Scripture Daily

Context No. 2087 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

Context · Reflection

1 Samuel 11:1-15: in context

1Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” 2Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.” 3The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” 4Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, “What ails the people that they weep?” They told him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot. 7He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, then sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 8He counted them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9They said to the messengers who came, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’” The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 10Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you.” 11On the next day, Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the middle of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 12The people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring those men, that we may put them to death!” 13Saul said, “No man shall be put to death today; for today the LORD has rescued Israel.” 14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come! Let’s go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.” 15All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

When Nahash the Ammonite threatens the town of Jabesh-Gilead with cruelty, Saul, newly made king, is roused to action. He rallies all Israel, marches through the night, and delivers Jabesh, striking down the Ammonites. In the flush of this victory, the people turn on those who had earlier doubted Saul's kingship: bring those men who said Saul should not reign over us, that we may put them to death. But Saul refuses: no one shall be put to death today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel. In his hour of triumph, he refuses vengeance and gives God the credit.

Saul's response in his moment of victory shows him at his best, and it is a lesson in magnanimity. The people, caught up in the triumph, want to settle old scores, to execute those who had doubted and opposed Saul's kingship. It was the perfect moment for vengeance: Saul was vindicated, victorious, and his detractors were now at his mercy. But Saul refuses. He will not use his victory to avenge the slights against him. No one shall die today, he says, for today the LORD has rescued Israel. He turns from vengeance and turns the credit toward God, refusing both to settle scores and to exalt himself. This is a rare and admirable grace: magnanimity in the hour of success. When we are vindicated, victorious, proven right against those who doubted or opposed us, the temptation is to use the moment for vengeance, to settle scores, to make our detractors pay, to exalt ourselves at their expense. Saul shows a better way: to refuse the vengeance, to overlook the offense, to let the victory be an occasion of mercy rather than retribution. It is the glory of a man, the proverb says, to overlook an offense; and Saul, in his hour of triumph, overlooked the offenses of his detractors rather than avenging them. And he did something further: he gave God the credit. Rather than exalting himself in his victory, he said, today the LORD has rescued Israel. The triumph was God's doing, not his own glory, and he acknowledged it. This searches how we handle our own moments of success and vindication. When we are proven right, victorious over those who opposed us, do we use the moment to settle scores and exalt ourselves, or can we, like Saul at his best, refuse vengeance, overlook the offenses of our detractors, and give God the credit rather than claiming glory for ourselves? Vengeance belongs to God, Paul says; leave room for it, rather than avenging ourselves. Saul, in his hour of victory, refused to put his detractors to death and credited God with the deliverance; and his magnanimity calls us, in our own moments of success, to mercy rather than vengeance and to giving God the glory rather than exalting ourselves.

In my moments of success or vindication, when I am proven right against those who doubted or opposed me and they are now at my mercy, do I use the moment to settle scores and exalt myself, or can Saul at his best, who refused to execute his detractors and said today the LORD has rescued Israel, move me to magnanimity, overlooking the offenses of my opponents and giving God the credit rather than claiming the glory for myself?

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