Christian author, Dave Murrow, writes, “Men want to succeed at everything then do. Competence is very important to them. They never stop to ask for directions because doing that would call their competence as a navigator into question. Men are also competitive. They want to win in every situation” (Why Men Hate Going to Church).
When it comes to following Jesus, Paul tells us what winning looks like. His goal in ministry is—that we may present everyone mature in Christ (Col 1:28). Our life target is spiritual maturity. Today’s episode from David’s life helps us all lock on to a concrete picture of just what spiritual maturity looks like in everyday life!
Let’s take another look at David’s walk with God. His humanness draws us to him as one moment he fails God spectacularly but the very next time we see him, David is raising the bar on making righteous choices out of faithfulness to God. Observe I Samuel 24:2-7.
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. 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 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. And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 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.” 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.
Don’t you love how real the Bible is! This incident takes place in front of “Wildgoats’ Rocks.” King Saul slips into the cave to take a dump. Saul just goes far enough into the cave to be out of sight of his troops. But David and his guys, who are deeper in the cave, see his silhouette against the light. Let’s put ourselves in David’s shoes.
You have been a national hero. You’ve known the thrill of cheering crowds and women singing of your achievements in the street. Now, because of one man’s jealousy, you are a national fugitive, always on the run, always hiding, always fearing that one of your countrymen will betray you. Falsely accused of disloyalty to the king, you’ve been hiding in filthy caves and sleeping on hard ground. You are hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, always on the move, always fearing that one man who was trying to hunt you down like an animal. David can’t even remember a home-cooked meal, a soft bed, the arms of Mikal around him, or even a full night of sleep without the anxiety of being discovered.
This one man’s unjust pursuit of you has forced you to leave your dearest friends, your father’s household of brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews—and even forced you to leave your wife, Mikal. And you are lonely…so lonely. This one man, Saul, has made it his sole purpose to track you down and kill you. He is possessed by the single goal of putting you to death; he won’t stop until the day you die or he dies. All of this in spite of what God had promised you years ago—that you would replace this man as king. God promised that he will give this man’s kingdom into your hands.
Your heart skips a beat when you hear Saul’s troops outside the cave. Suddenly you see a dark figure at the mouth of the cave coming in. Your heart begins to pound. Perhaps he is an advance scout searching the cave making it certain you will be discovered. Being trapped, you and your troops would be slaughtered. Your eyes squint to make out who it is against the backlighting of the cave’s entrance. As the figure comes closer, you rub your eyes. You can’t believe what you see. It is THAT MAN, ALONE, UNGUARDED, and UNARMED. Joab, one of your men whispers, “Do you believe this? Yahweh is putting your enemy right in the palm of your hand?”
What a clearcut situation. Killing your enemy before he killed you was ingrained in the culture. God had told David that he was to be ruler in place of Saul. What better situation could Yahweh orchestrate to deliver his enemy, Saul, who was unjustly trying to murder David, into David’s hand? Even David’s men realized that God was handing David the chance to end Saul’s miserable life and insane pursuit of them all. Yet, when these compelling circumstances would have led almost any man to take Saul’s life, David would not do it. Why not? David was inner-directed by his conscience, not outer-directed by circumstances and the opinions of his men. Notice the reasoning process he rejected:
1. The end justifies the means. God had already anointed David to be king and Saul was getting in the way by trying to kill David. Here was the opportunity to get him out of the way so God’s will would be accomplished.
2. These circumstances are so perfectly designed, they have to be God saying to kill Saul before Saul kills him. While it is true that God is sovereign over circumstances, their perfect alignment can be deceptive. Sarai misread the circumstances of God’s long delay to cause her pregnancy. So she convinced Abram to obtain what God promised by following local customs and getting her handmaid, Hagar, pregnant. It is not overstating the case to say that the very Middle East conflict today between Hamas and Israel traces back to Ismael the father of Arabs being fathered by Abraham as well as Isaac the father of the Jews, and conflict between the two ever since.
Circumstances do play a role in discerning God’s leading. But that place is close to the bottom of things to consider. A better order is:
--after asking, “What is and is not my responsibility?”
