David for King, Moral Margin

This is the fourth week of our message series, David For King.  David’s story is so important it’s recorded in three books. 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and the first book of Chronicles. There are many other great stories about David we skipped because we don't have time to cover them.  So I encourage you to read David's life story in your bible. Also, you can find parts 1-3 of this series on our website saintmary.life

David is from Bethlehem, a shepherd boy, the youngest of many brothers. His life changes when God sends the Prophet Samuel to anoint him as the future king of Israel. Eventually, he becomes an errand boy for the current king, Saul.

Then David stands up to Goliath. Where other people see a major problem in fighting the giant, David sees a major opportunity. David slays the giant Goliath, and his popularity soars. King Saul, becomes jealous of David and tries to kill him. But David escapes and spends the next major part of his life on the run from Saul.

David becomes the leader of a ragtag group of men who are not happy with King Saul.  At the same time, the Philistines are attacking Keilah (KI-Lah). David goes to help the people of Keilah and defeats the Philistines. Because of this, King Saul learns where David is. When David hears Saul is coming after him, he escapes again to the Caves of En Gedi (N-Jed-E). That's where we're picking up David's story today.

David and his men are hiding in caves. Saul takes 3,000 men and goes after David.  David has about 600 ragtag men following him, Saul has the best warriors in Israel.

Saul, passing through the caves of En Gedi, stops at the very cave in which David and his men are hiding.  Saul enters this cave to get some relief. To give Saul privacy, Saul's men stay outside the cave. David and his men are inside and can see Saul, but Saul can't see them.

David's men tell him, "God organized this. What are the chances, Saul would stop exactly where we are hiding.  Sneak up behind Saul, kill him, walk out with his head, and those men are going to follow you, saying David is clearly king now."  So here's David, he's been promised he's going to be king. He's exhausted, constantly on the run from Saul. Here is a very easy solution to his problem.  There are a couple of problems with this solution though. First, what kind of story would this be to tell later in life?

When you think about major decisions of your life; your career, your marriage, or where you went to college, those are the stories you tell later in life. Well, what kind of story did David want to tell?

When his kids ask him, "Dad, tell us how you became king?" "Well, King Saul was in this cave alone seeking relief.  I snuck up behind him and bravely killed him." What kind of story is that? Or, David could make up a story, but he would know he was lying, so would his men.  The question was not if David would be king, but when and how. God had anointed him King. If there is something God wants for your life and wills for your life, and you desire it too, then nothing can stop it.  It's not IF it will happen, but when and how. So, what story did David want to tell about how he became king?

The second problem is obvious, murder is wrong.  David had killed in battle, that’s one thing, but cold blooded murder, that is wrong.  A wrong thing done for the right reason, is still wrong. David knew that. So what does David do?  He sneaks up behind Saul, and cuts off a part of Saul's robe. And afterward David's heart struck him. 

What does the bible mean, David’s heart struck him?  His conscience bothered him. David had a well-formed conscience with a moral margin.  That is, David was not trying to just NOT break God's laws, he lived way back from them.  He lived with a boundary. He knew God's law taught respect for authority, so even just cutting a little bit off Saul’s robe, struck David with guilt.

We have a tendency to want to live right up against the law, right?   For example, when chastity comes into conversation, and waiting to have sex until you're married, the question I am often asked is, "How far is too far?" Where is the line?  I want to get right up on the line. But David didn't approach God's teaching that way. Instead, he loved it. He loved it enough to respect it by creating a margin, a moral margin in his life.  So, David cuts Saul's robe then sneaks back to his guys and says, “God told me not to kill Saul, and I feel guilty because I did dishonor the Lord’s anointed, King Saul.” David said, "God put Saul in charge, and God will remove him.  I'm trusting God that he's going to do with Saul whatever he wants to do with him. I'm not going to harm God’s anointed.

David has often “inquired of the Lord,” asking God for His wisdom and counsel. However, there are some things about which you don't need to ask God for counsel because he's already given it to you. It's already in his word, it's already in the scriptures.  We don't need to ask God about things he has already told us are wrong.

Anyway, Saul rose up, left the cave and went on his way.  That's not the end of the story. The next verse tells us, "David also rose, went out of the cave, and called after Saul, 'My lord the king.'  And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed which showed Saul honor and respect.”

David holds up this little piece of cloth that he cut, and says, “The fact that I cut this off your robe and did not kill you when I could have, demonstrates to you there is no treason in my heart.  I did not harm you, though you are trying to kill me.

Then Saul said to David, 'You are more righteous than I, you are a better man than I, for you have repaid me with good, whereas I've repaid you with evil intent"  Saul continues: "I can see why God wants to make you the future king of Israel. You're going to be king because you have a good heart, David." Saul and his men then get on their horses, and ride back to the palace.  David and his men? They go back into the wilderness.

Unfortunately Saul’s envy, jealousy, and anger, get riled up again.  He tries to kill David again. David spares Saul’s life a second time. The point is not that David's life gets easier because he did the right thing.  But David was able to live with himself because he did the right thing.

Throughout this series, we're trying to learn from David so we can be more like him, men and women after God's heart.

We need to be like David and create moral margin.  David knew the right thing to do because he loved God's law.  He loved God's teaching. David says throughout the Psalms which he writes, how he loves God's law, how it brings refreshment to his soul.  He didn't see God's Word and God's laws as trying to keep something from him but that they were good for him, because God was for him and wanted the best for him.  So David loved God's law. For us, it's about loving God's word, as we have it in the scripture and loving God’s teachings that are expressed to us through the church.

So we have the Bible and the catechism to help inform our conscience, and we know that the Bible and the catechism are there to help us live better lives.

With a well informed conscience, we create a moral margin, we don’t try to see what we can get away with, but we live way back from that line.  What are some examples of this? In church teaching, God teaches, that you wait until you're married to have sex, that sex is for the confines of marriage.  So, don't live your life thinking, "I'm going to get as close to that line as I can." No, back way off of that. And for those of you who are married, God clearly teaches, "You shall not commit adultery."  We all know that.

So, we don't live at that line, flirting with people in the office or even putting ourselves in situations where we can emotionally get connected to a member of the opposite sex, no, you back way, way off of that because you want to preserve your marriage.  For some of you, maybe you're in an industry where you flirt with the truth. So for you, that moral margin means, rather than flirting with the truth, you need to back off and make sure that you are honest with your clients, you're honest with potential customers.

For some of us there is an area of our lives where we could say, "You know what?  I'm trying to get away with something. I don't want to break the law or break God's law, but I'm right up against the line.  I need to back off."

You can recognize those teachings are there not because God is against you or trying to keep things from you, but because God is for you and wants the best for you.

             Or consider this, some of you desire something so badly, a relationship, a marriage, a career move, or there's a problem you're trying to solve, and there is a solution for you that is so easy and you know it's too easy. Something in your conscience says, "You know what? I know it is not right. I know it is wrong." But you're tempted to do the easy thing. Take courage and wisdom from the life of David and say no to that easy solution that you know is wrong. Because eventually that's going to be a story in your life. And you want to be able to say, "You know what? I did it in God's will and God's way. (repeat)" Now that is a story worth telling.