2 SAMUEL 5 - FRUITION OF FAITHFULNESS
2 Samuel 5
Chapter 5 of 2 Samuel starts off with all the tribes of Israel coming together and officially recognizing David as King of Israel. It had been nearly fifteen years since the prophet Samuel had shown up to Jessie's house looking for the next king. In those fifteen years in-between his initial calling and this moment, David was living with a promise yet to be fulfilled. You can imagine all the emotion that can happen in fifteen years of being promised something, but not actually seeing it come to fruition. However, nothing is wasted with God. In those fifteen years, God had grow David in Leadership, Competency, Discernment, and many of the other qualities that would contribute to David's success as King. The Leaders of Israel had even noticed that while Saul was King, it was David who was truly leading them. In 2 Samuel 5:1-2 it says,
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’”
We might find ourselves in similar seasons, when we feel called to something but the fruit has yet to be produced. It can be very easy to become impatient, bitter, or even mad with God. There is a method to how God works that man can not fully understand. This is where faith comes in. As Christians we have to be okay with the Lords timing, methods, and his will for our lives. Our Goal shouldn’t be to receive the promises of God, but to walk in his sovereignty with the Promises as a bonus. In Isaiah 55:8 the Lord says,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
Surely in those fifteen years David must have struggled with doubt and remaining where he was called. Even in the midst of difficult circumstances David refused to dwell on these thoughts of doubt. He instead returned to trusting the Lord who would prove faithful, as he always does! David, as the now recognized King of Israel, sets off to retake the City of Jerusalem from the Jebusites. He captures the City and establishes that as his home for the rest of his Reign. The Philistines had gotten word that David was now King of Israel, and set out to attack him. David had heard of their plans and went to go meet them. David inquired if the Lord in Vs. 19,
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.”
David Defeated the Philistines not once, but twice in this chapter! It is a very poetic beginning for the young king's reign. Fifteen years prior, he leads the Charge against Goliath and the Philistines as a humble Shepard, just a boy. He now meets the Philistines again, but this time as King of Israel. In both of these encounters he was in two very different places in life, but serving the same God. The Lord took him from calling to commissioning and sustained him through everything in between. To God be the Glory.