Weep for the child within

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul..." 1 Samuel 1:24 NIV

"Inside every older person is a teenager wondering, 'What happened?'" Anonymous

I marvel that David grieved over the death of one who had tried repeatedly to kill him. Yet David chose to remember not the crazed, jealous. murderous king Saul but the great, God-fearing warrior that David first met him as a youth. David mourned for the child that Saul had been.

Faithful Son. When Saul's father sent him to search for lost donkeys, he searched not just his own fields but also the hill country of Ephraim, and Shalisha, and Benjamin. He gave up only when he feared that his father would worry more about his son than his donkeys.

Humble. Young Saul was "an impressive young man among equal among the Israelites--a head taller than any of the others." 1 Sam. 9:2. NIV Yet it did not go to his head. When Samuel told Saul he was Israel's hope, Saul replied that he was just a member of the smallest clan of the smallest tribe. And when Samuel anointed him King in secret (1 Sam. 9:27), Saul did not boast but kept the secret. When Saul's uncle asked what Samuel had told him, Saul said nothing about the kingship. He said, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." 1 Sam. 10:16 NIV.

When Samuel later made God's choice for king public, no one could find Saul because he had hidden among the baggage. But most indicative of his character was that when troublemakers despised and ridiculed him, "Saul kept silent." (1 Sam. 10:27 NIV), and after his first great military victory, he would not let his grateful subjects execute his opponents. 1 Sam. 11:13.

42 Years. Saul was 30 when he became king and reigned 42 years. He was a mighty warrior, and much loved, but the fame, power and years went to his head, and the compassionate youth became the murderous king who tried to kill David, the very man who had saved his kingdom and loved Saul and his son Jonathan. Yet David still loved and respected Saul, and refused to harm him even when given the chance. David chose to see in Saul not the madman he'd become but the heroic Saul of his youth. David did not avenge himself upon Saul but grieved for him.

First Grade Photos. When hurt or angered by someone, I tend to want to "lay holy hands on them" (preferably around their neck). But quite a few times, I've counted to ten and gone away to look at childhood photos of people I love, and this sobers me quickly. The innocent joy in their youthful photos, and the knowledge of what came later, reminds me that all of us are victims. I cannot help but grieve when I look upon a photo of my father as a schoolchild, and then as an injured soldier who suffered nightmares the rest of his life because of the atrocities he witnessed. And the knowledge that we are all victims helps shift my anger from those who hurt me to the enemy who, over the years, has systematically destroyed the child within all of us.

Become as children. Jesus said that except we become as children we shall not enter the kingdom. Matt. 18:3. He would not have said to become as children if it were not possible, but it can be done only in His strength, not ours, as we are Reborn into the Father's family.

Pray for the child in others. Even as we are called to become children, so should we weep and pray for the child in others--especially in our enemies. If we remember that those who wrong us are not the real enemy, we may still not feel overly inclined to love them, but it will be harder to hate the bruised child that cowers within them.

Become as a child again, and be reborn into our Heavenly Father's family. And like David, love the child within your enemy, and pray and work for their rebirth as well.

Related Link: Kiss of the Year (and "Up"); below the part about his marriage in Xinjie Church I write about Shannon as a child--the "lacquer plate ploy" and "Look Up".
http://ourdailynoodles.blogspot.com/2009/01/kiss-of-year-and-up.html

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