2 Samuel: A Picture of Faithfulness

If you're not a history buff reading through 2 Samuel can be a little difficult at times. There are a lot of family lines that can be hard to track at first. What really spoke to me in this book is God's faithfulness. God's promise had always been with David; "You shall shepherd my people Israel, and be ruler over Israel." 2 Samuel opens with the death of Saul. You would think that David would have rejoiced at this good fortune as that would open the way for David to reign over Israel. David actually grieved over Saul's death and avenged the individual who killed Saul. He then went to the rulers of Israel to claim the position that God had promised him. However, the commander of Saul's army appointed one of Saul's sons as ruler over Israel instead of David. More time passes, and Saul's son even tries to trick David at one point in an attempt to destroy him. Eventually Saul's son is killed, and David once again mourns for one of his "enemies." It's at this point that all of the tribes of Israel come to David and ask him to be King over Israel.

What's interesting about David's story is that there were many times in our human view that David should have been able to become King of Israel. God had a master plan that took longer, and involved more suffering, but proved to be so much better. In the end David didn't have to fight for Israel; Israel came to him. How many times do we fail to truly trust in God's promises to us? How often do we think we understand the best for us and God's timing doesn't seem to fit ours? Do we, like David, choose to love those people that seem to get in the way of where we want to be or what we want to do? David actually brought Saul's only remaining son into his own household and chose to bless him. For me, the reminder that God's will in my life will be accomplished gives me great peace. The journey will likely take longer than I want, and it will likely be harder than I would ever hope for, but God's will will be accomplished.

I found it interesting that during David's reign over Israel he actually ends up in battle once again w/ the Philistines. The same war he had as a shepherd with a sling. I think we all have personal wars that rage against God's rule in our hearts. Those wars will likely not go away. We may spend a lifetime fighting the issues that challenge God's position in our lives. Our hope is not that our struggles would cease to exist, but rather our hope is in God's promise. He will be faithful to us, and he has an incredible plan for our lives. A little note of trivia, David was only 30 years old when he became King over all of Israel.