Rev. Don Campbell
2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, May 21, 2019
“THE MAKING OF A LEADER”
David was in the field tending his father’s sheep and perhaps dreaming of someday having sons who would tend his sheep. He had no idea what lay ahead for him. His father didn’t have great expectations for him either. When Samuel came to the house of Jesse to anoint a successor to Saul whom God had rejected, Jesse didn’t even bother to call him in from the field. On that day, David was anointed king, but there would be many toils, dangers, and tears before he would become a true leader of God’s sheep. We have been following these for many days, and need not retrace that path.
In his final inspired psalm, David alludes to this, saying, “The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high” (2 Samuel 23:1). David said of his commission: “The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth” (23:3-4). A leader who fears God and rules justly is sunshine and rain to his people.
David and Solomon have died, and the nation has been divided into the northern and southern kingdoms. Both kingdoms were politically stable and prosperous, but it was also a time of idolatry, extravagance, and corruption, with the rich and powerful oppressing the poor. It was not a time of warm sunshine and gentle rain in either kingdom. But days of gloom. Hear him:
He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name;
who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
Therefore because you trample on the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and turn aside the needy in the gate (Amos 5:8-12).
He then exhorts, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (v.24). David’s last words were not just good advice. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).
CONNECTIONS
1. Is the measure of a nation is found on Wall Street in the economic indicators (which show the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer), or is it found on the flow of justice and righteousness down Main Street?
2. Should the church be a voice for any political party? Why or why not?
