In this psalm, David expressed wishful thinking. I wonder how many families actually get along. David’s family didn’t; they had their spats. We see it first when David took food to his brothers who were in the army. David saw the army demoralized because of Goliath and questioned the reason. His brother belittled him; of course that changed when David killed Goliath.
David’s children were problems for him. First, his son Amnon raped his half-sister and then threw her out of his house. The girl’s full brother, Absalom, then killed Amnon. Finally Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s nephew, when Absalom tried to overthrow David.
Finally, Adonijah tried a different way to usurp the throne from his father, but his plan was stopped when David proclaimed Solomon as his successor. Not long after that, Solomon had Adonijah killed when he attempted to overthrow Solomon.
But these aren’t the only examples. Jacob’s son Joseph was betrayed by 10 of his brothers who sold him into slavery. This caused Joseph to live for two decades away from his family in a foreign land.
But what does God think about this? Solomon tells us in Proverbs chapter 6 that, “There are six things the Lord hates – no seven things He detests.” Then he enumerates those seven things with # 7 being, “a person who sows discord in a family.”
We have all probably experienced this in our family or in our church family. Why? Because we are still sinners even though we’ve been saved by grace. So how do we handle this when it happens?
Joseph handled it appropriately. He said to his brothers, “It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. . .So it was God who sent me here, not you!” (Genesis 4:5, 8) Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Personally, God has taught me that when I get angry with others, I must forgive that person because He has forgiven all my failures. This is a hard lesson to learn.