Do you have a President or Governor that frustrates you? Maybe some of what you hear about him is horrible, or he conducts his bidding as though a dictator. Either way, we are faced with those who lead well, and those who lead poorly. Thank goodness for us that God chooses leaders and kings; any concerns we have can be given to our ultimate authority!
The Bible goes further than that though. From the beginning of the Bible up to the end we see a sanctity of life. God values the lives He created on this earth, every single one of them. When that point is understood, it typically leads to an easier discernment of respecting those in earthly authority.
God chooses leaders and kings…
Thank goodness for the Israelites that God chose who He did to be king. Okay, of course Saul had his faults, but it also taught the Israelites, among other things, that their desire to be like the surrounding nations was not in their best interest, that one man could potentially harm many, or even that a king wrought with jealousy could keep his fighting men traveling around attempting to satisfy his desires (to kill one man).
God chooses leaders and kings, and He chose Saul. He chose someone who looked like a king but whose heart was not aligned with God’s. He made a lot of bad decisions and allowed his emotions to guide him. Yet, he was king. He was the leader chosen by God.
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David’s understanding of God…
Back in 1 Samuel 24, David was presented with the opportunity to take King Saul’s life. David hid in the back of the cave while Saul was in the front, oblivious to the dangers that lurked behind him. His men encouraged him that God had delivered Saul into his hands.
What we expected to see would have made sense: David was hiding from Saul, Saul comes into the same area unaware, David’s men point out that God said He would deliver David’s enemies into his hands, and here was the opportunity. It would be a natural conclusion that the timing was now for David to take that step to take Saul’s life and acquire the kingship God promised him earlier.
Except….
Except David understood better than most that God values life, He values His choices, and He values those He puts into power. Because David understood this in a complete picture, he refrained from his chance to become king. Do you know many people who would:
- forgo power for God’s timing?
- so value God’s placement of authority figures that they would choose to continue living in fear for their very life rather than end the persecution?
- value all life, even the life of one who was trying to kill him?
David recognized his place…
The Lord had already anointed David as the next king when this first opportunity arose. He knew the Lord would follow through in His timing. If we look back to creation, every time something was created, God saw that it was good. We get a similar response with David. No matter what, he seems to react in a manner that says the same, ‘it is good’. The decisions the Lord makes are good. David recognized this better than most.
He was conscience stricken after cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe, but it’s his words that display his heart here.
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.” 1 Samuel 24:6, emphasis added
Not often in history do we find a man patient for power that he knows is coming his way, let alone while his very life is threatened.
Yet, David knew his place and he knew that God chooses leaders and kings. It was not within his own authority to effect the death of the Lord’s anointed.
David’s viewpoint does not change…
In the Bible, sometimes we meet one who makes a positive decision for the Lord and then swings the pendulum back to differing choices. In 1 Samuel 26, David is in a position again to decide whether or not to take control of the situation and take what will be his anyway, the throne. Here he is, having been running for his life with the chance at peace and power, but he submits to his authority, God.
David remains steadfast in his understanding of God and the position he is in is accepted. King Saul’s life is spared yet again because he is the Lord’s anointed and God had not yet deemed for his reign to be over.
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?” And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. 1 Samuel 26:9-11b
No one had the right…
David understood his role, but others did not. After King Saul died in battle, an Amalekite came to David with a conflicting story about Saul’s death. Instead of the praise he expected to receive, David rebuked him and extended appropriate punishment for harming the Lord’s anointed.
David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?” Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord's anointed.’” 2 Samuel 1:14-16, emphasis added
David, nor anyone else, had the right to overthrow who the Lord intended to rule. Later on, we see a deeper aspect of David’s understanding. In 2 Samuel 16, we see David correctly carried the viewpoint that most of us refuse to acknowledge. His son had staged a coup for power and David was on the run to spare his life, again. A man from Saul’s clan threw rocks at David and his men and yelled curses at them. David’s response is one that we should all aspire to, yet few attain. When faced with indisputable cruelty, it is extremely challenging to accept that this may be something God also chose, but for the intended purpose of us turning to God for relief and comfort. David understood this.
When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.” Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 2 Samuel 16:6-13
Our feelings do not trump God’s decisions…
This can be an extremely hard lesson to accept. If you are living in a political climate wrought with upheavals, you may experience strong feelings about the current rulers. Our feelings about the leaders need to be put aside with respect to life. Rest assured, God has decided who will reign. Only He determines their time to rule and their time to die. It is fully within His wheelhouse to lead you personally and guide you as you deal with the hardships you experience, even if it means your very life is being threatened as a result of that leader. Thank goodness that God chooses our leaders and kings. We can rest easy with that understanding.
Do you have the same respect for the life of the leaders and rulers God placed over you on earth? Why or why not?
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Wise thoughts for an election season fraught with so much anxiety.