Amen and amen. We continue our series through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, looking at the kingdom, the monarchy of ancient Israel. Been walking through the last several chapters looking at this incredible contrast between Saul, Israel's first king, who blew it, and because of that, David was chosen by God. Now David is an amazing figure in the Scriptures. There's many things that are just amazing about him. One of the most common ways that David is described, not only in the Scriptures but today, is that he was a man after God's own heart. Our text this morning is really going to show us what that means. And I think this is really what sets David apart. It's not his valor and strength in battle. There are a lot of good warriors. What really sets David apart is his ability to reflect the character and nature of God through mercy. Through mercy.
Now, mercy is an interesting thing. I was really thinking about it a lot this week. Mercy is something that is not incredibly valued in our culture, and yet everybody wants it and knows the need for it. I was thinking through how mercy is portrayed in our literature and our media, and it really struck me this week that even though we don't often see it, mercy is at the core of some of our great stories. I was thinking about Les Mis, Jean Valjean receives mercy from the bishop. And it not only transforms his life, but it has ramifications and ripples that spread out. Maybe Les Mis isn't your jam. Maybe you're more into Star Wars. You think of that epic moment between Luke and his father, Darth Vader, where Luke puts down his lightsaber, refuses to take vengeance. You think about the implications of that in the story, no matter how badly Lucas and Disney butchered it later. Maybe that's not your jam either. Maybe it's Harry Potter. When he finds Peter Pettigrew, who was the traitor that his actions resulted in the death of Harry's parents. Harry refuses to take vengeance. He shows mercy. And if he hadn't done that, well, everything would have gotten... Mercy is at the heart and the core of almost all of our great stories. And there's a reason for that. Because mercy is at the heart and the core of God, the great storyteller.
So let's take a look this morning. We're going to be in 1 Samuel chapters 23 and 24 at the mercy of God that's revealed through David, the man after God's own heart. It starts this way:
1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
The great enemy of Israel at the time was the Philistines. They were a seafaring, semi-nomadic people that had taken over the coastlines of Israel. They had been a persistent and consistent thorn in the side of Israel. David had fought many battles against the Philistines. Now they have come against this area of Keilah. And David hears about it. Now previously David, in his role as Saul's bodyguard and the commander of the army of Israel, would have been dispatched by Saul to go and deal with the Philistines, to go and confront them. But David is on the run. Saul is consistently trying to take his life. So David has had to flee. He is hiding in the wilderness. And when he receives word that somebody else in the safety of their home, somebody else in the safety of their town and their community is now being taken advantage of by the Philistines. And this is a particularly egregious attack by the Philistines. It mentions it's robbing the threshing floors.
So this is a farming community. They've spent months of painstaking toil, preparing the ground, sowing the seed, watching it grow. Then the difficult task of the harvest, back-breaking labor to gather the fruit of their crop. And they gather it to the threshing floor, usually on a high hill, so that they can beat it and then toss it up into the air and let the wind separate the wheat from the chaff. The Philistines, though, are pillagers. They're in some ways the Vikings of that area and that era. So they don't want to do the hard work of growing crops. They let the Israelites do the hard work of growing the crops. And then once the crops are in, that's when they show up to attack these farmers and steal from them all that they have worked so hard to acquire. David hears about this and even though he's on the run, his heart is moved to the plight of his fellow Israelites.
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
Now, that's not the answer that David's companions wanted to hear.
3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
"David, come on, man, slow your roll. We're in trouble. Now you want us to go somewhere else and fight another battle? We're already dodging spears from Saul on a daily basis. Now you want us to go take on the Philistines? How much more than if we go to Keilah against the army of the Philistines? You're jumping out of the pot into the fire, David."
4 Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Yahweh saved the inhabitants of Keilah. But He did it through David. He did it through David's faith. He did it through David's courage. He did it through David's compassion. He did it because David had faith in the word of Yahweh. And when the word of Yahweh contradicted the word of his friends, he chose to go with the word of God.
