When a Michigan deer hunter found a 100-pound buck struggling to get out of a mud-bog in which it was hopelessly stuck, the hunter couldn't bring himself to squeeze the trigger. Instead, he and his hunting partner snared the animal with a rope and pulled it out of the mud. The deer then bolted to freedom.

The hunter later recalled, "When you see a deer like that, eyeball to eyeball, it's a little different. I think the eyes did it, that longing look, as if to say, 'What are you going to do?'"

This account bears an interesting parallel to the incident recorded in 1 Samuel 24. Saul was in a defenseless situation when David and his armed men found him in a cave. David had good reason to kill Saul. Yet he showed mercy. He knew that the Lord had made Saul king of Israel, and he was not about to take the life of the Lord's anointed--even though it would have been easy (v.10).

Suppose someone who has hurt you in the past suddenly became vulnerable. Would your reaction be to hurt him? Or would you be compassionate and reverent like David, who recognized that judgment and vengeance belong to the Lord? (v.12). Let's look at others through the eyes of mercy.  — Mart De Haan