A Window of Forgiveness.

“Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.” -1 Samuel 18:20

Who isn’t a sucker for a good love story?

In 1 Samuel 18:20, we read that King Saul’s daughter, Michal, was in love with a young up and coming superstar among the Israelites… a young man by the name of David. She declares her love for David and her father, Saul, was elated. Here’s the thing. Not because he was ready to welcome David into the family. Quite the opposite. Jealousy and envy filled Saul’s heart and he saw this as an opportunity to have David killed. So, he offers David his daughter’s hand in marriage on a single condition…

“‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines. -1 Samuel 18:24

Yeah. I thought the same.

So… David willingly accepts Saul’s challenge and, much to Saul’s surprise, brings back 200 Philistine foreskins. Go big or go home. NOT exactly what Saul had expected (nor any of the 200 Philistines that David ran into on that unfortunate day). So Saul gives his daughter’s hand in marriage to David.

Happily ever after?

Not so much.

Michal catches wind that her father wanted to have David killed in their bed while they slept so she tells David of Saul’s plans and lowers him out of a window giving him the opportunity to escape in the middle of the night. The guards would come, they would attempt to kill David, but they would not find him in the bed. Michal saved David’s life. She would be brought before her father Saul and come up with a story protecting her and giving David the out he needed.

And then? Wait for it:

He would never come back for her.

In fact, David would go on, have multiple wives, and would never return for Michal, the King’s daughter, who loved him and saved his life.

Flash forward. David is returning the ark back to Jerusalem and dancing wildly before the Lord. Guess who’s watching from the same window that David was lowered from? Michal.

As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. -2 Samuel 6:16

Heartbreaking, right? From that same window where, in love, Michal lowered David to safety and freedom, he would never return. And then the day comes where, years later, she would look through that same window and, upon seeing David, that love would be replaced with hatred, bitterness, and anger.

Enter into the picture this little word, “forgiveness”.

We pray this dangerous part of the Lord’s Prayer each Sunday where we say the words as a community of faith, “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (see Matthew 6:12). To ask for forgiveness? Easy. To extend forgiveness? That’s something completely different. Yet… how necessary to forgive. An inability to let go the wrong, no matter how small or how great, only leads to resentment, contempt, and angst. Listen. Nothing good grows out of that garden. I love what D.L. Moody says about those who say they will forgive but hold on to the wrong committed to them. To do this is to “simply bury the hatchet but leave the handle out for immediate use”.

Hard to move forward when we’re chained to a wrong committed in the past. Maybe it’s time to pull the shade on that window of bitterness, resentment, and anger. Instead, look to the one who brings freedom.

Paul says it well.