How do you react when your wrong decisions cause pain and trouble for yourself and others? What do you do when others then bitterly blame you and accuse you?

We all make mistakes in judgment. And we all sin. There are consequences to these mistakes and sins. Surely we must take responsibility for those consequences.

But every mistake, every sin, and every conflict is an opportunity for God to display His sovereign goodness. And thus every error and sin of ours provides us with the opportunity to trust in Him, and thus to glorify Him.

Consider present conflict in your family, among your friends, or in your workplace. Limit your thoughts to those conflicts for which you are in large measure responsible: Your sin, or your error of judgment, has led to this dispute. How should you respond biblically? How can these problems lead to God’s glory?

This is the situation David finds himself in at the beginning of 1 Samuel 30. King Saul has been pursuing him, trying to kill him, for some time. God miraculously rescues David again and again. But, tiring of the continual flight, David goes over to Israel’s enemies, the Philistines (1 Samuel 27:1-2). He even becomes bodyguard to a Philistine king, who has him settle in the town of Ziklag. There is no record of David praying about this decision, or of his asking God for guidance via the priest Abiathar. He’s tired of running, so he leaves Israel. To justify his position among the Philistines, he pretends to raid Judah, all the while slaughtering non-Israelite men and women indiscriminately – wrong even by the norms of his day. He then lies about his raids to cover his tracks (1 Samuel 27:8-11).

But then the Philistines muster their troops to attack Israel. What will David do? Will he actually fight against the troops he himself has called “the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:26)? Or will he break his promise to the Philistines, fight with the Israelites – and thus almost certainly sentence to death the wives and families of him and his men, who are in Philistine-controlled territory in Ziklag?

God rescues David from this dilemma, raising doubts about his loyalty in the minds of some Philistine commanders (1 Samuel 29:3-4). Protesting but undoubtedly relieved, David and his men return to Ziklag. Along the way, some key Israelite commanders, having deserted Saul, come over to David (1 Chronicles 12:19-22). All seems to be going well.

Upon arrival in Ziklag, however, David and his men find the city looted and burned, their wives and children taken captive. Some Amalekites, knowing that the Philistines were gathering to attack Israel, have taken advantage of the absence of the troops to raid the area. The very event David thought was avoided by his being sent away from the Philistines has come to pass. He and his men weep until they have “no more strength to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4).

As happens so often, the general sorrow turns to bitterness as the men look to punish the person responsible. They understandably blame David; a murmuring arises, saying that David must be stoned.

Here David faces the situation described above: He has ignored God, doing what he thought was in his interest. He has sinned. He has made errors of judgment. He is indeed to blame. What does he do?

David does what you and I must do in similar situations. He does what he should have done when he tired of fleeing from Saul. He “strengthens himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).

How does he do this? He fights the fight of faith to believe that God is indeed sovereign, even over such events. He reminds himself of God’s promises to him personally and to his people. So he speaks to himself words like our Fighter Verses for this week:

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 125:1-2)

The Lord surrounds His people – even when they have been disobedient. Those who trust in Him cannot be moved – even when there are consequences of their sin.

David strengthens himself in the Lord as he does in Psalm 57. He is in great distress:

My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts – the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. (Psalm 57:4)

But as he prays, he moves to exaltation in the sovereign love of God for him and for his people:

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! ⁸ Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!  ⁹ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.  ¹⁰ For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.  ¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (Psalm 57:7-11)

Strengthened in the Lord, David then inquires of God whether or not to pursue the raiders. Under God’s direction, he does so, and succeeds. He ascribes that victory completely to the Lord (1 Samuel 30:23).

This is the biblical response to our wrong decisions. By all means, confess sin and repent. But don’t be hamstrung by past sin. It would have been wrong for David to say, “Oh, my sin and errors of judgment led to this tragedy! Go ahead and stone me!”

No. Jesus has paid the penalty for all the sin of all who trust in Him. So trust! Remember God’s promises. Look to Christ. Pray without ceasing. And then step forward, by His power for His glory – as a forgiven sinner.

Peter summarizes this lesson for us marvelously:

Having prepared your minds for action by being completely sober, set your hope fully on the grace being brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).

We are completely sober when we see ourselves through God’s eyes: We see our sins, and we see our status in Christ; we see our inadequacies, and we see the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; we see how little we know and understand, and we trust that God gives wisdom to those who ask.

Through such sobriety, we are strengthened in the Lord, as was David. Then we are ready to act – completely in dependence on God’s grace, given to us in Christ, to be fully realized when He comes again.

So, my friends, consider again your present conflicts. Will you be completely sober? Will you strengthen yourself in the Lord? And so will you use the opportunity of this conflict to glorify God?