Last week Solomon was crowned as
king by David. And David, on his dying bed gave Solomon some
advice. And the most important piece of advice was that Solomon
must walk in the ways of God. And we know today that that piece of
advice is still just as applicable to us today. We must be the
super heroes today who will walk after God and in His ways. Therein
lies true eternal and everlasting life.
After this piece of advice David
died peaceably in his bed. He had a long and full life.
This has been an amazing journey
for me and I hope for you too. This is the 50th devotion
on David and I truly hope that it has blessed you as much as it has
blessed me. So today I would just like us to have a look at David's
life in summary.
David trusted in God since the days
of his youth. As he was looking after the sheep he conquered lions
and bears in the Name of the Lord. God loved him and noticed his
faith. God sent Samuel to anoint David as king. His brothers and
father didn't think much of him and were surprised that he was
crowned king. But as we know, he didn't become king immediately.
This was the start of a long journey for David. His experience with
the sheep, led to David conquering Goliath. He trusted God
inexplicitly. This act exalted him to a different level and into
the house of the king, Saul. There he learned a lot of all the
intricacies of being king. But Saul became jealous of David and
tried to kill him. David had to flee.
David fled to the wilderness and
God sent men who were down and out to him. God turned those men
into mighty men and He used them to help David. It was more or less
thirteen years since David was anointed king, until he finally
became king. But in that time of waiting God had to teach him to
trust in Him and His perfect timing, He taught him how to lead
people, He taught him about war, He taught him about survival and
following Him no matter what the circumstances. It wasn't all that
easy for David to learn all these things. In fact David was at his
lowest point in his life, right before he became king. The
Amalekites conquered and burned down Ziklag where David and his men
lived. They took everything David and his men owned, including
their wives and children. When David and his men returned from the
battle where they were, they discovered they had nothing. These
mighty men broke down and started crying bitterly. They even
plotted to kill David. So David at this point had literally
nothing; no money, no possessions, no family and no friends. He
only had God. And instead of being angry towards God, David turned
towards God for help and comfort and God exalted David. Within a
couple of days David and his men had retrieved all that they had
lost and even more. And David was crowned king over Judah. He had
to wait another seven years before he was crowned king over all of
Israel, but he waited patiently and trusted God without wavering.
He was indeed an amazing man.
Later on in his life a few deeds
were recorded where he didn't walk in God's ways. But the amazing
thing was that he was quick to repent and to follow God
wholeheartedly again.
David was a man after God's heart.
Why? Because he always trusted God and followed Him, no matter what
the circumstances tried to convey. And this is what we must do as
well. God simply want us to trust in Him and follow Him. We can
throw away the list of do's and don'ts and just abide in His
presence, just be in His presence. That is all that God desires. He
wants us close to Him, in love with Him, filled with Him to the
brim, consumed by Him. He wants us to never leave His side. That is
what David did and God used him in a mighty way. Today He also
wants to use you. Allow Him to; stay close so that you can hear His
whisper. Then you can know that all that He has planned for your
life will come to pass. Rejoice in that and all the good plans that
He has for you:
"For I know the thoughts that I
think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil,
to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
Father thank you that You taught us
so many things this past year using Your servant David as an
example to us all. We have learned so much from him. We also want
to be children after Your own heart. We want to spend time in Your
presence and just be with You. With You lie all the answers to this
life, as well as Shalom peace. Thank you for that and that it is
freely available to us all. We love You. Amen