:1). The fear of the Lord taught David wisdom and he trusted that God would follow humility with honor (Prov. 15:33). Saul's pride brought him low but David's lowly spirit gained him honor (Prov. 29:23).
Like David, I can trust Go to fight my battles and judge between me and those who offend me. I can humble myself and demonstrate full respect knowing that honor follows humility and that God defends the lowly in spirit. I can turn away wrath, defuse an argument and heal a relationship with a gentle answer. I don't have to fight.

Father - humble me and teach me to fear You and You alone in all situations. Don't let me take matters into my own hands but instead humbly trust You. Amen.

1 comment:

Melinda said...

So on Tuesday in chapel, Tim preached on this same passage. I don't know... it's possible you had a conversation about it or you both decided to steal from your pastor....

But you both had some good things to say, and i'm only slightly aware of everything that happens right now, lest God is trying to teach me something about this exact passage. I feel like it's probably something that i need to hear and just don't know what it's for yet.

To that end, thanks for this post.