2 Samuel 4
Although Saul persecuted David for many years David was gracious in his dealings with him and 2 Samuel 4 showcases this. Considering David’s ill treatment we may wonder why. I believe in part it was because David respected the office of king that Saul had held and that respect was extended to Saul’s children.
David believed that God was able (and trustworthy) to deal with the former “dynasty”, so he would not be a part of executing judgement against them, even though he didn’t agree with all that they did.
This made me think about our nation’s president and other high profile leaders. I realize that we do not always agree with their policies and at times I am diametrically opposed to some of their choices and yet I firmly believe that they should be respected for the office they hold. God has allowed them to be placed in roles of power and leadership over us and because of that it is our duty to respect their offices and to pray diligently, regularly for them.
As Franklin Graham shared; “We know from Scripture that God can turn the hearts of kings (Proverbs 21:1). That means that we should be praying for God’s will to be done and for our leaders to seek God and listen to Him. We should pray that they would be surrounded by godly counsel and, most important, that our leadership would personally know God and the salvation found through faith in Jesus Christ alone.”
We, like David, can respect the positions our leaders hold, trusting that God will raise up who He will, in His time, through His wisdom so we can leave any judgement to Him.
Awake us Lord that we may fervently intercede for our nation’s leaders so that our citizens can live in peace and that your Gospel will have free reign. Amen
Pastor Sandy