Purity of Heart

May 25

I Samuel 24-25

Psalm 65:9-13

Proverbs 14:17-19

John 15

Purity of Heart

“Then the men of David said to him, ‘Behold, this is the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good in your eyes.’  Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.  And it happened afterward that David’s heart struck him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.  So he said to his men, ‘Far be it from me because of Yahweh that I should do this thing to my lord, the anointed of Yahweh, to send forth my hand against him, since he is the anointed of Yahweh.’  And David tore his men to pieces with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul.  And Saul arose, left the cave and went on his way.”  I Samuel 24:4-7 LSB

This is a beautiful story depicting the purity of David’s heart and his complete trust in God.  Saul was pursuing him to kill him.  He came into a cave where David and his men were hiding to use the bathroom.  In this vulnerable position, David and his men could easily have killed him and their season of running and hiding would have been over.  His men assumed that God had handed Saul over to him to kill.  But David saw the situation differently.  Instead of taking matters into his own hands, he chose to let Saul live.  No one would have blamed him if he had killed Saul.  It would have been considered self-defense.  If Saul had found him, he certainly would have tried to kill David.  David was a warrior and had killed many men so he wasn’t opposed to killing.  David didn’t kill Saul because he trusted God to take care of his enemy.  He knew that God had anointed Saul as king and at that time, Saul was still serving as king.  David respected God and His authority and he was not willing to take the life of one God had anointed.  He even felt guilty that he had cut off the edge of his robe. 

We aren’t told if God had indeed delivered Saul into David’s hand or if God would have been upset with David if he had killed him.  But it is safe to assume that God was pleased with David because he chose to trust God instead of killing Saul.  A little over a year later, Saul was killed by the Philistines and David became king.  I Samuel 14:13 describes David as “a man after God’s own heart.”  David was not perfect.  We see later in his life that he committed adultery and murder.  The psalms he wrote give us a peak into his heart.  He was human and experienced fear, pride, anger, jealousy, lust, and weakness just like the rest of us.  So what does it mean that he was a man after God’s own heart?  Despite his weaknesses and his failings, God knew that David loved the Lord, trusted Him, and desired to please Him more than anything else.  It wasn’t as much about David’s behavior as it was about his heart.   God is always pleased when we do the right thing.  Obviously, He wants us to choose good over evil, but in this situation I’m not sure there is an obvious right or wrong.  What pleased God was that David considered his options and decided that it was more important to do the thing that he thought would honor God than to get rid of his enemy and make his life more comfortable.  It isn’t always about right and wrong, sometimes it is about choosing to trust and honor God and demonstrate our faith in His provision.