Past Memories can Impact Future Behavior - 1 Samuel 16-20

Past Memories can Impact Future Behavior 

1 Samuel 18:25-27 (ESV)
25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.

In the above passage we have a portion of the story of Saul trying to destroy David.  Saul was jealous of David.  Saul envied David’s success and the praise he received from the people of Judah and Israel.   The people sang praise about David more than Saul and that angered the King.  As a result, Saul sets up a plot to entice David to do something (playing on David’s courageous spirit) that will, in Saul’s mind, result in David’s certain demise.    David, as the above text states, was not destroyed and, in fact, doubles Saul’s request.  This really fuels King Saul’s anger and pushes him further into destroying David’s life.    

It might look, however, like the above plot has little impact in David.  However, we should note that years later, David attempts (successfully) the same thing on someone he wants to destroy.   After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he discovers that she is pregnant with his baby.   Bathsheba is married to a soldier in David’s army named, Uriah.   To save his reputation, David brings Uriah back from fighting these same Philstines, in hopes that Uriah would sleep with his wife. This would make everyone believer Bathsheba was pregnant because Uriah came back.  However, Uriah does not sleep with Bathsheba.  This is when David’s memory kicks in to have him devise a plot similar to Saul’s plot to kill him.  David sends the following letter to Uriah’s commander.  Note the comparison of David’s letter to have Uriah killed, to Saul’s plot to kill David: 

2 Samuel 11:14-15 (ESV)
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.”

David’s plot is successful.   Saul’s was not.  David thought he had beaten Saul’s trap by killing 200 Philistines.   But, David’s mind did not forget this.   This explicit (or, implicit) memory was left in David’s mind.   He might have conquered the event, but not the memory.   As we move forward in this world we have to realize that our explicit and/or implicit memories are always trying to control us and take us places we do not want to go.   Our fight is not always the temptations around us, it can often be the imprinted memories inside us.  We have to guard against these memories that might rise up within us by creating new patterns of thought as we renew our minds in Christ:

Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.