David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.
2 Samuel 8:15 (NIV)
This one line in the middle of this book jumped at me today. David had power over all of Israel. This was not because he was ‘high profile’ because he was on TV every night or had stories running every day in the local newspapers and magazines! He had sovereignty because he was God’s anointed ruler and the people (even the enemies) believed in the power of YHWH! They had HOLY FEAR and true HOLY WORSHIP!
David did what was honorable and moral in all his decisions for his people, for all his people. I am reminded of an American president, Abraham Lincoln, who had ‘sway’ during one of the most divisive periods in our country’s history. He not only had to navigate the country through a civil war but he also had to think about setting the country on a course of healing. I have often wondered if he had lived would it have taken 143 years for our country to elect a black president. President Lincoln refused to punish the Confederate leaders but instead sent them home so they could begin spring planting. Again, I wonder if his plans to financially help them would have helped them to move on and begin with a new philosophy of living. Instead, at Lincoln’s death the ‘helping hand’ was withdrawn and the southern states took decades to recover, leaving bitterness and hate. 143 years…May I again say to myself how important it is for me to pray for my president and leaders! May they make honorable and moral decisions for all the people!
David also did what was true and best for his all his people. I look at that sentence and I think of what I read in the media. David did what was just or true. He didn’t do something and then ‘spin’ it so it sounded like the truth. It was true! I wonder if his son, Solomon, growing up with this example – maybe that was why he asked God for wisdom. He wanted to also do what was best.
How do you know what is best? I think that is a good question. When I think about being the president and having the responsibility to make decisions for over 300 million people – ‘overwhelmed’ doesn’t begin to describe it! I’ve heard candidates say they were ‘bitten by the presidential bug’. I believe that means that people may have a ‘call’! When I am doing my ‘call job’ – I am past happy! I can be busy and multi-tasking and I and physically or mentally tired but I am happy! When I am working and listening to God and doing what He wants every step of the way – I am doing what is best. David gives us a great look at how to (and how not to) listen to God and do what’s best. And there’s the answer. God knows what is best because He can see it all. He gives me a brain to use for knowledge and His Spirit to give me wisdom and faith to trust Him.
God didn’t call me to be queen or president but if I seek Him then, within my call, I will be doing what is just and right for all the people He puts in my path.
