“And when David enquired of the LORD, He said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.” (2Samuel 5:23)
When the Philistines heard that David was made king, they came against him. David asked the Lord whether he should attack, and the Lord said to go ahead because he would be victorious. (2 Samuel 5:17-19) He defeated them, but they came against him again. (2 Samuel 5:20-22) The natural thing to do would be to attack them again. Afterall, it was practically the same battle. They were the same circumstances. It was the same army. God had said to attack them before so it would have been instinctive to attack again.
Here we learn a very important thing about David that will help us tremendously in our walk. David asked the Lord again what he should do. How many times has the Lord helped us in an area and when we’re faced with the same thing again, we think we should deal with it in the same way? And when we do, it doesn’t work out well for us. We’re stunned and don’t realize that we’ve taken things into our own hands instead of doing like David did and find out if the Lord wants us to handle things a little differently. Just because the Lord has told us how or what to do in an instance, doesn’t mean that the next time we’re faced with the same thing we should deal with it in the same manner.
David was victorious because he depended on the Lord. He didn’t take a step without asking the Lord what to do. And the Lord honors this by giving David step by step instructions on what to do that helped him defeat the Philistines again. (2 Samuel 5:23-25) Your reaction to this might be astonishment at David’s dependance and God’s willingness to be so explicit with David. You might dismiss it as another time, another era when God was more involved in the lives of kings, priests and prophets. It might be that you wish you could depend on God so intricately and God would lead you in such a precise manner.
I think many times we sell ourselves short. God is the same and never changes. God tells Judah and Israel, “For I am the LORD, I change not...” (Malachi 3:6) And Jesus was God before the incarnation, when He walked on the earth and is now forever the same. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) The Lord is still very involved in the lives of man today and even more so. We can rely on the Lord like David did. We can hear and follow the Lord’s instructions even more clearly than David did. But we are so much like king Saul. We either don’t want to wait on the Lord or are impatient and can’t wait on the Lord. Like Saul, we do what we think is right without hearing from the Lord and it’s disastrous.
David didn’t panic when the Philistines came against him the second time. He didn’t rush out and attack but waited on the Lord to give him the perfect plan for victory. And yes, it was another time, another dispensation. And yes, God dealt differently with the people then than He does now. But what does the Word of God say. “But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6) Jesus has gotten a better covenant for us with better promises.
The Lord God is even more involved in our lives today than He was in David’s time. He has made us His very own children, born of God by the Holy Spirit. (John 1:12) He is in us through the Holy Spirit. We are connected to the Father and Jesus continually. (1Corinthians 3:16) And He speaks to us continually God’s perfect Will. (John 16:13) When we think that God is not speaking, the truth is that we are not listening.
Yes, God was very involved with the kings, priests and prophets in the old covenant, but He is even more involved now. He has made us His kings and priests to minister to Him. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:” (1Peter 2:9) John also writes about how Jesus has made us kings in His kingdom. “And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6)
We have a better covenant than David had. We have better promises than David had. He was king. We are kings. God spoke through the priests then. We are His priests now. The Holy Spirit would rest upon them to give them power to obey God and do mighty things. He would not stay with them. The Holy Spirit lives in us and speaks and acts in us, with us, for us and through us. We are without excuse.
Opmerkingen