LEARNING THINGS THE HARD WAY –

Sometimes David allowed his emotions get ahead of his thinking. When Nahash, king of Ammon, died David wanted to pay his respects to the man who once gave him refuge from King Saul. But David apparently ignored the fact that year’s earlier Nahash threatened to gouge out one eye of every Israeli man in Jabesh Gilead unless they willingly served him as slaves. So David’s sympathy for this tyrant offended the people of Jabesh and caused a rift throughout Israel. It also caused him great humiliation, when the son of Nahash took the envoys he sent to convey his condolences, shaved off halve their beards, cut off half their clothes and sent them back in disgrace.

“O One True God, You have rebuked us as a nation; it’s like we are being torn apart. We realize now You didn’t like the way things were done; so please let us be friends again. Our society has suffered a moral earthquake; ripping us to pieces. Please do something to bring us back together again before everything caves in on us. You permitted things to fall apart so You could teach us a lesson; and what You allowed to happen plunged our country into confusion. Still, those who love and respect You have a banner to rally around in the name of truth. So for those You love, use Your power and Your influence to bring them back their freedom; let that be Your answer to my prayer.” Psalm 60:1-5

Reflection: Aesop, the great Greek story teller, once told about a mule being led by his master down a mountain trail to the village below. From the road high above the town the mule spotted his stall at the foot of the mountain, and figured the quickest way to get there was by going over the side of the cliff. When he started to leap over, his master caught him by the tail and tried to pull him back to safety. But the stubborn mule was determined to get there his way and kept straining hard against his master’s efforts. Finally in desperation the master said, “Okay, you wild beast, do it your way” as he let go of the tail. The mule jumped and tumbled head over heels down the mountain side. It doesn’t take a genius to see the moral of this story, and it may be the source for our famous English saying: “Stubborn as a mule.” But believe it or not, this incident is repeated day after day by those who will not listen to reason or friendly advice because they’ve made up their minds to do things out of emotion rather than wisdom, and ignore the common sense of those who’ve been through the same circumstances. That’s what happened to David in his case with Nahash king of Ammon. But God chose to let him learn a lesson the hard way without abandoning him. God knows how we acquire knowledge that we respect and follow, and in spite of the bumps and bruise we get, He also knows it will make us wiser and more open to advice the next time. So the next time your stubbornness causes you to fall flat on your face, get up, thank the Lord for the lesson, and continue on your way determined to listen the next time.