Faithfulness is a Provocation to the Anxious

Synopsis     1Sam 19:8-18     10/6/2018

David had become the leading general in Saul’s army. As additional wars broke out against the Philistines, David was increasingly successful. So much so, that the Philistines began fleeing whenever David and his forces would engage.

David’s success tormented Saul. So, once again the evil spirit came upon him. And once again, the dutiful David played the harp to assuage Saul’s torment. But Saul had determined that his only real hope for relief from his anxiety was to kill David.

Saul attempted to kill David with a spear as David played his harp. He then plotted to kill David with the help of his servants. But Michal found out about the plot. So she helped David escape by lowering him from a window out of their house. She also staged a household idol in David’s bed. And then she reported that he was sick. This gave David time to make good his escape.

Saul questioned Michal crossly. But David was able to flee. And so, he went to get counsel and protection from Samuel.

The Irony of David’s Faithfulness

The irony of David’s faithfulness is Saul’s revulsion and hatred for him. If David had been devious or faithless, it would have been easier for Saul to deal with him. But David’s goodness was actually a goad that provoked Saul to objectify David. And once Saul objectified him, he began to hate him.

David’s circumstances were such that he couldn’t be anything but faithful. He had learned to trust God intuitively. He had a relationship with God that he would not jeopardize for anything. But this meant that David had to come to terms with the fact that the more faithful he was, the more trouble he found.

Faithfulness Is A Provocation To The Anxious

When I encounter a faithful person, I celebrate the good I see in them. I celebrate what God is doing through them.

That is, of course, unless their faithfulness somehow highlights my own failures. Then, all of the sudden, I become aware that I have made poor choices. Not only that, but I come to the awareness that I didn’t have to make those poor choices.

In a room full of people who have all committed the same moral failure, there is nothing exceptional about my moral failure. By definition, it’s common to everyone in the room. Still, it is a failure of the natural moral law. So, though I remain sub-consciously aware of the failure, I have the ability to repress my conscious awareness of the guilt feelings. I justify my own moral failures by identifying the moral failures of others.

But let a faithful man enter the room and things change. The presence of a person who has been tempted but not succumbed to my moral failure forces a reaction. I either have to acknowledge my guilt and deal with my shame. Or, I have to get away from the person whose presence pricks my conscience. No one can remain in that tension indefinitely.

So I tell myself, “Embrace this righteousness. Confess your sin and reconcile with God and man.” Because, in the end, there is no getting away forever. There is no escaping an encounter with Jesus Christ.

“but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,” Eph 5:13