Repaying Evil with Good

PRAY OVER THIS

So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

(1 Samuel 24:16)

 

PONDER THIS

Notice how Saul was softened by David’s words. Before, he’d come with blood in his eye and with murder in his heart but now he said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” and he began to weep. This happened because David had done what the New Testament says—we’re to do good for evil.

David was far ahead of his time. David did good to his enemies. He followed what would be written in Romans 12:19-20: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’” Saul effectively responded with, “I’ve never seen anything like this. You’re supposed to kill your enemies.” But David promised Saul that he would protect Saul’s loved ones (See Romans 12:20-21.). Through the Spirit of the Lord, David never won a greater victory than he did that day in the cave—a victory over self, over Saul, and over sin.

What makes it hard to show goodness to those who do evil in our lives?

Who is God calling you to respond to in this way today?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of the evil you have done against God and dwell on the way He has done good to you in Christ. Ask Him to lead you to do the same with others who have done evil in your life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seek Your City’s Good

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. . . . But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4–5, 7)

If that was true for God’s exiles in Babylon, it would seem to be even more true for Christian exiles in this very “Babylon-like” world. What, then, shall we do?

We should do the ordinary things that need to be done: build houses; live in them; plant gardens. This does not contaminate you if you do it all for the real King and not just for eye service as men-pleasers.

Seek the welfare of the place where God has sent you. Think of yourself as sent there by God for his glory. Because you are.

Pray to the Lord on behalf of your city. Ask for great and good things to happen for the city. Ask that they happen by God’s power and for his glory. Never lose sight of the ultimate good that the city needs a thousand times more than it needs material prosperity. Christians care about all suffering — especially eternal suffering. That’s the greatest danger every city faces.

But neither God nor his people are indifferent to the health and safety and prosperity and freedom of the city. We all want these things, and Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In fact, the Lord says in Jeremiah that loving your city is a way of loving yourself: “In its welfare you will find your welfare.”

This does not mean we give up our exile orientation. Peter says that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). In fact, we will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from “the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).

So, let’s live — let’s do so much good (1 Peter 2:12) — that the natives will want to meet our King.

John Piper