And before we go any farther in this story this morning, when trouble comes—and if you're alive here this morning, trouble comes, and if you're not in trouble right now, keep breathing. When trouble comes, conflict at work, family drama, the consequences of your own stupidity, when trouble comes, what do you do? Who do you turn to? What's your kind of automatic response to the reality of trouble? David is modeling for us, I think, the appropriate response to trouble. He inquires of Yahweh. He doesn't ignore the other voices around him. He listens. He hears them. But he always goes back to "What does God have to say about this? What is God asking me to do? What is God calling me to?" When trouble comes, do the voices of those around you carry more weight than the voice of God? Or is your heart to know the will of the one who made you and walk in the path that He has called you to? David shows us the importance of seeking God's will.
6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
Now, if you remember from last week, in one of the most tragic moments of David's life, David, because he took his eyes off God and became afraid of man, lied and the compounding consequences of his lie resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of priests. The only one of that family that escaped was this man Abiathar, and when he came, when he escaped, he brought with him the priestly garments, the ephod, and probably the Urim and the Thummim, the instruments of divination that God had given the people.
7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
And listen to what Saul is saying and doing here. He's taking David's faithfulness to do what God said, to do what Saul should have done. Who should have delivered Keilah from the Philistines? The king of Israel. That's the role of a king. Saul was nowhere to be seen. Now, who actually went and did it when Yahweh told him to? It was David. Now, he's trying to use David's faithfulness to God as an opportunity to enact his wicked desire to kill David. "Oh, David has made a mistake. He's put himself in a town where I can trap him and take him out."
8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
Couldn't go to war against the Philistines when they're attacking Keilah, but he'll go to Keilah when David's there so he can kill David.
9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”
So David starts hearing rumors that Saul's gathering an army to come destroy him at Keilah. So he inquires of God. "Hey, God, is this true? Is he coming down?" God says, "Yeah, he's coming."
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.”
Oh. What a heartbreak.
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
So they go mobile. They scatter. They go back out into the wilderness. They're back hiding in the caves and the valleys. They're doing everything that they can to stay out of Saul's hands.
14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
What a contrast here between David and Saul. The author really wants us to see what happens when you choose to not be faithful to God, to not honor the covenant, to not live out the calling that God has placed upon the king, and instead to seek your own way. Saul just deteriorates deeper and deeper into his sin. David remains faithful to God, even though the circumstances around him keep getting more and more and more desperate. So once again, God is saving David on a daily basis.
15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.
Oh, I love that phrase. I don't care if you've slain giants in the past. There are times when you're going to need to have somebody come beside you and strengthen your hand in Yahweh. Our faith wanes and ebbs. Our faith has moments of great trust and hope and willingness and courage and other times when our faith dwindles. Jonathan, man, what a friend he has been to David. To his own harm and detriment. Because of his father's sin, Jonathan will not become the next king of Israel. Because God has chosen David to be king, David will be king of Israel. And Jonathan doesn't fight against God. In fact, Jonathan comes to love David. Jonathan comes to choose David, because in choosing David, he's choosing God. So here's David. This has been going on for a significant amount of time. Can you imagine the anxiety? Can you imagine the fear, the PTSD that's building up and setting in on David and his men? They can't stay in one place too long. The very people that they just rescued in Keilah, God told them, they'll turn you over in a heartbeat. No one to trust but God. No place to go to find safety but God.
17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.”
Well, of course he does. That's why he's trying to kill him.
