2 Samuel 7:20 & 21 What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord God. Because of your word and according to your will, you have revealed all these great things to your servant. CSB
I know a little boy who thinks his dad is really a superhero in disguise. It is such a neat thing to watch Mason absently reach for his dad’s big hand. He never doubts the security of that hand. He knows that it will always be there.
That picture reminds me of a line in the old hymn, “He Leadeth Me O Blessed Thought“1? The melody is beautiful, and the thoughts are so true. The hymn comes from Psalm 23, a Psalm of David.
One of the lines in the hymn that captivates me is, “Lord, I would clasp my hand in Thine.” That is such a great description of David’s close relationship with God. The thought of a close safety with God is for believers of every age, not just babies and not just Bible heroes.
Although God is Spirit, David could still imagine putting his hand in God’s big hand for comfort or for friendship.
Most believers who know and love the Lord deeply, know that God desires such a relationship with us, too. That still mystifies us because we recognize that He is holy and good, and we are so sinful. But that thought never entered Mason’s mind on the day pictured below. He sees God in a loving way just like He sees his dad. After all, Mason is six and a half years old. Six can be much wiser than sixty.
“Content no matter what I see…by His hand He leadeth me.”
Photo by Sarah Paul
You see, I struggled with the story of David far too long. I never knew how he could be so flawed and still be “a man after God’s own heart.” Somehow that made me feel left out. It was as if I was missing something important in my walk with God. Because of my limited understanding of David’s story, I thought I could never have such a close relationship with God as David did. After all, he was the boy hero of Israel that brought down the mighty Goliath yet had wise, godly mercy on the bloodthirsty King Saul.
But part of my problem was not thinking about a truth that I already knew. It was God who brought down Goliath.
God didn’t need David. He wanted David. God wants all people because He loves them. He has had a perfect plan for each soul before creation. Always. But often, we turn Him down.
We choose lesser paths.
God made David. He knew what David would do. He still wanted him. God didn’t need David to complete His story.
Like everyone, David had a choice. Though he sinned, David humbled himself before the Lord and hid God’s Word in his heart.
When we read these stories out of context or without the aid of the Holy Spirit, we just can’t see. They are meant to be read prayerfully so that we can ask the Spirit to do what only He can do. He is our Teacher and Guide. He opens blind eyes and flawed human hearts. If I had read the story that way, I would have never lost sight of the verse that quotes young David’s confident belief on the battlefield. His confidence was in God. His confidence was never in himself, alone.
1 Samuel 17:45-47 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses[a] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth.
Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,
and this whole assembly will know that
it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves,
for the battle is the Lord’s.
He will hand you over to us.” CSB
Any believer who loves and walks with God in a deep, committed relationship can be a man, woman or child after God’s own heart, because God so loved the world.
If you don’t have a close walk with Jesus, you can. Read and study His Word, talk to Him, and share your redemption story with the world!
Click the link to learn more about how God chose David to be the second king of the nation of Israel.
He Leadeth Me
Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see,
since ’tis my God that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.
- He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought
Joseph Gilmore and William Bradbury
Ca. 1880 ↩︎
Resources
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 