A Corrupted Promise

Scripture: As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart. 1 Chronicles 15:29

Observation: There is complexity in the relationship between David and Michal. She was betrothed to him by Saul, then when Saul turned against David she was married to anther man, but when Saul died David reclaimed her and expelled the other husband. Michal loathes David - to the point here where she despises him because he is worshiping God - but David keeps her close.

I think this goes back to David's persistent honoring of Saul. Even when Saul was trying to kill David, David would not harm him since he was God's anointed king, and even killed those who dishonored Saul and his family. So Michal is both a promise from Saul (even though Saul himself revoked it) and a method to honor Saul's bloodline. Perhaps ... and I'm really just guessing here ... Michal is the manifestation of the idea that God appointed Saul, and just because Saul screwed that up it doesn't undo God's will and purpose. Thus, regardless the pain and discomfort, as God's anointed one 'good Saul's' promise cannot be undone by 'bad Saul'.

Application: People around me who "hate" God and would seek to persecute the church are like Saul. From a heavenly perspective, they have a 'good' side - the side for which God has delivered the promise of salvation if only they would believe in Jesus. And they have a 'bad' side - the side that rejects Jesus and God, and now lives in a world that is further and further removed from hope and love.

David was a man after God's own heart, and as such he respected God's decisions and promises even when the people through whom those promises were supposed to be passed had turned bad and rejected God's direction. Saul turned jealous and spiteful, trying to kill David and eventually rejecting faith in God for mediums and other forms of belief. Michal (though perhaps part victim of Saul's game-playing) has turned so much from God that the sight of worship angers her. Yet David keeps aligned to the promise.

Can I do that? Can we any of us see through people when they totally reject everything we believe - and do so with vitriolic anger and insult - and instead see in them the promise God has for them, and maybe even the promise God has for us that is supposed to be delivered through them?

It's hard.

Prayer: Lord, you know how my thoughts have wandered lately. Please bring my mind back to you. May I see others as your creations, and see them only through your lens. May I meditate on your word day and night, and not on my own thoughts, so I can love others as you would have me love them. Amen.