A Great Example, By Sarah Tummey.

During the next couple of weeks, we will be enjoying some inspiring thoughts from my good friend Sarah

Reading 2 Samuel 5, I’m impressed by how humble David is as opposed to his enemies. He becomes king over Israel. Samuel said he would be years before, pouring oil on his head to prepare him, but while Saul was alive, David couldn’t succeed him. Finally, the moment comes. David goes to Jerusalem and in their arrogance, the people living there taunt him: “You can’t get inside our city. Even the blind and the crippled can stop you” (2 Samuel 5:6). They think David so weak, they don’t need an army of healthy soldiers; even someone without full use of their faculties could triumph against him, but how wrong they are.

A palace is built in Jerusalem for David. “Then David knew that the LORD really had made him king of Israel” (2 Samuel 5:12). David was just a youngster when Samuel first talked to him about kingship. At thirty years of age, he began ruling his own tribe, which he did for over seven years before the leaders asked him to rule Israel in its entirety (2 Samuel 5:4-5), so from his youth to the age of thirty-seven. That’s a long time – around twenty years in all – before David would acknowledge to himself that he really was king.

The fact is, David didn’t presume anything. Even later, when he’s deciding what to do, he asks God: “Should I attack the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” (2 Samuel 5:19). He had already defeated the Philistine Goliath, a giant of a man, but he wouldn’t let himself believe that because it happened once, it would happen again. David’s a great example of keeping your eyes on God, and constantly depending on Him for your next move.

What have you been reading lately? Has anything stood out to you?

If you’d like to read more from Sarah, why not pop over to her
blog