David’s
first act as king of Judah was to commend the people of Gilead-jabesh. He
applauded them for their courageous deed of taking down the mutilated body of
Saul from the wall of Beth-shan and gave it a proper burial. Remember how the
Philistines had killed Saul’s three sons and severely wounded Saul, who later
committed suicide on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines did not know that Saul was
dead until they came out to strip the goods from the dead bodies of those they
had slain. It was then that they discovered the dead bodies of Saul and his
sons. So they stripped Saul of his robe and cut off his head. They then did a
deplorable thing by hanging the king’s mutilated body and those of his three
dead sons on the wall of Beth-shan. When the people of Gilead-jabesh
learned of what they did to Saul, some of their valiant men came to retrieve
the bodies. They had to do so in the cover of night at great risk to
themselves. When they had taken the bodies down, they cremated them and gave
Saul a decent burial. The people of Gilead-jabesh did these to reciprocate what
Saul had done to deliver them from the threat and impending strikes of the
Ammonites recorded in 1 Samuel 11.
By
this time, after he was made king by the house of Judah, we surmised that the
people of Gilead-jabesh would have also learned of how David had handled the
news of Saul’s death. They must have realized how David respected the dead king
and how affectionately he felt about his death. So there is no indication that
they rejected the king of Judah’s commendation. David did not only commend them
for what they did but also promised to treat them kindly. He had two reasons
for doing it. He did it to endear himself to them and at the same time to
inform them that the people of Judah had made him their king.
These
few verses tell us that showing gratitude is a noble thing. People
are often defined by their attitude of gratitude. Remember, it is not our
aptitude that determined our altitude. It is our attitude that defines our
altitude. Like David, when we develop an attitude of gratitude, there is simply
no telling of how high we will soar for God. So let us start a life of
thanksgiving. But better still, develop a life of thanks-living.
No comments:
Post a Comment