Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 12:16-17 (English Standard Version)

16 And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17 David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.”

King David is addressing a group of persons who had come to him in a time of trouble. There are two things that stick with me in David’s response.

First, “If.” David isn’t judging or concluding on the intentions of these persons. He is letting them decide on that. And David knows that God knows their intentions.

Second, it is all about God. If they have bad intentions, God will take care of them. David does not give himself to power to punish.

In this occasion, David put God first. David acknowledged the power of God to judge and mete. There were other occasions when David didn’t do so well.

Let us all note that success comes from allowing God to be God and me to be much less than God.