Apr
23
Written by:
Route 365
4/23/2010 6:41 AM
written by Jessie Pepper
In this reading we have two tribesmen from an opposing group to David’s kingdom who assassinate Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, as some kind of offering to David. Their intention seems to be to take justice into their own hands by murdering an enemy of David, believing that this would please the king. They were wrong! David was furious that they killed an innocent man and imposed the death penalty on them. It is interesting that David would consider his once sworn enemy as innocent.
The reoccurring theme here is revenge and taking justice into your own hands. It’s amazing how easy it is to believe that you are doing the right thing to protect yourself. These two assassins thought they were in the right and that King David would put them on a pedestal. They were wrong! I struggled to relate to this but I know that there have been times on a simpler level that I’ve tried to take justice into my own hands. I think a common issue among a lot of us is road rage. When someone is not abiding by the traffic laws, how many times have you laid on your horn, or worse? For me this was a routine instance on my daily commute. On a more severe scale, how about the terrorism in our world today? Are they not taking justice into their own hands or revenge for some cultural differences? In concluding the reading for this week, the underlining moral of the story seems to be God’s will and love for us. A question I always try to ask in most situations is, “Would have Jesus acted in this manner?” The answer here is NO. Let human law enforcement enforce the law of the land and let God make all the other judgments. We are to love one another at all costs. It’s difficult to override our personal feelings, but it is important to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and for us to reflect God’s love to one another.
God Bless,
Jessie
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