Saul became king in stages. First the prophet Samuel anointed him in a private ceremony (1 Samuel 10:1). Then, Samuel identified him publicly by casting lots before all of the tribes (1 Samuel 10:17-25). At that time, the people shouted, “God save the king!” (1 Samuel 10:24). But some people despised him, asking, “How shall this man save us?” (1 Samuel 10:27). His kingship was solidified later, when he led a combined army to defend the city of Jabesh-gilead from an Ammonite attack. The city would have easily fallen to the enemy, who were probably counting on Israel to be fragmented and disunited. Saul gathered an enormous army that routed the Ammonites. After that, his sovereignty was unquestioned.
The people, perhaps wanting to demonstrate their loyalty to the new king, called for retribution against his detractors. “Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us?” they asked. “Bring the men, that we may put them to death” (1 Samuel 11:12). But Saul didn’t want vengeance, and he didn’t want to claim credits for the victory. So he replied:
There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel.
1 Samuel 11:13
Many years later, a military commander showed a similar forbearance toward an invading army. The Lamanite commander Zerahemnah attacked the Nephites with a massive army, but the leader of the Nephite army, Captain Moroni, had prepared his soldiers with armor. Furthermore, Moroni’s army had superior motives, fighting for their families and their freedom, not to obtain power over other people. Even though Moroni’s army was outnumbered, they began to prevail. When Moroni saw this, he halted the fighting and met with Zerahemnah.
“Behold, Zerahemnah,” he said, “that we do not desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.” Like Saul, he gave the credit for their victory to God: “Ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands.” He offered Zerahemnah an off-ramp: “Deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and … we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us” (Alma 44:3, 6). At first, Zerahemnah refused the offer, and the fighting continued, but when Zerahemnah realized that there was no hope, he “cried mightily unto Moroni,” promising never to attack the Nephites again. Moroni halted the fighting, and “after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness” (Alma 44:19-20).
Like Saul, Moroni was a fighter, but he didn’t glorify violence. He “did not delight in bloodshed” (Alma 48:11). He wanted to defend his people’s freedom, and he believed that God would deliver them if they were faithful to Him. But he didn’t want to harm people unnecessarily. He delighted “not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity” (Alma 48:16).
Today I will champion good causes without making people my enemies unnecessarily. I will remember that the victory belongs to God, and when He has worked His miracle, there is no reason for bitterness toward those who may have wronged me.
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