1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 / 1 Cor 15:45-49 / Luke 6:27-38
It is said that all men are equal. But in reality that may just be a notion.
Because in the reality of this world, there is always some kind of disparity.
Just like there is light and darkness, so there is the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the proud and the humble, the quick and the slow.
In this kind of disparity, inevitably there will emerge a bully. A bully is someone who seeks to harm or intimidate those whom he thinks are vulnerable and cannot stand up against him or cannot fight against him.
It is acknowledged that bullying happens in school, at the workplace, and wherever we can think of.
And because of social media, bullying is not just confined to a physical locality. Because there is now cyber bullying, and the bully can torment his victim almost round-the-clock, 24/7.
But what makes a person become a bully and why does he not stop being one?
As it is, the disparity in society will tempt the stronger to flaunt his strength on the weaker, maybe just to boast to others, or just to show off.
Another reason can be like what happened to king Saul in the 1st reading. As the king, he was jealous of David for being more popular than he was, and we also remember David’s bravery and victory in the battle between David and Goliath.
So jealousy turned Saul into a bully, and even into a killer, as he took 3000 handpicked men to hunt down David and his companions.
It was a massive manhunt and David would not stand a chance, if not for his trust in the Lord.
David trusted in the Lord and took refuge in the Lord as his protector and his rescuer.
And this is where we can learn from David, who was not just bullied by Saul, but his life was in danger.
In the face of bullying and persecution, the Lord is our only help and refuge and our protector. There is no point in trying to stand up to a bully or fight a hostile persecutor. We can’t win and we might get badly hurt.
And as the 1st reading tells us, David, with the protection of God, eluded Saul’s attempts to capture him. But then one night the tables were turned.
David found himself standing over the sleeping Saul and a spear was at hand. Saul was a sitting duck (and a sleeping duck). Just one thrust of the spear into the heart of Saul and that would be the sweetest revenge for David.
But sweet revenge is just a notion. Can revenge ever be sweet? It is said that if you want to take revenge, then first you need to dig two graves – one for your enemy, and one for yourself.
In every act of revenge, at least two lives will be lost, whether literally or figuratively. So revenge can never be sweet. In fact, revenge is always sour and bitter.
So in the 1st reading, David wants to tell us all this. Taking the life of Saul might be easy but the consequences will be heavy.
So in short, if the Lord saved David’s life from Saul, then David had to spare Saul’s life. The hunted cannot turn into a hunter.
In the gospel, Jesus gives us a teaching about how we ought to treat our enemies.
When we think about our enemies, what comes to mind are those who bully us, those who do bad things to us, those who persecute us for no reason. And for some reason, we cannot get back, we cannot retaliate.
And so resentment, anger, bitterness and hatred begin to build up in us. But as it was for David, so it will be for us. One day, we will stand over our sleeping enemy, and all that anger, resentment, bitterness and hatred will make us want to grab that spear and thrust it deep into our enemy’s heart. But would that be sweet revenge?
This teaching of Jesus, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly” is a very difficult teaching to follow.
Yet, that difficult teaching comes with a promise from the Lord, that He will be our refuge and protector, He will save us from those who bully us, who hate us, who curse us.
Yes, the Lord will save us just as He saved David. Let us not grab that spear and thrust it into the heart of the sleeping enemy. Let us not turn into a hunter and a persecutor and lose God’s protection over us.
Let us follow the teaching of Jesus and let Jesus fight our battles for us, so His blessings of a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into our hearts.