“The LORD rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you (Saul) into my (David’s) hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.” (I Samuel 26:23-24, NIV)
David had many good reasons — and opportunities — to reward Saul for all of the evil that Saul had done to him, but David had no excuse to avenge himself.
Being a faithful disciple of Jesus means forgoing the exercise of our human “rights” in order to grasp divine peace.
David reminds us that the grace we extend to others is multiplied and returned to us, not by the recipient (it is a bridge too far for some people to return kindness and mercy in any measure); but by the Lord God!
While our neighbors may be the beneficiaries of our restraint, it is the Lord God who sees all; and “rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness.” Always live for the audience of One! – Luther
