Give A Listen

Good Morning!

I wasn’t a particularly good student when I was in school. I managed to pass … but I was quite lazy. Mom always said I could do better than I did … and she was right. I blew off homework … missed assignments … played instead of working. But, because I am blessed with auditory memory skills, I was able to make passing grades. And I was happy doing that … now to my chagrin. I dishonored God by choosing not to make best use of the talents and skills He graciously provided me. Thankfully God is a loving Father who forgives and continues to bless.

Our Sunday Bible study has puts a large focus on submission and on living with one’s fellow man. Peter tells us

1 Peter 3:8-9 (New International Version, ©2011)
Suffering for Doing Good
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Then he adds this passage from the following Psalm (Peter begins in verse 12 and ends in verse 15):

Psalm 34:11-16 (New International Version, ©2011)
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

This is a Psalm written by David. The heading of this Psalm in the NIV reads: ‘Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.” Well, it takes a little research but what this is referring to is the incident described in the following passage:

1 Samuel 21:10-14 (New International Version, ©2011)
David at Gath

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me?

David was on the run from Saul … and he ended up in the court of Achish. But because his reputation preceded him, David was in jeopardy … and he knew it. So he pretended to be insane … and Achish threw him out of his court. David was recalling this when he wrote the Psalm we now refer to as number 34.

Verse 11 strikes a chord in me. David is calling his people to listen to his advice. His advice comes from having experienced the incident with Achish and others. Verses 12-15 are the advice he gives from his experience. Peter picked up on this when writing his general letter. So what is Peter and David saying to us 21st century Christians?

There are going to be times in our Christian experience where people are going to treat us badly. Some will come from nonbelievers … and some will come from fellow believers. We have a choice in our response to being treated badly. We can either strike back … or we can repay the treatment with blessing. David points out that our responsibility is to live a life that honors God … and leave the vengeance to Him. God can mete out appropriate and effective justice on our behalf. We just need to honor Him. So give a listen… and have a great weekend.

Agape’


Mr. Jim