Over the past year I have been thinking a lot about David, king of Israel. It seems to me that he is a little understood leader of Israel. From the observation of Samuel he seemed be the least likely of Jesse’s sons to qualify as a king. His origin and training seemed to be isolated to the work of being a shepherd. However, as you look at this portion of David’s life, the things that stick out are integrity, courage and strength. After this we see his encounter with Goliath and while it certainly took great courage, the thing that sticks out to me is his faith and commitment to God. His statement, “…is there not a cause”, shouts to me of his belief in God and his sense of opportunity to serve Him.
Throughout the rest of his life we see him as a great warrior and military leader and of all things, a poet, songwriter and singer. That is indeed a curious mixture of traits and abilities. At the end of his life he has a strong motivation to build a temple to the glory of God, but God prohibits him from doing that. As I read the account it seems to me that God says to David, “you are a warrior and not a builder”. I can’t imagine that serving God as a faithful warrior has disqualified him to build the temple. It is rather that that opportunity is given to his son Solomon. The lesson that I take from this is to content myself with the duties that God has given and the opportunities that He places before us.
