Who's In Charge Here? A Series on Authority
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
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My Prayer Today
Dear Lord, I come to you this day and want to thank you for the many blessings in my life. Sometimes I am guilty at looking at just the problems that I have, and I forget to thank you for all that you have given me. I ask you today that you would give me a grateful and thankful heart. Lord I also ask that you would help me to forgive, even my parent(s) in the areas that they have made mistakes. I want to have the heart of David that overlooks certain failures and acknowledges the authority of others -- especially my parents. I want to live how you want me to live. Lord, I need your help in this. Jesus, you alone are my strength. I depend upon you this day. In your name. Amen.
Bible Verses
1 Samuel 26:8-11
"God has surely handed your enemy (Saul) over to you at this time! Abishai whispered to David. 'Let me thrust that spear through him. I'll pin him to the ground, and I won't need to strike twice!' 'No!' David said, 'Don't kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord's anointed one? Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die in battle or of old age. But the Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But I'll tell you what -- we'll take his spear and his jug of water and then get out of here!'"
Reflecting on God's Word
Because Saul was anointed king, did he have authority over David?
Did David have the chance to kill King Saul? If Saul was trying to kill David, wouldn't this be just?
Why did David decide not to kill Saul?
A Deeper Exploration of God's Word
Was Saul considered a good king, or a disobedient king (see 1 Samuel 13:13-14)?
Despite Saul's poor behavior as leader, did David respect his role and his authority as king? Why?
How do we take David's example and apply it to honoring parents when parents have failed in their roles?
Understanding God's Purpose for Us
Did God give you any choice in the parents you have? Why?
If David respected the role and authority of King Saul even though Saul wasn't a great king, is it possible that God is calling us to respect the role and authority of our parents, despite their apparent failures? How can this happen?
What is your attitude toward your parents?
Applying God's Word to Our Lives
If your father or mother failed in a particular area of parenting, how can you honor them despite their failure in that issue?
What has God taught you through your parents in both their success' and failures?
Thoughts
For the last couple of days we have been looking at Ephesians 6:1-4 on the responsibilities that children have to both "obey" and "honor" their parents. For those of us who have had positive role models in our parents, this has not been as difficult of a command. But for those of us in whom our parents made some bad mistakes, and even failed at certain aspects of parenting – how do we honor parents who have acted dishonorably? One of the greatest examples of honoring the dishonorable is the case of David and King Saul in the book of 1 Samuel. King Saul was a man anointed as the first king of Israel, but he disobeyed the Lord, had an anger problem, a jealousy problem, consulted witches who were evil, and purposed to kill David. He was not a great success in his position of authority. Despite this truth, David respected and honored Saul as the Lord's anointed. Simply put, David respected the position of Saul as being ordained of God – though Saul was not very godly. David so respected Saul's position of authority, that he blessed Saul's grandchildren, long after Saul had died. David honored Saul when Saul was dishonorable.
As we have been talking about honoring parents, I believe the principle that we have learned through David's example can apply to those of us today. For some of us, we do not honor our parents because we have a list in our minds of mistakes they have made. But David's example teaches us to respect those in authority, including parents, as they have been ordained by God for us – as we had no decision in whom our parents are. So if we cannot fully respect them for their character, we can respect them as having been put in a position over us and the role they had – as being something that God set in place. It is not that God wanted us to endure our parents painful mistakes, but that he allowed those things to teach us to honor those who are not worthy of honor. Let us think back to David, did God honor him by saying that "He is a man after my own heart" – yet David still failed morally through adultery with Bathsheba. Could it me that the mercy and honor that David placed on an undeserving Saul, was some how reciprocated back to him? I believe one of the major reasons why God blessed David is because David honored those in authority – and therefore he received authority. We will be blessed if we do the same.