Are You a Javelin Thrower?

1 Samuel 18:11

“And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.”

My church just got through with a camp meeting. We heard a lot of preaching in the few days, and during one of the messages, one of the preachers mentioned this passage of Scripture. I’ve heard it many times, but this time, the javelin arrested my attention. It was like God showed me an angle I had not seen before, and I felt His leading to write about it.

In this verse, King Saul tries to kill David twice with a javelin. Why? David had always been an extremely loyal servant to Saul. Saul had set him over his army, and with that David destroyed many of Israel’s enemies. On top of that, David was close friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan. Why would Saul try to kill him?

The key is in the few verses before this one. After one of David’s victories, the people start singing about Saul and David. How that Saul has killed thousands of their enemies, but David had killed ten thousands. And verse 9 of this same chapter says,

“And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”

You see, Saul allowed a very dangerous feeling to enter inside of him. Jealousy. And with that sprouted bitterness. Suddenly, he was blinded to everything that David had done. All he could see was the flaw in David, and one that Saul had invented himself. He grew it out of proportion, and began to fear his kingdom would be lost. And so, when David came to play his harp before Saul, the king took up his javelin and attempted to kill his most loyal subject. In his mind he justified it: he was trying to kill who he viewed as a usurper.

And from this thought came a question to my mind: who am I throwing javelins at? I may not have physical javelins, but what about mental ones? Verbal ones? Who do I want to smite to the wall?

Bitterness is a very dangerous state of mind to allow. It blinds you. I know from experience. For many years, there was a family member I was particularly bitter against. Why? I cannot really recall the reason now, only that I was. And during those years, everything that person did was wrong, and everything I did was justified. The littlest things that person did were great sins in my eyes, while my retaliation was simply justice or teaching them a lesson. I heard it said once that bitterness is a poison you take in hopes it will kill someone else, and that is one of the truest statements I’ve ever heard.

Bitterness will consume you, and cause you to hurt those that you love. In 1 Samuel 20, just two chapters later, Saul throws a javelin at his own son for defending David. Then his life goal becomes to destroy David. His bitterness consumed him so much, nothing else mattered to him than to kill David.

In my time of bitterness, I became the same way. The family members that defended the one I hated became my enemies as well. I didn’t even realize it, but I began throwing javelins at more than just my “enemy”. I was trying to wound others as well.

It wasn’t until God delivered me from that bitterness that I saw the truth about the circumstances. It wasn’t that family member that was the problem. I was the problem. That family member was not destroying my peace or my life. I was.

Hebrews 12:15 states,

“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”

Bitterness is a root. Something hidden, that slowly grows more and more, choking out peace and love in your heart. The javelins aren’t the problem. They are the fruit of the real problem. Trying to set down the javelins and walk away won’t work. More will simply sprout. You must pull out the root of bitterness that they grow from.

How is that done? Psalms 51:6a states,

“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:”

You must first come face-to-face with your bitterness. Admit it is there and confront it. Then you must be willing to truly forgive the person you feel bitterness toward.

Matthew 18:21-22

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

You have to move past everything they have done, no matter how much they have hurt you. I remember when God really began dealing with me about my bitterness, and I began to see what it was doing to me. I remember looking at my family member as they walked by and saying to myself, “Alright God, I forgive them. What they have done in the past I will forget and not hold against them anymore.”

That wasn’t a statement of self-will and strength, but of faith and submission to God. I did not know how to forgive them. I did not know how to move on. But God took that simple act and pulled the roots out. It didn’t go away completely, but the next few times I was tempted to throw a javelin, God gave me the strength to set it down and walk away. And soon my javelins ran out, because the root was dead. And peace and love were able to grow once more. The person I once hated I began to love as I should. The scars are still there, and probably always will be. But the root of bitterness is gone, and I praise God completely for it.

So my challenge is this: examine your life. Do you have javelins ready to throw? Who are they aimed at? And is it really worth it to try to smite them as Saul tried? If have javelins poised to throw, get right with God immediately. Saul’s story did not end well. He and all his sons died by the time it was all over.

And David? Well, he never let bitterness arise in his heart. Not once did he try to throw back the javelins that Saul had thrown. And soon he became king of Israel. Which is ironic, isn’t it? That the was the whole reason for Saul’s jealousy, and his bitterness is what paved the way for it to happen.

Put down your javelins, search your heart, and seek the Lord. You cannot remove the root of bitterness from your heart, but God can. You just have to be completely willing to let Him.