Pastor’s corner

Good intentions can often be misunderstood

Ever heard of the man with the good intention of draining the swamp behind his home only to find himself up to his neck in alligators? That is what it often feels like when we have the best intention of helping someone only to discover their animosity, resentment at your “interference” in their lives, their jealousy, or they wonder why you did not solve all their problems!

As a young pastor in my first ministry, I had good intentions of teaching the Bible, helping others in need, shepherding my little flock, and evangelizing the lost. The church was full of fantastic, hungry believers, who loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him. On the other hand, I entered the swamp only to find myself surrounded by gators who were offended at my teaching, my methods, and my personality.

I ran into the Youth Earth vs. Gap crowd regarding creation, degrees of punishment in hell, different views of salvation, spiritual gift issues, church vs. Christian organization issues, pre-Tribulation vs. mid-Tribulation issues, eternal security issues, debates on all kinds of theological issues including whether the original Adam had a navel or not! Along with these were issues in marriage, family life, criminal activity, break-ins at the church, child abuse, adultery, fornication, among other things. I tried to deal with these things when they came up but I felt misunderstood and alone. I worked harder to correct the misunderstandings but only made things worse.

Few things are harder to deal with than being misunderstood. It can become unbearable at times, but I believed the Lord called me to the ministry so I slugged it out and learned many great lessons about grace, the faithfulness of God, how to love God’s people, and love God’s plan and will.

In the Old Testament King David writes Psalm 140 to teach us about how he was misunderstood and how he dealt with it. The background of Psalm 140 is 1 Samuel 17-18 where David faced Goliath and killed him. David received great praise from the nation (1 Samuel 18:6-8) which made King Saul jealous. David was not looking to take over King Saul’s throne but Saul misunderstood David and considered him a threat! We see King Saul’s attitude in 1 Samuel 18:9, “And Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.” Saul began hunting David with the intention of killing him. Saul made David’s life miserable so David ran and hid in the arms of the Lord.

In Psalm 140:1, David proclaims his vulnerability, “Rescue me, O Lord.” In verse 4 David said, “Preserve me” and “Keep me, O Lord.” David felt defenseless against Saul’s accusations and intentions so he asked the Lord for help.

Saul’s imagination was running wild as noted in Psalm 140:2 “(They) devised evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars.” Saul started out with the sin of jealousy then his exaggerated imagination took over and he believed David was out to replace him as king.

Saul began to believe all kinds of lies about David but David did not try to correct the misunderstandings, rather he went to the Lord in prayer and trusted in Him for vindication.

Saul continued to slander David and even tried to murder David with a spear.

David has several opportunities to kill Saul but spared his life.

David’s solution to the problem is found in Psalm 140:6 when he spoke to the Lord, “I said to the Lord, You are my God; Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.” David was putting his trust in the Lord to resolve the situation. In Psalm 140:8 David said, “Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted.” Selah (David is now faith resting).

David has no intention of removing King Saul from the throne. David knows the Lord put Saul on the throne and it would be wrong to kill him. Rather than take vengeance in his own hands, David prayed God would deal justly with his enemies (vs. 9-11). He rested in the Lord’s decisions (vs. 12-13) and continued to praise his Lord and God. Rather than trying to correct all the misunderstandings, dispel all the exaggerated imaginations, deal with those who are jealous and miserable, turn it over to the Lord and rest in His decisions. Selah.

Ron McMurray,

Chaplain