SCRIPTURE
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.” 12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
MAIN IDEA
Look out for the justice of others, trust God’s justice for you.
GOING DEEPER
Questions from this weeks message.
- What insight, principle or observation from this week’s message did you find to be most helpful, eye opening or troubling? Please explain.
- What happens within you when you hear (or see) the innocent being hurt?
- Alvin mentioned a big reason the innocent are hurt, or a reason we sometimes hurt others (innocent or not) is because of advantage. We either want an advantage, or someone or a circumstance of life left us disadvantaged and we respond by hurting others. Do you think this is true? Explain. Why is it really important to watch ourselves (in the way we treat others) when we ourselves are hurt?
- We may not see ourselves as those who would hurt others, but in what ways have you hurt others because you wanted an advantage or you felt disadvantaged (angry) and hurt someone close to you that was innocent just because of you anger at life or someone else?
- Read 1 Samuel 26:8-12. David could have shed blood, the blood of Saul (who was not innocent) but chose not to. Why? Why is it really tricky and difficult to remain objective when seeking personal justice?
- Read Micah 6:8. How does this verse keep us from hurting the innocent? How does this challenge us in our personal lives of desiring justice for ourselves?
- Re-read 1 Samuel 26:8-12. How did David Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly, in this circumstance? How might that challenge you as you look to live this way in your personal interactions, even when you are left hurt by life and others?
- What would it look like for you to help others and fight for their justice, to be a voice for those who have no power or voice? Think of your life close (family, friends, workplace, school community) and far (county, province, country, world). How and in which ways are you challenged to get involved in helping others near and/or far?
SUMMARY POINTS
It’s God’s love of the ‘someone’ that drives His hate of some things
Everything God hates is actually driven by His love for us.
His love for people drives him to hate what will hurt those same people. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we are given a list of 7 things that are detestable to God, or 7 things that God hates. These are 7 things are really 7 sins that we commit that end up hurting the someone’s that God loves. And the someone’s may be ourselves and others.
From the list we started with the eyes, then the tongue and now the hands. Working our way from head to toe. When we use our bodies, or parts of our bodies for sin. Specifically to hurt others or ourselves, God hates that. In todays message we are looking at hands that shed innocent blood.
Why hurt the innocent? Why would someone take advantage of someone innocent, why hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it? What is at the heart of this, because if we don’t know the heart of it we may fall into it, even if it is in more subtle ways, so Why? A big reason is… Advantage
Its about getting the upper hand, about progress, about getting ahead. And often our “wins” are on the backs of someone else’s loss. And so we take advantage of someone, we push them down so that we can rise higher, they are the leverage we used to reach a new height.
Be careful when your hurt, that you don’t hurt people.
We are rarely just in our call for personal justice.
If we are not going to be those who have hands that shed innocent blood, or who take justice too far. If we are going to Act Justly, we need to learn this about ourselves, Especially when we are hurt, or have been hurt by life or by someone in life. Our justice may just not be all that just… as we saw with David, he knew this… he decided to acts justly, and not take measures into his own hands…
When it comes to not using our hands to shed innocent blood in your personal life, Act justly love mercy and walk humbly. (Micah 6:8)
Remember that you are most vulnerable to take out the innocent when you are hurt. Hurt people hurt people. Sometimes we are hurt when others take advantage of us, when we loose the advantage because of others, or maybe just a life situation, and we can lash out and hurt others…But when those moments come… Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly.
Look out for the justice of others, trust God’s justice for you.
Look out for others, trust God’s justice for you. We struggle to do personal justice well, so trust your personal justice to God as David did. But be on the lookout to help others…
We are to be a voice for the voiceless, we are supposed to stand up for the cause of those who don’t have power to stand. All through scripture God asks his people to help those who can’t help themselves, to look after the orphans and widows and the powerless.
Look out for the justice of others, trust God’s justice for you.
And to do this means…
Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly.
CALL TO ACTION
Ask yourself who is there in your circle right now that God may be calling on you to stand up for?