18 And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
I love this brief little interlude. I love this. I treasure it. We all need friends like Jonathan. Jonathan's not a fair-weather friend. He's not an easy friend. He's not a friend of convenience. He's not a friend simply of affinity. He is a spiritual brother. Their friendship is not rooted in the things just of this world. Their friendship, their loyalty, their care for one another is rooted in the covenant that Yahweh has made with His people Israel. They are spiritual brothers. And we all need that because we all need encouragement. Anybody here this morning say, "Hey, I'm all good on encouragement. I don't need any more." Never met anyone that said that that didn't need some real help. We all need that kind of encouragement. It's easy to just think of David, the great warrior that slayed Goliath. It's even easy to think of David, the great poet who wrote so much of the Psalms that we still use to this day. But David was a man of flesh and blood like us. David knew what it meant to have moments of great courage and to have moments of fear. And in that moment of fear, it was his friend Jonathan that came to him and said, "Man, keep your eyes on God. We're going to stick this out. It's going to be okay."
Man, did he ever need that from his spiritual brother? Because as we continue through this story, David's now going to be sold out by some of his own people.
19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
Who are the Ziphites? Well, they were the people that lived at Ziph. You're welcome. Ziph was a small, fortified town, really an outpost kind of on the edges of the wilderness in the hill country of Judah's southern wilderness. In the conquest, when Joshua led the people into the land, we find that that area and Ziph in particular was settled by the tribe of Judah. David is of the tribe of Judah. So these are his own kinsmen, his own tribe, his own people. There's probably family relations connecting him intimately to the people of Ziph. And they go not to him, but they go to Saul.
20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.”
Now, I don't know what motivated David's kinsmen, the Ziphites, to do this. Don't just do it here. They're going to do it again. I don't know if it's jealousy. There's no jealousy like family jealousy. It causes more problems than anything I've ever seen. But something motivated them to go to Saul and say, "Hey, Saul, do whatever is in your heart." Saul, who's being plagued by an evil spirit on a regular basis. Yeah, tell that guy to do whatever is in his heart. How's that going to work out? But this is what they do. "Come, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand."
21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me.
Dude, Yahweh had nothing to do with this. It's so easy to attach God's name to something. That's almost no indication of whether God is actually in it or not. "Oh, may you be blessed by God, for you have had compassion on me." Oh, yeah. Yeah, the king's the one that needs compassion. The king that just keeps trying to kill David over and over and over again. Oh, poor Saul.
22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.
Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
So now David's got snitches in his own family, telling Saul where he is. So every time he goes to a new place to hide, they tell Saul where he is and Saul keeps coming after him.
26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them,
So now it is looking bad for David. He's been betrayed. His location has been given away. Saul's got this inside information. He's come. He's just around. He'll be coming around the mountain. He's there. He's coming around. They're hurrying to go, but Saul's gaining ground on them. They're in trouble. Oh, and I love this.
27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.
Sometimes, you know, we always just want a rock of victory. Sometimes a rock of escape is good enough. God gets him out and delivers him.
29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
Again, don't picture a man-made building or fortress. These are caves and natural rock formations, and David's living there in the wilderness with his men.
1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”
So once again, information's being given about where David is.
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
And Saul went in to, the Hebrew here is "cover his feet," relieve himself. I don't know if you've read the book Everybody Poops, but it's true. And I'm not saying that just to throw out some humor. It's actually important to the story. I can think of few times or places that you're more vulnerable than when you're relieving yourself.
Saul has no idea. He's just going into this cave for a little privacy to do his business. But David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. He has no idea he's that close to his prey. So he goes in, and they let him go in by himself. It's not really a communal activity.
4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Which... I don't know how that works. I don't know how sneaky and stealthy David was. I don't know how troubled Saul was. But while he's doing his business, he cuts off the corner of his robe.
5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
See, all this time, David had not acted against Saul because Saul had been installed as king by God. All this time, Saul's accusing him of doing terrible things, of trying to take his life, of trying to take the kingdom. David's never done any of that. David's always sought to be a good servant, a loyal and faithful servant to King Saul. Now he takes this opportunity, urged on by his men, to go up. And all he does is cut off a little corner of his cloak. But he's convicted. His heart.
6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.”
