"Are you carried away by impulses?" (10 min.)
When was the last time you did or said something you later regretted? I think most of us at some point in our lives, did something like that.
I mention a situation that history has recorded by the historian Plutarch. When Alexander the Great, the emperor or king of Greece, saw that there was a problem with his close friend, he gave in to his bad temper and threw an apple at his friend. Still angry, he grabbed a spear and pierced his friend, killing him. According to the historian Plutarch says that when the king saw what he had done, he was going to kill himself. But the guards intervened, grabbed his hands and forcibly took him to his room. All that night and the next day Alexander the Great wept bitterly for what he had done.
Situations like these are recorded in history. But also on a daily basis you can hear that many do not control their bad character and serious consequences come. That's what we're going to talk about in this section of Treasures of the Bible. With the title: "Are you carried away by impulses?" and we will use the example of King David. As he too was about to do the same as Alexander the Great, murder many people. Let's analyze with the Bible. The situation has to do here. David, his men, Nabal and his relatives and also his servants.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 25:7,11.
7 I have heard that you are now shearing the sheep. Well, when your shepherds were with us, we didn't bother them, and no one took anything from them the whole time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your men and they will tell you. That is why I beg you to welcome mine, because we have arrived at a time of great joy. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can give us.” 9 So David's men went up and gave Nabal this message from David. When they finished, 10 Nabal said to David's servants: “And who is this David? What does the son of Jesse think? Today there are many serfs who run away from their masters. 11 Why should I give my bread and my water and the meat that I have prepared for my shearers to men who come from who knows where?”
How much contempt in these words of Nabal towards David! The situation was as follows: while David and his men were in this sector they helped take care of the sheep. They were very, very far from the original place where Nabal lived. Due to the number of animals, his herd was so large that it could be in danger from being so far away and there was no one to fully care for the large number of animals. King David and his men willingly helped care for him without asking for anything in return.
But the situation was different. It was a time of joy, the time to shear the sheep and to see the good result of keeping these animals alive. David was asking for something fair. He didn't even say the amount they wanted to give them. He clearly said. Give them anything he can give you. As it says at the end of verse eight. Nabal insulted them. We even see that even David was called your son David.
Curiously, Nabal said that he did not know David, but he also said that he believes he is the son of Jesse. So there was a contradiction. The wrath that came here to David was great.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 25:13,21,22.
13 Immediately, David ordered his men: “Let each one take his sword!” So they all put on their swords, and David too. About 400 men went up with him, and about 200 stayed behind to guard his belongings. 21 David had been saying, “I protected everything this fellow had in the desert, but he has been of no use. No one took anything from him, and yet he repays me evil for good. 22 If by morning I have not finished off all his men, may God severely punish David's enemies."
As we noted, David was willing to settle the matter once and for all. It is true that sometimes we have wanted to react like this. Honestly, that happens to anyone when we are treated unfairly by other people. What to do in these cases? Should we go with our impulses when we are angry? There are situations like if we are standing in line to buy something and we see that another person suddenly enters the line ahead of us.
There are situations that really exasperate. This is where we should exercise self-control or when someone verbally treats us badly, telling us things that hurt, that really hurt. That is the moment in which we can think of words like those indicated in Proverbs 15:28 that "the heart of the righteous meditates before responding." Really having self-control in those moments is quite complicated, but not impossible to do.
In the ministry sometimes we have to do it and that is a great way to show that we are stronger than the person who is verbally hurting us.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 25:25,26.
25 Please, my lord, pay no attention to Nabal. He is a despicable man who lives up to his name. His name is Nabal and he is a fool. But I, your servant, did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as Jehovah and you live, it is Jehovah who is holding you back from taking justice into your own hands and becoming guilty of bloodshed. May your enemies and those who want to harm you become like Nabal.
We see that Abigail assumes Nabal's mistake and asks him to forgive her for it and then recognizes the kind of man he was and why get his hands dirty by killing someone like that?
We also want to be very careful in how we treat others or how we react to others' treatment of us. In Proverbs 22:3 it also says, "The prudent see danger and hide, but the inexperienced go ahead and suffer the consequences." We want to show Jehovah that we do not let ourselves be carried away by our impulses, rather we know how to control them. That will mean that we are not repenting of things that we say or do and that can really affect the health or dignity of others.
It is good that biblical examples like these make us think about being very careful and having the necessary self-control in our lives. May each of us prove to Jehovah that we really are people who do not let ourselves be carried away by our impulses. Rather, our conduct will always bring honor and glory to his name.
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