--after asking, “Which biblical principles apply here, especially moral prohibitions?”
--after asking, what my wife’s thoughts are (after helping her see the whole picture.)
--after seeking counsel from others, not those who will just tell me what I want to hear, but give wise, biblical counsel.
--after using common sense to list the pros and cons.
3. He also rejected the peer pressure of his men. They urged him to do the obvious, take Saul’s life. But a godly man can never be a pragmatist, which is the philosophy that the end justifies the means.
Mark # 1 of Spiritual Maturity: Developing & Submitting to A Mature Conscience
David listened to his conscience. Clearly this is the reason David did not take Saul’s life. David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. It appears that David’s conscience had already led him not to slay Saul but to prove to Saul that he could have done so—by cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe. But David’s conscience was so sensitive that he even felt guilty about cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe.
A. Understanding the function of our conscience as Christians. The human conscience is the nervous system that keeps us from damaging ourselves, spiritually, just as our physical nervous system keeps us from damaging our bodies. Touching a hot stove burns our finger; the nervous system produces pain that causes us to stop. Leprosy destroys the nerves, which means a leper could put his hand in a pot of boiling water, feel no pain, and destroy his hand. Our conscience functions similarly. When we start to do something wrong—our conscience bothers us. It hurts, telling us not to keep going down that path or it will further damage our lives. So, our conscience is a warning system that is our friend.
B. Four kinds of consciences mentioned in the New Testament.
A good conscience. Acts 23:1—Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” Paul is not saying that he never sinned or violated his conscience but that when his conscience spoke, he responded promptly and properly. (Besides warning us, the conscience also convicts us of sin so that we confess our sins and seek forgiveness. We will examine this role of conscience after David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah.) Notice also that Paul linked his conscience to living “before God,” not to living before men.
A seared conscience. 1 Tim 4:1-2 speaks of hypocritical liars who seared their own consciences. Skin that is burned at first hurts, but if the pain is ignored the nerves are destroyed and hardened scar tissue replaces it. This word, seared, points to a profound truth about the human conscience. It is crucial to listen to it because if we violate it repeatedly, it becomes more insensitive, like scar tissue. That is why psychologists tell us that, sometimes, hardened criminals who have murdered others, no longer experience the sensation of guilt. In Titus 1, Paul uses another word to describe the way the human conscience is corrupted by sin—defiled. Both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Both a seared and defiled conscience no longer function clearly. This is another way of saying that sin causes us to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).
A weak conscience. In 1 Corinthians 8:9-12, Paul interestingly calls an overly active conscience a “weak” conscience, signifying his belief that our conscience has an important role of assuring us that it is clear, either because we have not sinned against another or because we have obtained forgiveness from them. Paul says it is a weak conscience that causes a person to feel guilty about eating bread, which was offered to idols. An overly sensitive conscience usually arises from legalism. It often results from making your application of Scripture equal to Scripture itself, e.g. since I home-school, anyone who puts their kids in public school is compromising.
Historically, legalism was part of fundamentalism, which unbiblically defined separation from evil as not drinking alcohol, not dancing, and not going to movies. The same level of legalism arose in the Corinthian church. So many members had come from backgrounds of sexual brokenness that even the married couples viewed sex as dirty. Paul knew that their weak conscience corrupted the truth that sex is God’s rich creation design to express the joining of hearts and lives by husband and wife, a pleasure that points to the eternal pleasure of us being united to our Bridegroom, Christ. Although Paul emphasized loving each other in the Body of Christ by respecting those with a weak conscience, his entire letter to the Galatians was written to show Christians the centrality of grace. Taking grace from our heads to our hearts is the only way to silence a faulty conscience, whose voice is amplified by Satan, the accuser of the brethren who keeps accusing those of us who are washed in Christ’s blood and clothed in his righteousness of guilt/
A clear conscience. Paul expresses numerous times that a clear conscience is foundational for our lives and work. In 1 Timothy 1, he writes, The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Later, in his charge to Timothy, he reminds him that he had been sent out to battle for the right armed only with your faith and a clear conscience. A clear conscience is maintained three ways: 1) by sharpening and correcting our conscience through the Word of God, 2) by getting an understanding of grace from our heads to our hearts, 3) by practicing what Jesus taught—to make peace with our brother before offering God our gift.
