Years ago, an employee in the butcher shop where I worked was caught stealing several hams. He defended himself by saying that he had earned them because he was underpaid. That was a flimsy reason for his sinful behavior.

In 1 Samuel we read how David was being hunted by King Saul. One night, David and his companions went to Saul's camp and discovered that the king and his men were asleep. Abishai asked permission to kill Saul, saying that this opportunity had come from God. David could have easily agreed. He undoubtedly remembered the last time he spared Saul's life when he could have killed him. At that time Saul had wept when he learned of David's mercy. He had declared David's fitness to be Israel's next king, and had quit the chase (1 Sam. 24).

But Saul had resumed his grim pursuit. David could have reasoned, "I spared him once. God is giving me this second opportunity." David rejected such thinking because he believed it would be wrong to kill the man God had anointed to be Israel's king. So he refused to do it.

When you are treated unjustly, it's easy to excuse your own hatred, impurity, dishonesty, and cruelty. But don't give in to the temptation. Like David, do what's right.  — Herbert Vander Lugt