Having reviewed the narratives that describe the disastrous reign of King Saul, as well as those that depict the success of David, I have come to see that the most significant difference between these two anointed Kings and what ultimately led to Saul’s demise and David’s exaltation was their unique view of God.
Saul apparently viewed God as a tyrannical, impatient, and whimsical being that demanded harsh action and allowed no room for humanity. Consequently Saul, unable to rest in the confidence of an intimate relationship with God, sought to rule ruthlessly, made no allowance for Divine protection, issued foolish and unreasonable edicts, and made hasty decisions consistent with a leader paralyzed by fear of a God He didn’t know. Saul’s end was tragic!
David, on the other hand was a man after God’s own heart. He was confident that the God who had delivered him from the jaw of the lion and bear would show up in the valley when he confronted the Philistine. The Lord was his shepherd, his rock and fortress, his glory and the lifter of his head. David’s view of God was the key component in his great victories.
QUESTION: What misguided views of God’s nature have hindered your freedom to live victoriously?
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My viewing of God is hampered when I look through my own limited vision. I struggle when problems arise and I allow them to over shadow God. My problems seem to be too big and when I allow these problems to magnify then I am in essence decreasing the size of God and His ability to handle my problems. I am learning that when I am still before the Lord then I start looking at Him in a whole new manner. The way it is intended to be and that is that God is greater than all things including my BIG problems and by His grace He sometimes allows me to see through His eyes. But when I don’t see through His eyes then that is when I just need to trust that our loving Father will still take care of us.
ReplyDeleteI think the first commenter states stated a problem so many of us deal with and all of us have dealt with at times. We are not alone. I like the way singer/songwriter Randy Stonehill puts it.
ReplyDelete“I admit my faith is small and I'm easily distracted
My imitation of myself is poorly overacted
and the mirror shows the lines upon my face
I get to wondering if I'm one more hopeless case
It's just so hard to wrap my heart and mind around this thing called grace”
“At times, I think my prayers are some kind of delusion
and even if God's listening, my words are an intrusion
My failures make up such a lengthy list
and I think of all the chances I have missed
This penchant for self-loathing is a hard one to resist”
And here is his suggestion.
“Turn off your television, shut off the radio,
Listen to your own heart beating, listen to the wind blow,
Feel the sun on your face, feel the tears in your eyes,
And dare to believe that Jesus loves you,
Dare to believe he really loves you.”
It appears that David did just that. He dared to believe that God really loved him.
I think sometimes, our biggest problem is that we don't see God at all. How many times do we read in His Word, especially the Psalms, that we are to magnify God? How can we? God is already as big and great as He will ever be. We don't make Him bigger. We can't. But when we "magnify" Him, we make our view of Him bigger. Or rather, He give us a bigger view of Himself. Just as a magnifying glass doesn't make anything bigger. It just makes our vision of that thing bigger. We need a clearer, sharper, more real vision of God and His character and His nature. With His Holy Spirit residing in us, we can have that. But we need to seek it and search His Word for that close, intimate relationship with Him, that will reveal to us things we never saw before, and in a very real way. And we must realize that every crisis we walk through in life, as well every victory, will reveal Him in a more real way.
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