Prince of Peace

Jesus came to make a way to peace with God by giving grace. Embrace grace as a gift you can give to everyone and you can become a peacemaker. 

“Saul…set out to look for David…He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands…David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken…The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing…Saul left the cave and went his way. Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul…When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down…He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands…Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; May the Lord judge between you and me. Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king” 1 Samuel 24:2-20

Let’s have a moment of honesty. Is there any way that you would do what David did? After countless sleepless nights, numerous days where you have been filthy, hungry, and hurting; would you not want to take out the very person who has caused you all the pain when you have that person dead to rights? Saul deserved to die. David had every right to kill him and be justified in doing so. The text says that David was conscience stricken. Put another way it means he was listening to the Spirit. He still had ears to hear and a heart to honor God though he had been harmed. Do you? 

With all of the offense in this world, whether, it is coming from a political party, an unfair pain, or a personal relationship, is your heart still set apart and willing to serve Jesus at all times? Or do you want your pound of flesh? Would you rather have payback or a heart that is pure? 

David does the unthinkable. He forgives Saul. He gives grace. He set him free and in doing so frees his heart from the endless cycle of offense. Killing Saul might have ended the feud, but it would not have honored God. Saul is so overcome by the grace he was given that he ends up, blessing the man that he in the morning he woke up trying to behead. 

How? How could this happen? The truth is grace changes everything. There is something amazing about grace. Grace can heal every heart and bring hope to the hopeless.  Grace can right a wrong and light up the darkest heart. There has never been a more graceful person than Jesus. As we give grace, we reflect the ultimate grace giver.  Where do you need to give grace today? Have you been holding out on fully for forgiving someone else because it’s not your fault? 

Grace does not require a payment by the persecutor. Grace is freely given and completely unfair. God teaches us that we do not want fair. The fair thing for us would be to be punished for our sins. There is a righteous requirement to sin and we could not pay it. So what did God do? God had grace on us by sending his son to die on the cross that we might live. Every time we are struggling with offense or bitterness, we should remember what Jesus did for us. Then do what he did. Be like David and give grace undeserved. 

“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.” Psalms 110:1-7

Jesus quoted this song when talking with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the very people who were most offended by Him, and who could easily have offended Him most.  Why were the Pharisees so offended? Was it not because they believed that they were right? Is that not the root of a lot of our offense? The need to be right. There is a great saying that you can either be right or you can be in relationship.  You have to choose but only one choice is in right alignment with remembering how Jesus gave us grace. 

When Jesus quoted this psalm, He was trying to make a point that the way people had been thinking was missing the mark. The scriptures were written to point to the son of God, the only one who could bring peace to every heart and peace with God. David wrote to rule in the midst of your enemies.  Think of how that relates to how he treated Saul. David acted like a king should even when he was not being treated like royalty. He did what was right and just even when Saul was treating him wrong. Think about how that relates to us. How could we act like our King Jesus and rule with grace and peace in the midst of a sinful world? 

The last line of the psalm is particularly important. It might seem like a byline or something to read right by, but it contains power. The text says that the Lord will drink from the brook along the way. This is the key.  Water is life. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot give life if you do not have it. You cannot give peace if you do not have it. Jesus drank continually of the father‘s words and the faithful spirit. Jesus himself said that He is the vine. He is the one who will nourish us each day. What water have you been drinking? Have you been drinking contaminated water of cursing others and a callous heart? Or have you been drinking the living water that refreshes your soul?

“My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it…do not go near the door of her house, lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity…lest strangers feast on your wealth…You will say, “How I hated discipline! Drink water from your own cistern, May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. For your ways are in full view of the Lord, The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.” Proverbs 5:1-23

Discretion and discipline. Those two words are not likely to go down as the most desirable words in the English language, but they have the power to save your soul. What do these words mean to you? Why do you think God is giving us grace through this guidance today? 

Discretion is the ability to choose what is right and what is wrong, what is best and what is worst, what is common and what is holy. God wants us to choose to align our ways with His ways. Researchers estimate that the average person and an average person make 35,000 choices. Is it possible that discretion is more important than we realize? Solomon said be careful what you choose, for you will be tempted by the world around you. He uses the words adulterous woman, but in the context of our lives, it is better to think about anything that your heart lusts after. We all have desires, and desires in and of themselves are not unholy. Desires that please the flesh ahead of the spirit are quite dangerous though and can be as Solomon said deadly traps. Solomon warned that you can lose your dignity and your dollars if you chase after fleshly desires. How many lives and relationships and have been harmed by lust? 