So, David provides us a powerful example of the maturity Jesus wants for us. He had developed a sharp and accurate conscience, which he listened to.
Mark # 2 of Spiritual Maturity: David Recognizes God’s Hatred of Rebellion.
The rock of biblical truth that anchored David so firmly that neither circumstances nor peers could push him away from it is articulated by David. “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.” This same countercultural respect for those in positions of authority is required of all Christ-followers. (Rom 13:1-5)
Be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
It is worth noting that Nero was ruling the Roman empire (54-86 AD) when Paul wrote this letter (57 AD). Nero’s persecution of Christians was horrific, lighting them on fire as human torches in his garden. Yet Paul was so aware of the evil of fallen man’s natural rebellion to authority that he makes this extraordinarily broad statement. There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. The evil of authority never justifies rebellion. I realize this text of Scripture was misapplied in Germany when some argued that the church must support Hitler and that over-support of government authority has led to some Christians accepting racism and a serious failure to oppose injustice that victimizes the poor and marginalized. Nevertheless, Paul said it for a reason.
One of the defining marks of an EVIL call for justice for the poor and marginalized is its support of LAWLESSNESS. The current ideology guiding the political left is Cultural Marxism. Christians today need to understand that there is a reason why Antifa and Black Lives Matter advocates burned down cities in 2020; it is the same reason that extremists are setting Tesla dealerships on fire. Cultural Marxism justifies violence against the evil class it has demonized because that’s what Marxism does. Mao’s Red Guard led in the slaughter of over 85 million farm and business owners, while the same Marxist evil led Pol Pot to slaughter nearly half of his population—those who held any kind of leadership position in Cambodia. In my view, Christians need to increase our compassion for immigrants, even for those who crossed the border illegally but are otherwise law-abiding. Nevertheless, Christians must not be associated with any anti-ICE actions. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is exactly the kind of legitimate authority about which Paul wrote in Romans 13. To undermine it is evil and it needs to be identified as evil.
Mark # 3 of Spiritual Maturity: David Leaves Balancing the Scales of Justice to God. As David follows Saul out of the cave, we see him demonstrate two other parts of spiritual maturity—he leaves retribution to God, but he still pleads his case for justice. Back in 1 Samuel 24:8-12.
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. And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 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.’ 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. May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
All Christians must forgive others. Forgiveness never means talking ourselves into thinking the offense against us wasn’t real. Forgiveness is NOT making an excuse for another’s sin. Our sense of right and wrong won’t let us do that. We know it was wrong. We know it was unjust. Rather the key to forgiveness is knowing that since God forgave us for sins against him that are much worse than any person’s sins committed against us—must forgive others. Our sins against others force us to relinquish the right to demand perfection from another.
Another part of forgiveness is leaving it to God to balance the scales of justice—to leave retribution to God, as David so clearly did. Nevertheless, this trust in God to bring about justice does not mean passively accepting the status quo. David was being treated unjustly. He forgave Saul and trusted God to bring retribution instead of taking justice into his own hands. But he did make a passionate appeal to Saul. Can you hear his heart. 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.
David challenges us to raise our bar of spiritual maturity. It is shaping our conscience by the Word of God and training ourselves to listen to it. It is grasping the inherent evil of the human heart, which gravitates towards rebellion against authority and choosing submission to God’s ordained structures of authority. It is recognizing that forgiveness does not mean saying that an evil committed against us was not evil. But it is leaving it to God to balance the scales of justice.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- How can you better follow David’s example of listening to a biblically trained conscience even in the face of overpowering circumstances and peer pressure?
- If you think about it, Satan’s revolt and Adam and Eve’s sin were a defiance of God’s authority. How can Christians oppose injustice by those in authority but guard against movements that play upon sinful envy or rebellion against authority?
- What do David’s words to Saul teach you about how to forgive one who is unjustly harming us?
