The story of Israel’s greatest king, David, begins as one of our most beloved stories in the Bible, David versus Goliath. In the story, David has strength to stand against Goliath because he stood in the name of God, not himself or his accomplishments. Later, David as King commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheba because he wasn’t where God intended for him to be. After David is confronted by the prophet Nathan, who was also his friend, David realizes he has sinned against God and repents. At the end of his life David comes full circle to where he started, but not in a good way. David began poor and trusting God, he ends rich and trusting in himself. What happens to David is what happens to all of us over time; we start to delight in what brings us our own personal security, when we should have eyes on God’s grace. The irony is that after decades of history, 2 Samuel ends with David repeating the same sin that opened 1 Samuel. JD Greer says, “Israel wanted a king to replace God as their security and their treasure; David now wants an army to replace God as his security and treasure.” Since we are approaching Christmas, ask yourself or a friend:
What do you delight and take comfort in?
What trophies are on display or pieces of paper hung on the wall in your home? What do you boast in?
How would your life (individually) and our lives (corporately), look different if we delighted in, took comfort in, and boasted in Jesus first?
We Three Kings is our last series for the year of 2018 that looks at God's revelation of His Son to various people throughout the Scriptures. We look at the "Three Kings" or wise men from Matthew chapter 2 in how Jesus revealed Himself as God come to earth for our rescue. We will then look at Israel's first King Saul, how Jesus can and should be enough for us. Next we will take a look at Israel's greatest King, David, and how all of our life should be bound up in God. We will then look at Israel's wisest king, Solomon, and how easy it is to be lead astray by our own desires. On Christmas Eve we will culminate the series by focusing on Jesus as our true King.
