To Encourage You

2 Samuel 5:6-7 “And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, ‘You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off’—thinking, ‘David cannot come in here.’  Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.”

My wife tells me I exaggerate – especially when it comes to the size of fish I catch or the size of the bucks I say I saw. Maybe it’s human nature, especially among the hunters and fishers among us, to tell a “whopper” as they say.  But then there are those who underestimate things.  Many people will recall the amazing audition of Susan Boyle some years ago on Britain’s Got Talent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0I7M_I1Fp0). This frumpy middle-aged lady walked out on stage before the judges and endured their mocking looks, laughs, and dismissive comments. What in the world was SHE going to do?! But then she opened her mouth and began to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Misérables,” and both the judges and the audience were dumbstruck at her magnificent voice.  One judge had this to say, “I know that everybody was against you.  I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that was the biggest wake-up call ever, and I just want to say it was a complete privilege listening to that!”  What a turn of events!  

We have a similar turn of events from the Bible in the account above from 2 Samuel 5.  Here we have David as he begins to assert control over all of Israel as its newly anointed king.  He comes to the city of what was then called “Jebus,” which was occupied by the Canaanite tribe, the Jebusites. This city (later to be called Jerusalem) was heavily fortified.  It was easily defended with its thick walls.  So when David approached the city, the Jebusites mocked him with catcalls of “the blind and the lame will ward you off.”  They thought there was no way that David could touch them. There was no way he could invade.  But he did invade.  He recognized a weakness – a watercourse leading under the wall from the Gihon Spring which was outside the wall. It was through this tunnel that David’s men entered, and despite the taunts of the Jebusites, “David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.” You see, it was David’s city by the decree of God, and no matter how the Jebusites mocked him, David’s strength resulted in them eating their words.  

With this we see a type of the view of so many in the world towards spiritual things, and especially their view of the Son of David, Jesus Christ.  Here is One, decreed by God the Father to be the very King of kings, yet, from the time He entered our world, He was underestimated.  His own brothers thought He was mad (Mark 3:21) and didn’t believe in him (John 7:5).  The religious leaders of that day constantly mocked Him. At His crucifixion we have the following account about the Roman soldiers as they mocked this one who claimed to be the “King of the Jews”: “The soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him” (Mark 15:16-20).   

That same mocking has continued to this very day.  How many times have you heard people mock the idea that Jesus will return one day, or that He is the one and only King of all the earth? Just the other day I was mocked for one of these posts with the comment that the God I was believing in was “make-believe.” And how many times have you heard of his followers being mocked as foolish to believe such a thing?  Maybe you’ve done the same?  But all this mocking, this reviling, this doubt about Who Jesus really is, comprises the greatest underestimation the world has ever known. How many think, like the Jebusites did about David, “Jesus will never come here! He’ll never invade my world!  All this ‘Jesus’ stuff may be ok for little old ladies and the uninformed ignorant people, but they don’t know as much about life as I do!  There is nothing about Jesus that really applies to me!”  Well, if you think that way, you might want to think again.  The Bible tells us clearly that there is coming a day when “The kingdom of the world (will) become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).  At that moment He will invade everyone’s world.  There will be no hiding from Him. There will be no more disregarding Him.  

You see, the first time Jesus came, He allowed himself to be mocked and scorned. He willingly did so as He laid down His life for the world. He died to provide forgiveness for the very ones who wanted to rid the world of His presence. But He’s coming again, “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28). He’s coming again to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. So, are you ready for that moment? Are you one of those who are waiting for Him? Or don’t you give it a second thought?  Don’t underestimate Him. Don’t underestimate this one who will soon reveal Himself as the absolutely greatest of all time!