Gentleness - 6 May 2009

“You have given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand supports me; your gentleness has made me great.”  Psalm 18:35

The recent devotionals making use of Psalms as their basis got me looking at some of them again.

David wrote many of them and he was a truly illustrious king. Apart from the psalms he gained mighty victories against overwhelming enemies, he administered a far-reaching kingdom, showed concern for the true worship of God and developed Jerusalem as the nations capital. These all point to his greatness both as a king and a man.

David was always ready to speak of the ways the Lord had assisted him throughout his life. Men celebrating great victories, as David was when he wrote this psalm, rarely speak of their weakest moments but are inclined to speak of what they did to accomplish such feats. David never downplayed the significance of his own role, but always gave God the credit for working in and through him.

The surprise in this psalm is that in the midst of speaking of war and victory he says “your gentleness has made me great” Gentleness? Making him great? He says that his own greatness is due to the Lord’s gentleness. We tend to think of David as a great king and warrior, but remember, he spared Saul’s life twice, he took Mephibosheth the crippled survivor of Saul’s wrecked dynasty into his own home, and protected the survivor of one of Saul’s massacres with his own life.

The great warrior king had a great gentleness, which he had learned from our great, and gentle, God.

To this day, great men can be gentlemen, and gentle men can be truly great.

Lord, let our gentleness display your greatness.