Rev. Don Campbell
2 Samuel 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 11-12
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, May 1, 2019
“HOTLINE TO HEAVEN”
The record says, “David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years (2 Samuel 5:4). However, he had been anointed as king when he was but a lad and slayed Goliath when but a teenager. When Samuel had gone to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as the king to succeed Saul who had broken faith with God, Jesse had his seven oldest sons to pass in succession in front of Samuel. God rejected each one of them because he looked on the heart, not the outward appearance. Jesse had not even bothered to call his youngest son, David, from the field where he was tending the sheep. Samuel said, “Send and get him,” and when he appeared, God immediately told Samuel, “Arise and anoint him, for this is he” (1 Samuel 16:13).
David faithfully served Saul, and even when Saul repeatedly tried to kill him, David refused to lift his hand against Saul. The Philistines had been the chief enemies against whom Saul and David fought and it was in a battle with them that Saul and Jonathan had fallen in battle. When they heard that David had begun his reign, the Philistines immediately moved against him (2 Samuel 5:17). War was David’s area of expertise, but he wisely and humbly inquired of the Lord: “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand” (v.19). David succeeded not only in defeating them, but he was able to carry away their idols which they had abandoned on the battlefield (v.21).
Refusing to accept defeat and the capture of their idols, they rallied again. David did not assume that because God had told him to “Go” the first time, that he need not inquire of God a second time. Again, David inquired of the Lord (vv.22-23).
Will David continue to act wisely, inquiring of the Lord before swinging into action, whether in battle or making other decisions that could affect not only him but the whole house of Israel? We will answer that question in the coming days as we follow David throughout his reign.
CONNECTIONS
1. Sometimes we may be reluctant to “inquire of the Lord,” because we believe that God has created us as rational beings and we should be able to make decisions in the area of our expertise. Jesus tells us that we have a hotline to heaven, and God wants us to use it. What is the progression of inquiring of the Lord? (Matthew 7:7-11)
2. In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus gives a parable teaching his disciples that they should pray and not lose heart. In the parable a judge who neither feared God nor respected man, keeping denying a widow’s plea for relief from her adversary. As a woman she had no standing, as a widow she had no husband to plead her case, and as a poor widow, she had no money to bribe the judge. She was at his mercy. He finally got tired of her and granted her request in order to get rid of her. Jesus is not saying that our Father is like that judge. Quite to the contrary. He says God will give justice speedily (v.8). There is a lesson for us, but it is in Luke’s rationale for the parable. What was that (v.1)?
