He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the

Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these

words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul

left the cave and went his way. (1 Samuel 24:6-7)

When I arrived on the UK campus in1994 there were several things I wasn’t prepared for: the

workload of college classes, competing in the Southeastern Conference, and… the severity and

consistency at which the upperclassmen pranked the freshmen in the Athletic Dorm. Garbage

cans were filled with water and tilted up against the doors of unsuspecting teammates. Furniture

was stacked from floor to ceiling in front of hallways, making it impossible to make it to class.

The list of cruel-hearted scheming was endless.

So instead of working on Math 123 homework or writing my English 101 papers, I would

daydream of ways to seek revenge. One exceptionally brilliant plan involved an inflated balloon

full of shaving cream, some fishing line in the ceiling and some strategically placed thumb tacks.

However, I never followed through on any of my revengeful schemes on account of fear. Not a

fear of my teammates, but a fear of the person who was in authority over me and my

teammates. Namely, Coach Bill Curry. As much as I would have loved to have seen a balloon

full of thick, foamy Barbasol explode and cover some of those pranksters’ faces, I cared too

much about my personal relationship with our head coach and my place on his team.

Here in 1st Samuel, David finds himself caught between two desires. On one hand, David

desires to repay Saul for his cruelty and claim the Kingship that God has promised him. This

desire is made clear by the piece of cloth that David cunningly removes from Saul’s robe in the

cave in verse 4. However, there is another desire which ultimately wins the day in David’s heart.

This is the desire to remain in loving submission to the One who has authority over both David

and Saul. This moment is best captured in the words of the Apostle Paul:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It

is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)



When you are wounded, insulted or criticized, can you trust that revenge belongs to the Lord?

What does your response to unkind behavior reflect about your submission to God and His

authority over your life?

By Jimmy Carter