Today's Devotional
June 8, 2006
Subject: Rejoicing Over Death?
Proverbs 14:32 - "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death."
He had glory in killing so many. He videotaped some of his executions and put them on the web and delivered them to TV stations for the world to see. He led an attack in Jordan last year that killed 60 people and most recently he issued a video declaring that his people must kill all those who resist them. Today this man, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is dead, killed in an air raid north of Baghdad earlier today.
I remember during my tour in Iraq, how my feelings toward death changed. I used to quote from Martin Luther King, where he said, "every man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." I seemingly adopted that attitude towards most death, however the old testament command of "putting to death one who sheds innocent blood" became my battle cry in Iraq. It sounds pretty harsh, but on one occasion as I sat in a meeting with a tribal sheik who was supposedly providing me information on the whereabouts of Al-Zarqawi, I told him, "you know we want to kill him, don't you?" I continually proclaimed to my Iraqi counterparts that "he must die."
The verse above explains my feelings over the death of a murderer such as Zarqawi was. He was "the wicked driven away in his wickedness" as Iraqi and U.S. forces pursued him, several times nearly capturing him and one time wounding him. Today, I'm sure there will be much rejoicing in Iraq by those who have seen the evil deeds perpetrated by this man. There is still much to be done in reconciling the people of Iraq, but today, there is rejoicing for "the righteous who hoped for his death."
