Judges Like David

David's back!

David Lopez leads the Ocheltree Group in a great lesson and discussion

Thank you, David Lopez, for leading the Ocheltree Group the last two Sundays, as we participate in a church-wide study on "The Life of David". Last week, we studied the story of David and Goliath. Our teacher, David (Lopez) reminded us that our "giants" can start out small and grow into a proportion that is "bigger than life". This week, we studied the story of David's taking King Saul by surprise, of his having the opportunity to kill Saul, but choosing not to take justice into his own hands. The story, taken from 1 Samuel 23:15-24:22, has King Saul in a very compromised position when David and his men "happen" upon him. David is able to use his military stealth to sneak up upon his enemy and actually snip a piece of his garment, but he does not take the opportunity to kill Saul. By this point, Saul had been relentlessly hunting David, in order to kill him, through treacherous wilderness rocks and caves, for quite some time.  Why did David spare the life of his enemy? Why did he leave that sort of judgment to God? David's own men were encouraging him to kill his enemy while he had the chance. They interpreted it as "divine permission" to kill when Saul stumbled into the cave where David and his men were in hiding.

"How do you deal with it when someone is whispering in your ear to do what goes against your heart?" David Lopez asked the group. 

Pam Sholty, our resident author, responded, "David honored God's anointing of Saul."

Grace Pendleton hit on the power of encouragement: "Jonathan encouraged David beforehand, and those words were in David's mind."

Casey Sue observed, in a most masculine fashion, that he doesn't like it when other people tell him what to do. To which, David Jessie, our class clown, responded, "Could you cut it short there, Casey?"

David Lopez concluded with a personal challenge from the lives of both Davids, the one in the Bible and the one standing in our own midst:

Anyone who has talked to David Lopez for more than about five minutes knows that he is utterly smitten with his grandbaby, Delilah, or Lala. She and her mommy have been living with David and Kimi for some months now, and it has brought untold joy to David's heart. But, as happens in families, Baby Lala and her mommy have found a new place to live and will be moving soon. David is heartbroken, but knows this is how life is lived. Kimi, David's wife, says she truly thinks that grandbaby Lala is "in love" with her grandpa. But, David, being a man after God's own heart, like his namesake in the Bible, has inquired of the Lord, as to what he can learn from this heartache. And, in two words, it is: "unconditional love".

David admitted that his wife Kimi has observed him "withholding love" from others in the past when things didn't go his way. But his love for his granddaughter has transcended those conditions, and taught him how to love in spite of pain. And, he wondered aloud, could we practice that kind of unconditional love with God? Could we love God just as affectionately when we are disappointed or hurt or bewildered by His actions, as we do when we are happy and comfortable with His actions? Could we move toward becoming men and women "after God's own heart", like David was? Could that unconditional love for God be the secret to our not taking judgment into our own hands, but leaving judgment to God when we are hurt by others?

Thanks for making us think, David! David Lopez takes his teaching "on the road" to Arthur Wint's Shepherding Group next Sunday. We were very blessed to have him in our midst for two weeks!

--Posted by Mama O.