A Contrast of Character!

In Today's passage we have multiple Characters playing in the scene.  I'd like to briefly look at the Character of some of them.

First I'd like to look at Doeg the Edomite.  Genesis 36 tells us plainly that Esau was Edom.  Jacob have I love and Esau have I hated.  God didn't arbitrarily choose to hate Esau, but He rejected Esaus after he sold his birthright, the right to be the family priest.  Many Calvinists today would say that Esau is proof that God chooses some people to damnation.  However that is not at all the character of our loving Father.  He is not willing that any should perish, but that all (all still means all, not all of the elect and by definition cannot me all of anyone or else it is not all)  should come to repentance.  Doeg was of a lineage of people who hated God, and there are clearly those today who still hate God and will seek any opportunity to do wrong to God's people.  They still need to see the love of Christ in us. And as the songwriter says, the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still and on Earth is not His equal, durst ask who that may be, Christ Jesus it is He, and He must win the battle.  Doeg sought every opportunity to do evil, but in Psalm 52 we find David's response is to let God take care of it.  We have no record of David ever returning his evil upon the priests with evil.  Let's make sure we are doing the same, not rewarding evil with evil but with good.

Now let's look at Jonathan:  Jonathan means Jehovah has given.  Jonathan a man willing to give up his own inheritance to do what's right.  Jonathan a man who's heart was knit together with the man after God's own heart.  Jonathan would seek to disobey the orders of the king and do right instead of evil because he understood the will of God and would always seek to obey.  Jonathan is indeed the kind of friend everyone wants, therefore he is the kind of friend everyone should be.  What  is it you are holding onto and don't want to give to God!  Be like Jonathan, give in to His will and allow Him to determine what's best and follow after that.

Next, let's look at King Saul.  King Saul was so puffed up with pride and arrogance he would have the kingdom stripped from him.  Saul would later try to kill David and even come to the point of seeking a witch in Endor (no Ewoks involved for you Star Wars fans!) Saul's Character was such that he would do whatever to keep what he wanted, and he gave no heed to the will of God.  He would seek hard and fast and even have the priests, God's servants killed for helping David.  Saul had been told by Samuel that God had taken the kingdom from him, yet he would do whatever it took to hold on to it.  His arrogance was so great that he thought he could keep the will of God from happening.  A sad ending to a great and humble start.

Finally, let's look at David.  David had every opportunity to do wrong, but he would not touch the Lord's annointed.  He was the man after God's own heart.  David had already been anointed king by Samuel, if he killed Saul, would it have really mattered?  Yes of course it would've.  David knew a little something of the scriptures.  He would later write   Ps 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
David knew God and because He knew God he knew it was not proper to lay hands on God's anointed.  We had better be careful how we handle God's people.  Today in a day or rebellion, we seek to do whatever makes us look good, but we'd better stop and think first and make sure we are walking close to the Lord and not seeking to do harm to his people.