The Oil and Water of Worship and Unforgiveness

King Saul would not give up pursuing David. It says in 1 Samuel 23:14, “And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.” Two times in these chapters, God gave Saul into David’s hand, but David would not touch “…the LORD’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 24:6, 26:11). It also states that David would return to live the stronghold. The word stronghold is an interesting word in Hebrew, matsad. It means a strong fortification, but the root word is a verb and means to hunt, to chase, to pursue. Mentioned twice in these chapters that describe how Saul was chasing David to kill him, and how David refused to hunt Saul, is telling.

We know from the Psalms that David had a heart that hunted God. The Lord Himself described David as a man after His own heart! David wrote in Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” It would have been easy for David to rid himself of the relentless fury of Saul and yet David had a different passion. His desire to know and pursue God was stronger than anything else in his life. Having a strong and passionate pursuit that becomes a fortification in your life can go either way; like that of Saul or like that of David.

Choosing to chase God everyday is to deny yourself of chasing everything else. One of the things we chase after is to “get even” with those who have hurt us, or have hurt those we love. This is called unforgiveness. My computer does not recognize this word as a word. We should also remind ourselves with a red underline that it has no place in my heart or mind either. If you are going to pursue the Father with a passion, to worship Him in spirit and truth, you must get rid of unforgiveness.

Some might say, “I can forgive, but I can’t forget.” It is impossible to forget an event in your life, especially if it carries strong emotion and pain. David knew that feeling all to well. What you can do is to release the debt associated with the event by forgiving the person, and asking God to heal you of the pain. When you do, it has not come from you, but from above, through you! When that happens, the memory of the event glorifies the Father, for it was His love that released the debt and His presence that healed the pain. Remembering the event then becomes an act of worship! And David knew that experience very well. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Living in the stronghold of pursuing the Father and hunting for ways to express His love glorifies Him. Living in the stronghold of getting even, desiring vindication and justice, hunting ways to see “those people” get what is coming to them, ends up in a fortification of sin and separation from God. This is called a no-brainer, because it is not from your brain that you forgive, it is from the new heart that Christ made possible for you through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave! It will be a sacrifice to forgive those who have hurt you and may still be hunting you. But it was a sacrifice that forgave you! A big one!

Today, decide to live in the stronghold of pursuing the Father in spirit and truth. Make that promise and commitment through faith in Jesus Christ, and He will do it!