To Encourage You

2 Samuel 5:18-19 “Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.’”

2 Samuel 5:22-24 “And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, ‘You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.’”

One of the things that marked the life of David was continual communion with the Lord.  Throughout his life, he was faced with many enemies.  As a young man he had faced Israel’s great enemy Goliath.  Later, as he served King Saul, he fought time after time with Israel’s enemies, the Philistines.  But then, even Saul turned against him. After Saul died and David became king, he found himself in a civil war against Saul’s son.  And after that conflict had ended, the Philistines again opposed his rule. That’s where we find ourselves in the passages above from 2 Samuel 5. 

So, what was David’s response to all this? What did he do when the opposition came?  Time after time, as we are told above, “David inquired of the Lord.”  As one enemy after another rose up against him, he continually turned to the Lord.  He asked the Lord what he should do, and then he followed the direction that God gave him.  It was a continual thing.  It was a way of life.  It pointed to what Paul called all believers to with the following words: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

You see, one of the reasons that God gave us the example of David was so that we, too, would do what he did.  David lived his life, for the most part, to the glory of God. Yet, he was constantly opposed by those who didn’t see things as he did.  He was opposed by those who were in league with the enemy of his soul.  Although David loved God, the enemies of God hated him.  It was this very same pattern that marked the life of the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everywhere he turned he faced opposition. Though He came unto His own, his own received Him not.  Rather, they rejected him. They hated him. And in the end, they put him to death.  And He warned them that would follow Him, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18-20).

So, how should we then live?  To answer this, we should ask ourself, how did David live? More than that, how did the Son of David live?   They lived by keeping in step with the Spirit. They lived by daily seeking the face of God.  They didn’t rest on their laurels and think that because they had had victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil yesterday that tomorrow they would have victory by relying on their own strength. The Word of God that came to them yesterday wasn’t necessarily enough for today. Yesterday’s manna gave them strength yesterday, but they needed new manna today. 

That’s the way of victory for any believer, i.e., for any person who would live a life to the glory of God. It’s a life of prayer without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  It’s a life of meditation on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:1).  And it’s a life of not just hearing God’s word, but putting it into practice, one day at a time (Matthew 7:24).  It is a life that is lived day by day in such communion with the Lord that it results in a lifetime that brings glory to God. 

Paul put it this way as a description of his life. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). You see, Paul had lived the dead life of religion – and found himself in league with the enemies of God. But then he was transformed by this One Whom he had so long fought against, and from that point on he lived a life of communion with Christ. May God help us who call ourselves believers to live one day at a time, moment by moment, listening to, believing, and obeying the Son of David, this One Who is also the Son of God.