Having God's Heart Is Not Easy

The Turning Point

After David killed Goliath, Saul immediately brought him into his royal court. According to 1 Samuel 18:2, Saul would not allow David to return to his home—that is how much David meant to him. While their relationship started well, it did not take long before it turned sour. As David rose through the ranks and became increasingly successful in military campaigns, people began to compose songs about him. The songs proclaimed that David had slain his tens of thousands while Saul had slain his thousands. Saul heard these songs and immediately became jealous. His jealousy transformed the relationship between them into something far less than hospitable.

Saul tried to kill David repeatedly. He sent him on military missions hoping he would be killed in battle, assignments where the odds were stacked against him with opposing armies far too large. Yet David returned successfully from every campaign. Eventually Saul ended the war and David became a fugitive, fleeing while Saul pursued him relentlessly. From chapter 21 through chapter 24, we see Saul’s pursuit intensify as he called upon his army to bring David down. At the end of 1 Samuel 23, God had to intervene. There was a moment when Saul and David were literally side by side, separated only by a small mountain range. Saul knew exactly where David was and had the power to take care of him—until word came that the Philistines had attacked an outer city. Saul had to leave to defend that city.

The Cave and the Moment of Truth

We come now to 1 Samuel 24. David had 600 men with him, men loyal to him. Saul had 3,000 elite soldiers—chosen men, the top soldiers in the Israelite army. These were not men who would flee from battle. They were ready to do battle against David and his men. The odds were five to one against David.

David and his men were hiding in a cave when Saul entered that very same cave to use the bathroom. The scene was meant to show us vulnerability and perhaps a bit of humor—here is the king, forced to attend to his basic needs. He took off his robe to do his business, and David and his men could see exactly who it was. His men told David, “God has set this up for you. This is God’s hand. This is prime time. It’s time for you now.”

Think for a moment how easy it would have been for David to act. Six hundred men were telling him that God had set this up. They had been on the run for two years. They were tired. They wanted to see their families. This was the time. There was something wrestling within David, a possibility he had to grapple with. We do not know all the things that were happening in his mind, but he persuaded himself not to kill Saul. Instead, he went to get the royal robe and cut off a corner of it, then retrieved it back to his men.

He told them, “I’ve got this piece of cloth in my hand. We’re not going to hurt him. We’re not going to hurt him.” This says something about David’s ability to lead these 600 men, to keep them from overpowering him and killing Saul. David really respected Saul, even as an individual, even in this moment.

The Battle Between Revenge and Justice

The men were calling for revenge. In verse 4, they said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.” Look at verse 12, where David speaks to Saul: “May the Lord judge between you and me and may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me.” That is revenge. The men were saying to David, this is the time to get revenge, to make it right, to make Saul pay.

But something happened in David. The text tells us in verse 5, “After he cut off the corner of Saul’s robe, David was conscience stricken.” I appreciate that translation. It took me a while to understand what it meant. Here is what it means: David had a wounded heart. I prefer that translation, wounded heart, because it captures what was happening. David was in a dilemma. Do I take care of Saul and get my revenge? After all, this is the man who has been trying to kill me for the last two years. Or do I wait? Do I wait for God to do something?

He tried to play both sides. He cut the corner of that robe and then came back, saying, “Oh, that hurts my heart. That hurts my heart.” Do you understand how difficult this would have been for David? How easy it would have been for him to kill Saul? No one would have blamed him. And do you see how tender this heart is? Even in cutting the edge of the robe, it is hard. It wounds him. He thinks, I should not have done that. I should not have done that.

He quotes a proverb in verse 13: “As the old saying goes, from the evil actions of evil people will the judgments come. But I will not lift my hand against you.” He is saying, here is what the proverb teaches: evil comes from evil. That is not where my heart is. I will trust God to do this.

Can we admit, at least right now, that it is difficult at best not to seek revenge when we have been hurt? Can we acknowledge that as human beings, there is a part of us that wants revenge when we have been hurt? I want you to understand there is a difference between seeking revenge and seeking justice. Revenge is from a heart that seeks for another person to hurt in exchange for your own hurt. Justice is what God calls for, when we try to see that wrongs are righted. But here is the problem: justice does not always settle our heart.

In Romans 12, Paul writes these straight words: “Do not seek revenge. Allow the Lord to take care of that.” But then he says the hard part: “Instead, treat others kindly.” That is the hard part. David struggles with this. He tries to get it both ways, and then his heart hurts. He comes out to Saul. Look at verse 8: “Saul left the cave and went his way. David came out after him and called out to Saul. My Lord the King, when Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.”

There it is. The heart of David hurts, and he came out of the cave and threw his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “I am not your enemy. You want to treat me like an enemy, but I am not your enemy. I want you to know that I am not after you. I will not hurt you. This is hard. This is absolutely hard.”

The Call to Choose God’s Heart

We cry out for justice. Justice and revenge are two different things. When we seek revenge, our heart says, “I want you to hurt.” When we seek justice, we say, “I want what is right.” The hard part is that sometimes kindness takes a while to develop. But the real emotions of humanity are seen in the life of David. Even David struggles. It is human beings who struggle. It does not change what we are called to. Seek justice, yes. Seek revenge, no. They are not the same.

What is your heart when the moment comes for you? When someone has hurt you, what is your heart doing? Is there within you this desire to see somebody else hurt because you have been hurt? The hard part is to move away from that. We live in a day and time where we are constantly being told we cannot let people walk all over us. But I ask you, did you pay attention to Jesus? Did he not let people walk on him? Sure, he did. But he also stood up for what was right—not with revenge, but with justice. What is the difference? The heart.

When Jesus came out of the tomb, did he seek to harm anyone? No. What did he do? The Bible tells us that God became just and justifier. When he came out of the tomb, he brought new life, and he calls on us to be like him. David went into a cave to hide from being killed. The man who tried to kill him was an easy target. David said, “I am not going to do this out of revenge. I will let God handle this.” This is hard. This is not easy.

In 2015, Dylan Roof went into a church building and killed nine people. At his sentencing, those connected to those nine people were given an opportunity to speak. A woman named Nadine Collier spoke. Nadine’s mother, who was seventy years old at the time, was murdered. This is what Nadine said at Dylan Roof’s sentencing: “You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you and have mercy on your soul.” No revenge there. Justice? Yes. But no revenge.

Jesus tells us that those who follow him will not seek revenge. We want to have the heart of Jesus. When we are hurt, our first reaction is to hurt in return. Jesus says, that is not the way my people think. From the glories of heaven, Jesus came to this earth to be a servant among us, to teach us what it looks like to lead a life without revenge. When the soldiers struck Jesus during his trial with Pilate, what did Jesus say? He asked why they struck him—a question of justice. But no revenge. The ones who nailed him to the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” No revenge. But in that opportunity, justice for us was served.

These are difficult concepts. These are difficult ways of living. But God calls us to have a heart like David. Remember, God said he was going to look for a man who had his heart. David is the man. We know he is going to mess up. But he is the man with God’s heart. And to that point, what are we here for? To make God look good. We cannot do that seeking revenge. We cannot make God look good and hurt other people. We need a heart that seeks what is good for others, even those who hurt us.

Perhaps there is someone today who would like to respond. You know your heart. Between you and God, you know exactly where your heart is. If it is tender or if there is a part that still holds a grudge, a desire to see someone else hurt. Maybe you are not at the point of being able to be kind to other people. Maybe there are no kind words yet, no smile, no prayer for the person who has hurt you. Give it time. Keep seeking the heart of God and give it time. But we want to have the heart that God has—a heart that seeks what is good for others, even those who hurt us.

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