Mercy unmindful of the risk!

One strong confession King David had to make during his reign was "even though I am the anointed King,these two sons of Zeruiah-Joab and Abhishai are too strong for me to control"(2 Sam 4:39).The scripture projects David as a king sometimes caught between two different sides, one which is loyal and wants revenge on his enemies and one which wants to uphold mercy and forgive them.When David wanted to show mercy to Abner who revolted against him he was killed by Joab ,his commander who wanted revenge on him.Sometimes I feel leaders in mission hospital are also caught in similar situations and they choose the side of "revenge and killing"of the person in question in the name of justice rather than showing mercy and pardoning him.Thats why when you have people like Joab around we are tempted to hold and secure our own empire and agendas rather than taking the risk of pardoning the enemy and land up in a situation where he may turn his back to us!David refrained and refused to do so and he did not covet his hard earned kingdom more than mercy!Its high time we understand the ways of the "King" and the ways of the "man after the kings own heart".

Though Joab was projected as a ruthless man in the book of Samuel,the loyalty he exhibited towards king David was unmatched.Though Joab was the commander of the army he was very particular that the King gets the credit for the victory rather than taking it for himself and revolt against him.When Joab captured the water supply of the ammonites he sent a message to David to come soon and finish the battle so that "he may get the credit instead of him"Its hard to find leaders today who have people like Joab besides them with such loyalty and power.In a world where "rat race" is the norm and people are pulling each others leg to prove their point and earn their credits what an example Joab shows them!

Somehow David seemed to dislike Joab because he was not happy with the mercy acts of the king.When Joab saved David from Absalom ,David was very displeased with Joab that he had killed his own son.He was mourning for his son when Joab came back from war which infuriated Joab.He rebuked the king saying"you make us feel ashamed as though we had done something wrong!you seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you.You had made it clear that we mean nothing to you."I think the acts of mercy is very misunderstood that day as it is today.It seems as though there was a competition between mercy and loyalty and David decided to support mercy more than loyalty!He wanted to forgive the person who wanted to kill him and hated the person who had saved him and dethroned him!David removed Joab as his commander and appointed Amasa as his new commander.Mercy acts are not without its risks which we fail to understand very often.King David was ready to risk his life and his kingdom for his son Absalom.Its similar to the act of our merciful savior who showed his mercy by forgiving at the risk of his own crucifixion!

May the lord grant me the wisdom to be merciful unmindful of the risk!