The biggest victory!

[AI translation] Let me say right at the outset that I have already spoken about this Word in Bible class this past week - and that is why, because I have already spoken about it there, I feel it necessary to speak about it in the wider congregation, and therefore here in the church - this section of David's life story could be summarized under the title, David's greatest victory. The man has had many struggles, many victories that have made his name famous: as a young shepherd boy, according to the biblical account, he fought the lion and protected his flock from it. Later, he won a victory over the mighty Goliath that brought him into the limelight, and then, fighting the ancient enemy, the Philistines, he won many battles so that the people of a whole country echoed his name as a victorious general. He has had many great and glorious victories, but now he has won the greatest victory of his life, for now he has triumphed over himself! For when one conquers oneself, when one conquers one's most natural desires and instincts, then one has won a greater victory than a general who conquers countries!In this story, David found himself in a situation of almost the greatest temptation: he met his enemy in a way that left him utterly defenceless against him. He was at his mercy. The very first thought that instinctively springs up in one's mind is: "Now I'll get you, you wretch! You're in my hands! Now at last I can give you back everything, I can get even with you, I can do to you what I want, what you deserve! He had every right to get rid of his enemy with a spear thrust, for if he did not kill Saul, Saul would kill him. He is encouraged to do so by his surroundings, everyone around him says, "Don't pity the wretch, put him to death in the name of God! Now is the time! He, himself, has his hand almost in the air - and yet it is not! It's as if somebody had held his hand down! He has missed the opportunity, he has missed it! Sometimes such a negative, that one doesn't do something, which is the right thing to do, which one has the right to do, and which one has a reason not to do, is sometimes such a negative: the most positive victory! Here it was! A positive victory! Here was his chance, all he had to do was reach out his hand, all he had to do was take one more step and he would have got what he wanted! No! No! You must not! The hand that raises the spear bends down. Let the wretch run! He can't run from God anyway! The eternal Judge will punish him for everything! David was the greatest now! Greater than Goliath with his severed head in his hand! For he had conquered - himself! The most natural emotion of the human heart, the desire for revenge, for retribution, for avenging, for avenging, the emotion that man feels against his enemy!
Everyone has an enemy! Even the gentlest, the most peaceful of men! The modern world we live in can turn people against each other in a terrible way! Often even those who were best friends or belong to the same family. Everyone has an enemy. This enemy may be a specific person: perhaps someone who causes you more trouble every day - modern housing conditions produce a particularly large number of such enemies. Or it could be that particular person who persecutes you for no reason, who slanders you, who tries to undermine your honour and your existence, whom you fear because you know he can and will harm you. Or maybe he is a rival and cannot stand your greater success, so he soaks you where he can, or maybe he is jealous of you because he doesn't have what you have. There's great truth in the saying that human stupidity and human malice knows no bounds. And both stupidity and malice can very quickly make one an enemy of another person! - But that enemy may not be a particular person, but a particular group of people, acquaintances or strangers, near or far, with whom your thinking, your world-view, your interests conflict. Who are collectively harmful to you - you think! It is now the most natural human instinct: to want to return the hurt, to retaliate, to avenge the harm, to take down the enemy! To wait for the moment when he is defenceless, weaker, inferior, when "God will deliver him into my hands", as David's friends said!
This most natural human instinct is what makes life on earth so bitter, what makes the history of the world so bloody! For all history is, in fact, an uninterrupted procession of back-and-forth showdowns! Sometimes one settles accounts with the other, and sometimes vice versa, according to which is in a better position, which has the better opportunity and chance. This is the practice which today still darkens the future for all mankind. For humanity has reached a point where, if it does not put a stop to this process, it will literally exterminate itself! My brothers and sisters, I do not want to repeat here the thoughts that everyone knows, because everywhere you hear and read about the endangerment of life on the entire globe, but let me quote a Western philosopher: "Man today is capable of more destruction than he can imagine!" And if this is true, and it is true, then it is terrible! Just think: "Man today is capable of more destruction than he can imagine!" This means that if either side starts to lay hands on the enemy: the world could literally end! Now we must really hold down with all our might the hand that is raised on the enemy! That is why every man in every part of the globe today watches with such anxious hope for the occasions when the leaders of mankind are discussing the fate of mankind.