"God forbid that I should do this thing to my lord." He is Yahweh's anointed. That's that Hebrew word, mashiach. The one that we get Messiah from. The one that translated into the Greek as Christ. Every time we're referring to Jesus Christ, we're saying Jesus, the anointed one. David says, "God forbid that I would do anything against the one that God has anointed. Saul's not my enemy, even though he thinks I'm his. So if I make Saul my enemy, I'm making God my enemy."
7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
I think that was probably a lot more difficult than that little sentence said. So you're with a group of 600 warriors, and they've been running for their lives for weeks. And now, here's Saul, the guy that's been trying to kill them, in the most vulnerable, compromising position they're ever going to find him in. And David talks them out of moving against God's anointing.
8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.
Because Saul deserved it? Because Saul had sterling, excellent character? No. Because Saul was Yahweh's anointed. David's going to do the right thing. So David falls on his face and pays homage.
9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
"See, my father." Jesse is his father. This is a term of respect. It's a term of honor. Remember, in the ancient Near East, honor is everything. "See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it." David's saying here something that we all were supposed to learn in kindergarten. Two wrongs don't make a right.
12 May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 15 May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
David popping up out of the cave. Saul's there. He's got the 3,000 warriors. David's got 600. They're trapped in the cave. By revealing himself now, he's laying it all out on the line. And he says, "May Yahweh, may God be the judge."
16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
So there's something about mercy that moves us. There's something about mercy that touches the deep places of even the hardest of hearts. When Saul realizes what David has done, when Saul realizes how close he had been to death, that David could have easily and with justification taken him out. Who does David say delivered Saul to him that day? God. God gave him the opportunity. "David, what are you going to do? What kind of man are you? Where's your hope?" Easily could have done. It melted even the heart of Saul.
17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
The mercy of David results in Saul making this declaration and this promise. "I'm not going to kill you. You're surely going to be the next king." And David says, "Okay, I make a promise. I won't kill your family and your descendants." And you can guess which one of them will keep his word. Because I wish... I wish that Saul's story ended there. But he's going to go back. He's going to try to kill David again. It's going to get worse before the end.
Luckily for us, David wrote a psalm about this encounter. Psalm 57. Most of us just breeze past the inscriptions at the beginning of a psalm. This one says this:
57 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
Listen to David's. This is such a beautiful psalm. And it follows the pattern of a lot of psalms. The first half of it is a desperate cry for help. And it then transitions into radical praise of the God to whom you're asking help from.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. 3 He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
David's just crying out, "God, not because of me, not because of my circumstance, because of You, because of Your character, because of Your covenant loyalty, because You are faithful, and even when we're faithless, You're faithful. God, have mercy on me."
4 My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
Chased by the army, betrayed by his kinsmen. David moves.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! 6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
Isn't that the story? Saul's out chasing them with the elite warriors. He's got David cornered, but he doesn't even know it. He set a trap. Who finds themselves in the trap? Saul, not David.
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! 8 Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
David, in reflecting on what happened in that cave, remembers the fear, remembers the danger, remembers how desperately he was crying out for God's mercy. And then he remembers how God flips the switch and how the trap being set by Saul turns upon Saul. And how God delivers him. How God delivers him through mercy. The result for David is to praise God, to cry out for God's glory, not just to be known by him, not just to be received by him, but to be reflected by him to everyone and everywhere.
You say, how could David show mercy to Saul in the cave? How could he do that? I think the answer is in the psalm. How can David cry for mercy for himself and then not extend it to another? You know, far too often, and listen, we're all guilty of this. I don't have to know you to know that you're guilty of this. We want mercy for ourselves and justice for others. I'm amazed at how often I do this. How often I give myself a pass for my failings and blame it on my circumstances, but when I see your failings, oh no, that's your character. Psychologists have a term for this, right? They call it self-protective bias. We excuse our flaws and circumstances and we blame others as their character. We compare our strengths to others' weaknesses. It's a tragic thing. How can David show mercy to Saul? Because David had received mercy from God. Jesus talked about this once or twice
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
So Peter's an easy punching bag so many times. Peter thinks he's being super generous, right? "When my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him seven times? That seems crazy." C.S. Lewis once quipped, “everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have someone or something to forgive.” Once again, we love forgiveness for us.
