Think About Who Is the Better Judge

It’s really easy for us to make judgments about situations and the people involved in them.  We may be smart and we may be wise.  Yet in reality we need to think about who might really be the better judge.  David had to remind Saul about that while they were dealing with their accidental meeting in the cave.  Read I Samuel 24: 11-15.

11 See, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Look and recognize that there is no evil or rebellion in me. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.  12 “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. 13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people. ‘ My hand will never be against you. 14 Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the LORD be judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”

King Saul had been so busy being jealous of David and chasing him through the countryside that he lost focus of who David was in character.  He began judging David incorrectly.  He assumed he was after his throne.  He assumed David was out to kill him.  Saul was a good man in the beginning of his life, but he walked away from the Lord and didn’t let the Lord guide his thinking or actions any more.  He no longer stopped and thought.  He no longer was sensitive in his thinking to what the Lord’s Will was.  He no longer was a good judge of people or situations.  His thinking was all messed up without God in his life.  David used that moment to try and remind Saul that he was not a good judge of him and that only God would judge what David had done or not done rightly.  Only God can judge whether Saul or David was honest and good. 

So next time you start to judge someone or a situation, stop and think, be sensitive to the Lord and use common sense and remember that you are not the best judge.  You are just human.  You cannot see inside another person’s heart.  Only God can see the motive of the person.  Only God will know what is truly going on in that person’s life.  Don’t assume like King Saul and take matters in your own hands.

In the Habit of Praising

As human beings we have so many habits.  Most of the habits are not good.  We are in the habit of cussing, when we are mad.  We are in the habit of shopping, when we are depressed.  We are in the habit of going to church, when it is Easter, but not the rest of the year.  We are in the habit of reading a good book before bed, but not the habit of reading the Bible.  We are in the habit of sharing the latest juicy bit of information about someone to our friends, but not about sharing about Jesus.  We are in the habit of worrying, complaining and stressing about our trials and tribulations, but not in the habit of praising God for all the many things He does for us.  The habit of praising God is one great habit that David had.  When everything was looking so dismal in his life, he turned to God.  Even when he was on the run in the wilderness from King Saul, David took time to realize that no matter what was going on, God still was his almighty God.  Read these words he wrote in Psalm 63 verses 3 through 5 -

“3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.”

His life wasn’t very good at this point and yet he praised God.  He said he was satisfied with whatever God allowed.  He even praised God “joyfully”.  He didn’t let the threat of death, lack of a home, or wilderness location control his view of God.  He understood that God still loved him and would take care of things His way.

It is a hard concept to grasp, but when God allows the bad times to come in to our lives it is for our best.  This concept should be an encouragement to us. We should therefore praise God even for those bad times and circumstances.  Are you in the habit of praising God?