Not the Reward You were Looking for

May 14, 2009

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 3-4 and Psalms 15-17

In the Old Testament Reading, two soldiers of David thought they were doing the right thing when they went and murdered Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul.

I can see why. David could not be king because the line of Saul had yet to be cut off. I’m sure Recab and Baanah thought they would get a medal for the valiant efforts, but instead, they got pinned.

David even states a similar situation where some Amalekite says he killed Saul. What is weird is that this story contradicts how it says Saul actually dies. I can only suggest that maybe this guy was looking for some sort of reward from David for killing the king. Sadly, he also got pinned.

Have you ever done that? You did something that you thought was good, but instead of getting rewarded, you got punished? The worst part is that it could have been prevented if it had been thought your actions through.

Of course, it would be like me to take the view of the guys who thought they were doing the right thing. After all, I took the side of Esau whenever I discussed Esau and Jacob.

Sadly, it is difficult to for the person who is supposedly receiving a gift, but gets a curse. Psalm 15:4 says that “who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts”.

In the two cases with David, David probably didn’t want to punish those guys who thought they were doing the right thing. Still, everyone has to pay the price for their actions, but no one wants to be the instrument of this.

Yeah, no one wants to be the guy who metes and doles unequal laws to a savage race. And yet, as I have said before, the people who often thing they are doing the wrong things usually believe that they are doing the right thing. Occasionally, they believe that they are doing the right thing with all their heart.

The truth is that we should really expect a reward when we do the right thing. Yes, it is true that it really sucks when we get punished for doing something we thought was right, but that isn’t the point.

The point in is that we are put on this Earth to “go do the right thing”. I realize I sound like that Dr. Laura chick, but it reminds me of a student who went to the blackboard and solved a problem for his calculus professor. He apparently hoped for some high praise, but the teacher just told him to sit down.

When the student questioned his professor later, he told him that: “A correct answer isn’t an option in my classroom, it is required”. Yeah, we are truly required to do the right thing, and whether or not we get rewarded now is immaterial.