1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

when he heard the women of Israel singing:
"Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands." He saw
in this comparison a threat to his security
as king of Israel. (1 Sam. 18:7-9) As a
result, he became so hard, so envious, so
hateful that he made the killing of David
the consuming passion of his life. But all
in vain. On two occasions he had to drink
the bitter cup of humiliation as he learned
that the one whom he was hunting down
as a wild beast had magnanimously spared
his life. And in the end David did become
king of Israel, while Saul came to his end,
a hateful, bitter, frustrated suicide.
On the other hand, there was David. It
would have been easy for him to have let
himself become hard, hateful, bitter and
vengeful because of Saul's so unjustly trying
to kill him. On one occasion Saul
tlu·ew a spear at David, trying to pin him
against the wall with it. Because of Saul's
pursuit of him, David had to take refuge
in mountain fastnesses. But did David let
this evil treatment harden rhim? No, he
remained loyal to God and God's principles,
to his people and even to Saul the
king. As a result, he was protected by Jehovah
God, prospered and in God's due
time became king of Israel. More than that,
David was privileged to write almost half
the psalms recorded in the Bible, succeeded
in extending the boundaries of his land to
their divinely appointed limits, and had his
dynasty established as the one through
which eventually Jesus Christ, the promised
Messiah, would come. What a rich reward
he received because he did not let
evil harden him, make him bitter, hateful
and vengeful, but waited on Jehovah!
This is God's message to all who today
are suffering gross social injustices. Do
not engage in uprisings, in rebellions, in
riotous violence, but wait on Jehovah God
to set things straight. "'Therefore keep
yourselves in expectation of me,' is the
utterance of Jehovah, 'till the day of my
rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision
is to gather nations, for me to collect
together kingdoms, in order to pour
out upon them my denunciation, all my
burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal
all the earth will be devoured.' " And while
keeping yourself in expectation of Jehovah,
heed the threefold command to 'seek Jehovah,
seek righteousness, seek meekness.'
Obeying that command will keep you from
hardening yourself.-Zeph. 3:8; 2:3.
The same principle applies to our everyday
relations. How much happier many
homes would be, how much happier many
places of employment would be, if those
suffering from the selfishness and tyranny
of others would heed the advice of the
Christian apostle Paul: "Return evil for
evil to no one. Provide fine things in the
sight of all men. If possible, as far as it
depends upon you, be peaceable with all
men. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved,
but yield place to the wrath; for it is writ·
ten: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says
Jehovah.' Do not let yourself be conquered
by the evil, but keep conquering the evil
with the good."-Rom. 12:17-19, 21.
We cannot improve on divine wisdom.
What God commands in his Word is not
only the right thing but also the wisest
thing to do. Not letting evil harden you
results in your own happiness, peace of
mind and contentment. More than that,
such a course is the most likely to succeed
in improving matters; certainly it will not
make matters worse. And above all, by
leaving one's cause in Jehovah's hands one
can rest assured that eventually the outcome
will be for the best.
AWAKE I