58 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
ager had for his employees. Before we met with the entire employee
group, he insisted on taking me to lunch privately, where he proceeded
to brief me not so much on the operational issues but rather on the
emotional toll the merged operation had taken on himself and his em-
ployees, who had also been threatened with a downsizing. He confided
that he was so disheartened that he had difficulty sleeping at night and
had asked his doctor for an anti-anxiety medication. This manager’s
tenderhearted concern for his employees reminds me of the lament of
Jeremiah: ‘‘Oh that my head were a spring of water. I would weep day
and night for the slain of my people.’’ ( Jer. 9:1)
The story of King Saul and David, who succeeded him as king, is an
example of compassion in the face of hostility. Saul’s anger was inextin-
guishably engendered when he first heard the people singing, ‘‘Saul has
slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.’’ From then on, he
pursued David with a vengeance, hurling a spear at him in the royal
palace and pursuing him throughout the countryside.
Fortunately for David, he had the friendship and compassion of Saul’s
own son, Jonathan. Jonathan warned David to flee from his father, and
David returned this compassion with compassion toward Saul. David
was hiding in a cave when Saul entered. David could have killed his
vengeful adversary, but instead merely tore off a piece of Saul’s robe as
a sign that he had the power to kill him, but had not.
David’s compassionate sparing of Saul was a major step in his peaceful
accession to the throne. He even buried Saul after he was killed in
battle. But David’s compassion extended even into the next generation.
Shortly after assuming the kingship of all Israel, David asked if there
was anyone left of the house of Saul, his former tormentor. There was,
a man named Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson and Jonathan’s son, who
was ‘‘crippled in both feet.’’ David summoned Mephibosheth, who un-
derstandably, as a member of Saul’s household, feared the worst. After
all, he was totally incapable of running, and he realized that as the sole
surviving member of Saul’s household, he could be the target of all of
David’s revenge.
But David’s compassion was greater than his vengefulness. He re-
membered the kindness of Jonathan and chose to overlook the treacher-