A Little Lesson from David

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: 1 Samuel 30:3-6 When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Observation: David was known as a great leader. But when tragedy struck, even his own people turned on him quickly.

Application: Sometimes it’s hard to know how well we are doing in life. Why? Because often times the barometers we use to measure ‘success’ are rather shallow. Hindsight tells us that David was, according to most accounts, a great leader. Yet we read in the passage above that, due to an unforeseen attack on one of his towns while he was away, the people were ready to stone him. They has suffered great losses and needed someone to blame. David, as the leader, was very handy target.

At that point it would have been easy for David, who had suffered the loss of his own wives as well, to fold up into a ball or endeavor to escape to the hills. Instead he returned to the source of his strength which was not tied to outward signs of ‘success.’

I was thinking last night that, all things considered, yesterday was a really good day. Easter worship and an especially good rest of the day with family made for a really nice combination. As I was going to bed I mentioned to the Lord in my prayer time that no matter what the next day might bring, I could always be thankful for that day—not in the sense of something I had ‘achieved,’ but rather, in the sense of something I was fortunate enough to receive—the day was a gift.

There will almost certainly be days in the future that do not feel so much like a gift. Hopefully on those days I won’t take it overly personally and will be able to both give thanks for the wonderful days I’ve already had and also trust that it’s just somebody else’s turn for a gift day instead of me. Hopefully also, like David, whatever strength I’m able to muster I’ll find in the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, let us not get overly tied up in what other people think our lives should be like, but rather find our strength and our rest in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 1 Samuel 30-31, 1 Chronicles 10, Matthew 12)