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Jesus is not giving an actual number here. So you don't get to keep a ledger with your wife and your husband. "We're at 76. You got one more." You know what I mean? That's not what He's doing. Jesus is going, "You're missing the point." As Shakespeare says, the quality of mercy is not strained. It's not seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
A lot of times Jesus' stories, you've got to work a little hard to get to the point. In this one, He just hands it to you. Says the thing out loud. "I showed you mercy. Shouldn't you have shown mercy?" In anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Think about David in that cave. Saul in his grasp. The words of Yahweh on the lips of his companions. "Yahweh will give him into your hands. Do with him as you wish." David understood the power of mercy. Because he was a man that relied upon the mercy of God. And he recognized that you can't simply receive the mercy of God for yourself and then turn and be unmerciful to another. David serves as such a preview, a beautiful preview of the true king. His mercy to his enemy reveals a shadow of God's radical plan to defeat evil with good, to supplant hatred with love. David's mercy in the cave points us to Jesus' profound mercy on the cross.
Think about Jesus in His betrayal, on trial, mocked, scourged, lied upon, derided, nailed to a cross. Think about what Jesus could have done on that cross. Think about the ninja angels He could have called down. Think about the cursing He could have pronounced upon the people. Think about the opportunity to do whatever He wanted. But Jesus shows mercy.
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Jesus on the cross. Does He deserve to be there? Is He being treated rightly, justly? Does He respond in anger? Does He take vengeance for Himself? It's the mercy of Jesus. It's the mercy of Jesus that wins the victory of the cross. "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they're doing." Mercy does not negate justice. Okay? I think that's why so often we struggle with mercy. We think, "Oh, if I'm merciful, then justice isn't going to happen." I think that's a false dichotomy. Mercy doesn't negate justice. It simply puts justice in the hands of the only one who can be trusted with it. God, the righteous judge.
Mercy doesn't negate justice. It simply says, "God, I'm going to have to trust You for this justice." What I've received from You, God, hasn't been justice. You should fall on your face right now and praise God that He has not given you justice. I don't have to know you to know what you deserve. You've been given mercy. Mercy upon mercy undeserved, unasked for. Mercy. "Father, forgive them. They're clueless. Father, forgive them. They do not know what they're doing." The mercy of Jesus is the only thing that guarantees and gives us hope. It's because of that. We must be merciful. You can't just receive mercy for yourself and then expect and demand justice for others. That doesn't mean we abandon justice. God loves justice. God is a just God. Justice is a certainty. It just means I can't trust myself to enact it justly. Mercy is not the negation or abandonment of justice. It's exactly what David said it was. "You may kill me, Saul. I will trust that God will sort it out in the end."
So let me close with Paul's exhortation in Romans chapter 12, verse 19.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
"Beloved." Even just that word, beloved. Who are you? You're the ones that have been loved by God because you deserved it? No. Because He's loving. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" You have a lot of choices in your life. A lot of opportunities to choose mercy or your own version of justice. Church, I plead with you, as Paul does here, choose mercy every time. Every time. Because the mercy that you have received is the mercy you are to offer. My hope, my prayer, is that every single one of us would encounter and experience the unfathomable mercy of Jesus. You would receive the mercy of Jesus that He has demonstrated on the cross for you. He does not treat us as our sins deserve, but has instead lavished His love upon us. I pray you know and receive that mercy. And I pray that you live that mercy out. That the same mercy you received, you will offer. The same forgiveness that has been granted, you will grant. That we might all be like David. Men and women after God's own heart. Who live in the power of God's mercy. Amen.
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