What can we, the little people, do about the question so much discussed by the great? Do we, as Christian believers, have anything concrete to do about the fate of the world? Do we just watch with flickering and waning hope as the leaders negotiate, or is there something positive we can do, individually, for all of us? This is a question that all Christian believers must face honestly and without prejudice! Well, yes, we have very specific tasks! Namely: the ministry of supplication! I truly hope, Brothers and Sisters, that the daily prayer of every one of you who prays regularly includes the prayer that God will save the world from the danger of another destruction and that He will bring to triumph the forces of true goodwill and peace in international politics! Do not underestimate the service of prayer! If we could truly unite and pray with one heart and soul, all of us Christians in every corner of the globe: the effects of God's Spirit would have greater power over the hearts and minds of men, and we could live a more peaceful and peaceful life on earth! You know Paul's exhortation to Timothy: "Let supplications, prayers, supplications, thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in dignity, that we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in full fear of God and in righteousness." If your child is sick, does it not make your prayer boil over, with what heart can you pray for him? Well, now all mankind is sick! It is in mortal peril! He who cannot pray fervently has known very little of God's love! If you have not done so already, will you join the prayer front from now on, to fight for a "quiet and peaceful" life for mankind on earth?
But that's not all! There must be more and more concrete tasks for the Christian man. And that is to overcome within yourself all hostility, to reconcile in the depths of your soul with all your enemies! For example, you must overcome the spirit within yourself that thinks: one or two atomic bombs will settle the dispute! That spirit that doesn't mind if a quarter of humanity is destroyed, just to make it better for itself! It is a murderous spirit, and a mass murderous spirit at that. And such a spirit cannot be tolerated by a man who, as a Christian, bears the name of Jesus! Do you know that the enemy is the touchstone of one's relationship with God? It is by your attitude towards your enemy that you can most accurately measure your attitude towards God. You are as far from God as you are from the person or group of people you consider yourself furthest from. He who cannot be reconciled in his heart to his enemy is still at enmity with God. If you cannot forgive someone against whom you may be right, it shows that you are still not in a state of mind to accept God's forgiveness of your sins. Anyone who cannot have mercy on his enemy, like David Saulon, has not yet truly embraced God's compassionate mercy! Open your heart to God in such a way that His love in Jesus overcomes every enemy in you.
But that is not all! You must do more! You need to bring positive Christlike forces into the way people live together. What are these positive Christ forces? For example, love is a positive Christ-force, so if you really love someone who does not love you! So is forgiveness! So if you forgive someone who has harmed you! Or if you try to please someone who annoys you! Don't tell me it's not worth it, because what is that little love worth in this vast sea of hate? Well, the positive Christ powers of love and joy and peace are more powerful than the powers of hate and warfare and malice - because God is more powerful than Satan! And the future belongs to those who love and forgive, because the future belongs to God! No action is in vain that brings positive Christ-influences into people's lives! And besides: it is the only expedient way to defeat the enemy. Well, here too in the story: Saul, seeing David's goodness, was completely reconciled, soothed, moved to tears, the malice against David evaporated, he was overcome by David's goodness! That is the only way to defeat the enemy: with friendship! As Jesus said, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21) Fire cannot be put out with fire, only multiplied, hatred cannot be suppressed with hatred, only increased! Enemies cannot be defeated by violence, only by kindness and love! By defeating ourselves!
That is what God did to us! Do you know when Jesus was at his greatest? When he didn't come down from the cross! Many times people were amazed to see the divine power of Jesus! With what majestic power he commanded the waves of the sea, the storm of the wind, with what majestic power he conquered sickness, with what power he conquered death there at Lazarus' tomb! But greater than all, there on the cross, when, in the horror of the physical and spiritual suffering that fell upon him, he showed what power he had - over himself! He could have called on angels to help him, he could have torn himself from the hands of men with a single jerk, he could have fought his enemies with a single word, he would have had the power, but he did not use it! And in so doing he won the greatest victory, and in so doing he brought the most positive power, divine redeeming love, into human life. Into yours too! Into mine too! That is why it is possible for us to win - over ourselves!
Amen
Date: 9 October 1960.