Let's have a look at some of the Old Testament, have a look quickly, last scripture and then I'll give you one more story. This is a great story and it's true which is better still. In 2 Samuel, Chapter 6 - then I'll share just a little personal testimony. We'll finish and I want to give you an opportunity to think and let the Holy Spirit speak to you, because I think He wants to help some of you get free. I think He wants to set people free from bitterness and anger and terrible grief over what's happened in your background and to get you to take steps to actually become a person of honour so that your future and that of your offspring is much different, aye? So look, I want you to have a look with me here and this a revival move in 2 Samuel, Chapter 6, Verse 14; David danced before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen ephod and so David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. Now David has a wife called Michal and Michal is the daughter of King Saul. King Saul dreadfully manipulated her and used her to try and bring about the death of David, but Michal loved David. She was passionately in love with him. She found a way of protecting him, finally got him out of the city and what Saul did was Saul - notice this is David's father-in-law, a person who should have actually been a person who loved him and valued him and helped him prepare him for his destiny. Instead of that he was dishonouring and abusive and so when you follow the story you find that Saul declared David a national fugitive. He sent the armies out, he pursued him all over, one place to the other, drove him out of the country in the end into a neighbouring country and had virtually a kill on sight warrant out on him, destroy him on sight.
So David is living with his father-in-law against him all the time. He had more than one opportunity to kill his father-in-law. In fact those around him said boy, God's given you the opportunity you can get rid of your problem now and David said I won't touch what God has anointed, or in other words this is an authority that God has placed in my life. The fact he's abusive is not my issue, this is God's issue. I'm not going to arise and come against him and dishonour the office that God has given him so I can get my life to become easier. Twice David was put in that same situation. Twice his friends urged him to kill King Saul and he said no, I can't do this because this would be to dishonour God if I was to do such a thing. I just need to trust God with my life and leave Saul to God to sort out. I won't rise up and dishonour him.
So that was David's heart. David then comes into his destiny and now he's restored, he's now king of Israel without having to try and kill Saul. He's king of Israel. His wife - now his wife had her journey too. Soon after King Saul had chased David out of town, King Saul forced her to marry another man. Imagine what it's like being forced to marry someone - you love your husband, he's been driven out by your father and now you're forced to marry and have sexual relationships and live with another man, all the time yearning for your husband to come and get you and he never turns up. He's a national fugitive. Can you imagine the trauma and the terrible hurt that she must have suffered?
David also suffered the hurt of knowing this had happened, knowing his wife is with someone else, knowing his father-in-law's responsible. Both of them suffered injustice at the hands of the same man, but David arose and instead of bringing judgement brought grace into it. He said I'm going to leave it to God to sort out. I will maintain honour because God has put him in this role in my life. Did he stay connected to him? No, he ran away from him and we're not necessarily - if someone is a violent abusive person, honouring them does not mean you have to stay around them, you understand that? You know, honouring does not mean you stay around them. Honouring them is an issue of the heart. It's the issue of placing value on the office or role that they have because in doing that you're honouring God. It takes faith to do that, see? But to do that you've got to overcome the tendency to hold unforgiveness and judgements in the heart, see?