Haters Never Prosper

"Saul and Jonathan—

in life they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.

"O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold. – 2 Samuel 1: 23-24

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14: 1-24

David wrote this after hearing that Saul and Jonathan have died in battle. This is part of a lament that he made all the men of Judah memorize.

But what’s crazy about this is how well he speaks of Saul. He talks about how he loved him. And he really did. But this is the same Saul that has been trying to kill David for years after hearing that he was to succeed him as king of Israel!

What’s the basic difference between Saul and David? Saul is a hater. David is not.

Haters never prosper.

Yes Saul did his thing for a while but Israel was divided. Once he screwed up his situation with God and saw how dope David was, he started hatin’ on him real hard.

Multiple counts of attempted murder count as hate me thinks…

But where did this get him? He didn’t succeed in eliminating David. But he did succeed at pretty much driving himself crazy. He went on a feverish pursuit of a man that did him nothing but good. And in the end he ended up dying on the battlefield, losing a war (and many men of Israel including his sons) to Israel’s arch enemy at the time: the Philistines.

But already we have seen that David is pretty dope. He snuffed out Goliath, smashed out every adversary he faced on the battlefield, and even got booed up with the baddest and wisest women in the land.

All the while David always bent over backwards to do good by Saul and everyone he came across. And eventually he becomes the great king of Israel by walking the good path.

The bottom line is that no one likes a hater. And since we need others to help us pursue our dreams, often the dreams of haters go unfulfilled.

So instead of focusing on what the next person is doing, take a chapter out of Bill Withers book. Just do what you do and do it good. And if you have a hater or two of your very own focused on bringing you down… don’t sweat it. Just do like David did. Continue to kill ‘em with kindness.

In the end you will win.

Plus having haters is a compliment anyway… It probably means that you are doing something right; especially if you live your life according to the great commandments…

Hate on haters… we’re gonna keep on doing what we do and doing it good.

Spoiled Fruit

The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."

Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?" Judges 12: 1-3

Wait just one minute! Jephthah has already gone to battle and saved the day and her comes the tribe of Ephraim “Johnny come lately” on the scene. Not only that, but they’re also ready to do battle?

Yeah right sonny.

Of course Jephthah proceeded to lay the smack down on them for a cool minute but it really didn’t have to be that way… After all they are all family.

That’s no bueno.

But sometimes the folks who seem like they are the closest to us are the ones planning on taking us down when we seem weak. Jephthah’s response was perfect though. He had a job to do, he asked for help, and when it wasn’t given he took matters into his own hands.

We cannot just sit around waiting for others to get in the game with us. Sure life is a team sport. But, if you are ready to move, move with the troops you have.

Because sometimes no matter how long you wait, reinforcements never come. Then you are left in a worse position. Time has past, opportunities have been lost, and perhaps dreams have dried up.

So seize your purpose while it is still ripe. If not, the fruit of your labor might spoil before you can get your hands on it.

That stinks.

Today’s Reading: Judges 11-12; Luke 6:1-26