Have you ever been promised something from someone you looked up to only to have them forget or go back on what they said? Did your parents ever promise you ice cream if you behaved well only to later say you do not have time? Have you ever had a boss promise to talk about a raise or say they will give one only to never bring it up again? All of these are so frustrating.
When David kills Goliath he is promised the King’s daughter as a bride. After the battle, David is made commander in chief running the whole Israelite army. He wins every battle he is in and is more successful than any of the generals. Israel makes a song… Saul kills by the thousands and David by the tens of thousands. If you were king how would you feel about David… One word… Jealous!!! Saul gets jealous of David and marries his daughter (promised to David) to another man. Not only that decides he wants David dead so he throws a spear at David to kill him but misses. Saul demotes David from leading the whole army to just a 1,000 men. Israel loves him even more. Saul now hates David even more so he devises a plan to kill David. Tell David he can marry the younger daughter Michal and for a brideprice to kill 100 Philistines and cut off their foreskins. David has already killed Goliath and led Israel to victory but to ask David to go into enemy territory and kill 100 men. Not to mention David could easily say this is unfair, I already risked my life as a brideprice. David answers different.
1 Samuel 18:26 David was delighted to accept the offer. Before the time limit expired, 27 he and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. Then David fulfilled the king’s requirement by presenting all their foreskins to him.
I am not sure delighted would be the word use to describe our feelings in David’s situation. Maybe you are more redeemed than me, but I would feel cheated and taken advantage of. David responded different than reason would tell us, and because David was different he was able to make a difference.
28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and how much his daughter Michal loved him, 29 Saul became even more afraid of him, and he remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life.
30 Every time the commanders of the Philistines attacked, David was more successful against them than all the rest of Saul’s officers. So David’s name became very famous.
We all like the words like the Lord was with David, successful, famous but do we like delighting in unfair treatment and being a kings enemy for the rest of his life? In order to make a difference we have to be different. How do you respond to unfair treatment or unmet promises? How do you need to respond different in order to make a difference?
Recklessly, obsessively following Jesus
Brandon Sereg
