I love it
when I get a new understanding of a passage, especially when the understanding
confirms teachings that I know from experience as well as other teachings of
the Bible. This happened today, and I’m
pretty excited about sharing something new.
But before I get there we’ll talk about the rest of the chapter.
David Becomes King
Once
Ishbosheth is dead, there is no reason for David to not become king. All of Israel comes before David and submits
to his ability to rule. It should be
noted at this point that David has earned that right to lead. David has proven himself to be a military
general. David has shown himself loyal
to God’s authority with respect to the Lord’s Anointed (Saul). David was a proven leader at this point, although
certainly flawed.
Then,
David takes on the insurmountable task of conquering Jerusalem. It is important to note that Jerusalem is one
of the few places that had held out against the Hebrew conquering of the
Promised Land. One of the reasons that
the city wasn’t taken was because it is very defensible. Jerusalem sits atop a rocky area, meaning
that it has the high ground. The
occupants of Jerusalem could see enemies coming and plan their defense. Enemies would have to climb the land, tiring
them out before they even got to the fight!
It makes sense that Jerusalem remained under the control of the Jebusites
from the time of Joshua to the time of David.
However,
David makes it a point to take Jerusalem for his capitol. Again, this makes sense for all the same
reasons. If David is going to be a king
over all of Israel, he is going to need a defensible position from which to
rule. So David sets his mind on to
taking Jerusalem and he accomplishes the task.
Now he is ready to rule.
Philistines
Notice
that immediately after David has the victory the Philistines come out against
him. There is a really cool part to this
aspect of the story. How many times do
we as people have a victory and a time of success only to be confronted with
immediate turmoil? We don’t get to enjoy
the “peace after a storm” too long before conflict, decisions, and turmoil rears
their ugly heads. This world has a way
of dragging us back to reality.
However,
this is also true on a spiritual level and not just on a worldly level. Satan waits for us to have a spiritual
victory and then he sends an attack again to us. We don’t get to enjoy many spiritual
victories for a long time before dealing with spiritual turmoil again. It is a natural realization that the
spiritual person needs to accept when they follow Christ. Satan does not care to let victories go
unchecked!
Different Approaches
And this
brings us finally to the really neat point that I learned. You’ll notice that the Philistines come out
to attack David twice. You’ll also
notice that God’s plan for David is not the same for each attack. The first time David goes out to fight the
Philistines, God has him go in a traditional manner. But the second time God has David go out in a
very non-traditional approach.
There are
a couple of things that I would like to say about this passage. First, let’s give David some credit for
remembering to stop and inquire from the Lord.
David could easily have forged ahead with what seemed like the natural
response, but David pauses and consults the Lord. That is a great first step to any course of
action.
But for
me, the really neat part of this passage has to do with the fact that David
does not have a “carbon copy” approach to following God. David does not have the attitude of “if this
worked before, it’ll work again.” David
relies more upon his pursuit of God’s will than he does about his tradition! David wants to do things God’s way regardless
of whether they’ve even been done a particular way before.
This is
the really cool part about this passage.
There is nothing wrong with tradition, but following God is better. Sometimes God works through our tradition,
sometimes God calls us to do something a new way. We shouldn’t seek tradition, neither should
we seek change. We should seek God, and
be willing to follow God regardless of whether or not He is leading us into
traditional responses or new responses.
The important part is seeking God and His ways, not keeping in line with
human expectations.
I find
that aspect of these two Philistine battle stories absolutely fascinating on
this day.
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