A Life for a Life

​A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, February 23, 2025:
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

1 Samuel
​26.2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-25

Saul rose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph.

David and Abishai went into Saul’s army by night; there Saul lay sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the army lay around him. Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand today; now therefore let me pin him to the ground with one stroke of the spear; I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?”

So David took the spear that was at Saul’s head and the water jar, and they went away. No one saw it, or knew it, nor did anyone awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

Then David went over to the other side, and stood on top of a hill far away, with a great distance between them. David called aloud to Saul, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and get it. The Lord rewards everyone for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord gave you into my hand today, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. As your life was precious today in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he rescue me from all tribulation.”

Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

This Sunday’s First Reading is a challenging one. Actually, I found all of the readings a bit challenging, and I wondered how they fit together. I’m grateful to have a book of reflections on the Sunday readings, which sheds light on the connecting thread moving through the readings. Plus the Holy Spirit always leads us when we call upon Him. God always provides!

David spares Saul’s life in order to save his own. There is something good, even seemingly heroic, in David’s restraint when he comes upon his enemy and chooses to save his life. Saul has long since persecuted David, and maybe the implication here is that, if Saul had been the one to find David vulnerable in his tent, he would not have shown David’s clemency. David acts according to the ancient Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. To use a more modern phrase, it’s a “tit for tat” mentality. I scratch your back; you scratch mine. (Apparently we have a lot of catchy phrases for this one idea.)

Yet, in the Gospel, Jesus exhorts His disciples to pray for their enemies and to do more than merely love those who love them. In typical fashion, Christ takes a governing mentality of the day and, instead of abolishing it, purifies and elevates it according to the new way. Jesus, the New Adam and the New David, shows us the way to turn the tables on this Old Testament mentality in His sacrifice on the cross. He didn’t spare our lives in order to save His own; He gave up His own life, in order to save ours. 

Jesus calls His disciples, and us, to scale up to the same heights of sacrificial love, not because He wants more of us but because He wants more for us.

He wants us to have the freedom of the sons of God, not just the sons of Adam – the freedom that leaps from our depths and chooses to love, not only when it will benefit us but even when the other person will remain ungrateful, treat us badly or persecute us. 

May we live and love with the heart of Christ, which doesn’t count the cost. 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like Your own. 


Sr. Angela Burnham​

---