Enemies

It would have been the kind of story old soldiers love to tell. They must’ve imagined the telling even as the story unfolded. Hidden in a cave, outmanned and out of steam, the army rested out of sight. Then they heard the noise, maybe even a conversation. It was the leader of the enemy. And there he stood, in the cave with them. No one dared speak. No one dared breathe. He couldn’t see them, with the sun at his back and the deep cloak of darkness shrouding them.

Then he put down his weapon and took off his clothes. He was in the cave, where he was sure he was safe. The soldiers wanted to scream. They wanted to attack. “It must be a God thing”, they thought, “him in here with us, unaccompanied and unarmed.” Can you imagine what they imagined? Maybe the thought of holding up Saul’s head on a pike, or making him scream from torture? Victory had been handed to them. “Do it David. He’s ours, then you become king, and we get to go home to tell the story. Do it!”

But David was a man after God’s own heart. And he already knew about the breathtaking wonder of fighting God’s way. He had a Philistine giant’s sword to remind him. God would give him the kingdom, and he would reign as God’s chosen, but it would be on God’s terms and timing. God had promised. This wasn’t it, and he knew it. He cut a piece of the robe from the disrobed king and watched him leave the open trap. And then David confessed.

David called to Saul. The kingdom was the Lord’s, and Saul was the Lord’s anointed. David had been brash and disrespectful even as he had shown mercy. He would not forsake The Lord. David, the humble, soon-to-be ruler, showed honor to the dishonorable king.

And that’s our story to tell. We have been spared by the Son of David. When we deserved death, life was given. When we deserved condemnation, forgiveness came. When we were enemies of God Almighty, Almighty God sent His son to bear the enemies’ torture. God has won our unimaginable victory in a breathtaking way.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." —Romans 5:6-11