David spent several of his younger years on the run from King Saul. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel as a replacement for Saul, when Saul displeased God. Early on Saul actually had him serve in his house. Later as David's popularity with the people grew, Saul became jealous until he tried to kill David. David fled and took up a robin hood existence, largely preying the favorite bad guys of the book of Samuel, the Philistines.
On a couple of occasions when Saul came hunting David, David could have turned the tables and killed Saul. But he refused because Saul had been anointed king before David and David refused to lift his hand against God's anointed. But he certainly prayed about it all. Today's psalm (54) is set in this one the run time when some folks have protected David. David asks for God to be the one to right the wrong and get him the vengeance and justice he is due.
Now David's non-violent ethic was pretty limited. He refused to kill the current king. He was also loathe to kill fellow Israelites unless he could see no other way out. We have another example of a non-violent ethic in the Bible that is even more amazing. Jesus told Pilate he could have called down angels to wipe everyone out. But Jesus did not. He accepted the violence of the world for the sake of the world.
We are still learning what it means to leave vengeance in God's hands. I have never been a pacifist, but I will freely admit that that position is probably as influenced by lack of faith as it is by carefully considered theological interpretation. May God teach me today a little more how to not seek vengeance on my own against my enemies but instead leave my deliverance in God's hands.
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