2 Samuel 12:7-10 Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord
God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from
Saul’s power. I gave your master’s house
to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel
and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing
what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword
and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. Because of that, because you despised me and
took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your
own house.”
God loved David, the one God had chosen as his anointed
leader and yet David disappointed God. And if we read the rest of the story we
see that David had to face the consequences of his actions. Yet David continued on as a leader and a
person who was in God’s favor. I’ve
always found this story inspiring for those who have really messed up but turn
their life around. In our lives there
will be people who disappoint us, too.
Maybe it’s infidelity, maybe they act out of the character that we
expect them to have. They don’t meet our
expectations. They let us and others down.
What should we do? I guess we
should seek to find compassion for them, just as God found compassion for
David. Most people suffer consequences
when they act out – with some exceptions, we don’t have to be the ones to
impose those consequences. We can just
pray the best for them, even if at times the best might be having to learn some
hard lessons.
Heavenly
God, when others disappoint us help us to see the big picture, to look past the
present circumstances towards long term results. Help us to find forgiving, compassionate
hearts and to hope for redemption and salvation for all sinners, not just for
our own failings. We ask in the name of
the One who died to make that redemption possible. Amen.
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