What is the root cause of the person who experiences great pain from making poor choices? Wisdom tells us that it is a lack of discipline. The truth is discipline unlocks blessing, but many of us despise discipline. Are you someone that hates getting up early? Do you hate the idea of a diet? Do you back off the idea of a budget? The enemy of your life loves to twist the truth and he has been twisting our thinking since the apple tree. 

Eating is not bad but over eating is a sin. We need to eat to nourish our bodies, but Satan tells us to eat whatever we want even though it will lead to our bodies breaking down. Sleep is good. Oversleeping or unhealthy patterns of living cause problems. Satan loves it when we procrastinate or push the snooze button on our lives. We have to spend money to live in this world. But borrowing above our means causes endless stress, strains on relationships, and sets back our ability to steward the resources wisely that we have been given. 

Where is God speaking to you today? Where do you need more discipline in your life? Wisdom says for lack of discipline they die. What is one thing you could do to be more disciplined today? What is one step you could take to help you unlock the blessing that comes from a disciplined life? Jesus calls his followers disciples and that word means people who are disciplined to His teachings. Discipline is not a bad thing. It really is more about learning and living intentionally than denying yourself what is good in life. The root word means to learn. We are called to learn to walk in the ways of Jesus and find eternal life. 

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. But the people have not returned to him…nor have they sought the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 9:2, 6-7, 13 

This passage is certainly made more beautiful when it is in the form of a song. It was made famous by the song Handel’s Messiah, which is one of the most popular songs sung at Christmas. But we do not have to wait till the end of the year to experience the fullness of the meaning of this chapter. Jesus Christ is who He said He is.  He is the light that lights up our darkness. He is the counselor who listens and comforts us when we are hurting. He does not ask us to pretend like we do not have pain or ignore offense.  He simply invites us to return to him that he might be our comfort. Where do you need the Counselor?

He is the mighty God. His power is beyond comparison. With four words, He raised Lazarus from the dead and with two words He gave thanks to God and fed five thousand. He turned water to wine and walked on water like it was concrete. Why don’t we trust him? What would happen if we trusted in the might and power of Jesus. Where do you need the mighty power of God to move on your behalf?

He is the Everlasting Father. He wants us to know that our identity is rooted in knowing that we are family. He cares, protects, and provides for us like a parent and a child. The child does not earn the love of the Everlasting Father, but simply stands as a son or daughter. Have you proclaimed your identity today?  

He is the Prince of Peace.  He is the only way to have peace with God and peace in your hearts. There’s a great bumper sticker that says No Jesus, no peace.  Know Jesus, Know Peace. It’s truly that simple. Do you want peace in your life? Do you want peace with God? Become a disciple of Jesus and abiding with Him day and night.  

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:1, 17-25

All of history points to Jesus. Will we? The story within the story is a story of grace.  It was by God’s grace that He sent his Son that we might be saved from our sin. It was grace that Joseph had a heart to not want to harm Mary. We can read really quickly past those verses and miss the miracle.  Can you imagine how Joseph felt when he found out his fiancee was pregnant? Would he have been any less offended than David was when Saul was persecuting him? The pain that he must have felt when he found out that Mary was pregnant would have been indescribable. All of the joy and excitement, hopes and dreams of a future together shattered in a moment.  Joseph would have been wrecked, and yet he did not want to disgrace her. Why? What does that say about Joseph? Joseph was a man who was humble and wanted to honor God with how he treated people even when they treated him poorly.  Is that our heart? 

God stepped into Joseph story. He sent an angel and saved his marriage. God steps into our story too. The question is if we will be obedient like Joseph and do what He says to do. Will we be disciplined and deny the desires of our flesh to get even? Will we discern what is best avoiding the lusts of this world? Will we choose to be people who live by grace and make peace? Will we reflect Jesus with all of our actions and our reactions? Will we trust God to be judge and jury so we can just love like Jesus? 

It is not easy to choose grace. It takes great discernment and discipline to do God’s will.  Let us be like David and bow to the king by giving grace wherever and to whomever we can. Let us honor Our King by acting like the king, counselor, and comforter He made us to be by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. Let us drink water from your own cistern, the cistern of salvation. Let us fill our hearts with the love of Jesus and remember all that He did for us on the cross so that we may have a full tank of grace and peace to give to those in need.