“Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.”
2 Sam. 1:20
Discussion
David exemplified a true believer's character in more ways than one. Especially in the way he often handled conflict with king Saul. King Saul was anointed to be king, and even though he had become divinely rejected, David still honoured him as the anointed of God. Just because an anointed minister of God has derailed and become rebellious doesn't give you the right to dishonour him/her. This is what David's life teaches us. We urgently need this lesson in our day and time where we are ever so eager to crucify our fallen brethren and publicly condemn our ailing anointed. David had opportunity to take vengeance on King Saul but he turned each opportunity down. Eventually, King Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle and here was David's response at the receiving of the news; 2Sam 1.20; "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." In other words, David was saying; don't speak publicly about Saul's demise; don't post it on social media; don't broadcast it on your status; don't discuss it on public platforms. Aren't these the very things we find ourselves doing these days? Why shouldn't we announce the fall of our brethren in public spaces? David says; "...lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." See that? He feared that the daughters of the Philistines will have occasion to mock God's people.
When we wash our dirty linen in public, we give occasion for the unbelievers to mock us. Our public fights make it difficult for the unsaved to see the need for salvation in Christ Jesus alone. When they see us crucify our wounded soldiers, they doubt the efficacy of our gospel. We must never let our petty differences and selfish squabbles cause men to find it difficult to receive the gospel. In our natural families, there goes the saying; 'what happens in the family, stays in the family'. If the privacy of our physical families matters so much to us, why then will personal matters of our spiritual family matter less? As imperfect as our physical family members are, we never put up their failures for the general public to discuss, how much more our spiritual families. There are ways to settle matters in our kingdom family. Jesus tells us; Matt.18.14-16; "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him--work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love." (MSG) Read again and observe how kingdom hurts are handled in-house and in love. Never to destroy but to restore! Never to tear down but to build up! Never to mock but to love! Let this guide your steps onwards. Shalom Uvracha!