Thinking of Others

Psalm 59:9-13 But do not kill them, O Lord our shield, or my people will forget. In your might make them wander about, and bring them down.  For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips,  let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter, consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.

Even in the midst of life-threatening situations, David was thinking about the welfare of those around him.

Here we find once again that David was in trouble (you can read the story here).  It's an interesting story, but the Psalms aren't so much about the events, but about David's reaction to those events.  I focused in on these verses because they differ a bit from the usual wording that I have found.  In the midst of the cries for deliverance and the giving of praise, there is the concern for his fellow countrymen.  The first thing I thought of was the concept of how God let sinners live so that people can see the sinfulness of sin, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I need to make application for myself as well.


The application I found is that a sign of true leadership is the concern for other people, the people you are leading, or in David's case, the ones you will lead.  He wanted the lives of his enemies to be spared so that his people, and ultimately all people, will know "that God rules over Jacob."  If we are to be true leaders (and we all can be leaders in one sense or another), we need to show genuine concern for other people, even in the midst of our own trials.  Here we see manifested in a small way the same compassion shown by Jesus on the cross, where the thoughts were to bless His persecutors, His mother (had to put something in about mothers on Mother's Day), and the thieves hanging beside Him.  We cannot, I cannot, be effective leaders without that compassion.


Thank you Lord for showing me once again to think of others instead of myself.