To Encourage You

2 Samuel 8:6 “And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.”

The Bible tells us that man, in his natural condition, is “hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). In other words, such a person doesn’t submit to the law of God.  Romans tells us that the enmity is so bad that an unbeliever cannot willingly submit to God. They don’t see God as the King of kings. They don’t recognize Him as their Lord. In their mind, God will not be their master.  As such, they submit the control of their lives to something or someone else. It might be themselves. It might be money. Jesus put it this way: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).  But do you realize how utterly foolish it is to serve something or someone other than God?  Do you realize that it’s such a dead end? 

We have a shadow that points to this folly in the account of David’s reign over the land of Israel from 2 Samuel 8.  As we read through this chapter, David appears to be invincible.  As the verse above tells us, “the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.”  It starts with his conquest of the Philistines. Then he destroys the Moabites as he takes the life of two thirds of their army.  This is followed by victories over the king of Zobah, then Syria, and after that Edom.  In each case those who opposed David were either killed or subdued. Their power and their wealth were completely stripped from them in one way or another. But there was one king that submitted himself to David willingly. His name was Toi, the king of Hamath.  He was a king who, as he saw the victorious reign of David, blessed him rather than fight against him. In all of this we see a type of the Son of David. Of Him we are told, “he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25).

So do you realize “all his enemies” includes every single one of us. All of us were His enemies at one time in our lives, until we came to our senses and willingly bowed our knees in humble submission to Him. It’s called repentance, and it’s the way of salvation. Others still are his enemies, but one day, albeit unwillingly, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Every president, every king, every mullah, every person of every nation on the face of the earth who has ever lived will bow their knee to Jesus in the end.  He is invincible.  For those who submit to Him willingly, there will be eternal blessings as a result. In fact, we are told that believers “will reign with him” in His eternal kingdom (2 Timothy 2:12). But for those who have lived their lives with the attitude of “we do not want this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14), He will reign, nevertheless, and their eternal destruction will be the result. 

So, who is your lord at this moment? Who or what is it that you currently serve?  Is Jesus your Lord and King? Is He the supreme object of your life?  Or are you rejecting His claims on your life? Are you refusing to bow your knee to the King of kings? If so, you should know that this King is invincible.  He will reign, whether you want Him to or not.  The question is, will you be the eternal beneficiary of His glorious reign, or will you wait to bow your knee only because you have been forced to, with your end the everlasting shame that inevitably awaits the enemies of God?