David’s Faith That Knows God
6Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went. 7David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took a great quantity of brass. 9When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer, 10then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him; for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. Joram brought with him vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: 11King David also dedicated these to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued; 12of Syria, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13David earned a reputation when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand men of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt. 14He put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went. 15David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people. 16Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, Seraiah was scribe, 18Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, David’s sons were chief ministers.
Wanting to serve God well, David had said he would build the temple. But God refused that heartfelt wish, and with good reason. If we see the temple as something completed by the precious blood of Jesus, then David, who had shed so much blood and taken lives, was not qualified to build it. David was spiritually mature enough to give heartfelt thanks even after being refused; that maturity is why God told him his will plainly. When he was told not to build the temple because he had shed much blood in war, far from growing angry, he thanked God for keeping him from a greater sin. He was a man of remarkable faith, one of God’s people with a rare gift for looking at every problem he faced from God’s point of view. Believing that God stands at the center of people’s lives, he was convinced that his own reckoning and decisions could never be more right than God’s will, and he obeyed.
People weigh things within the limits of what they can imagine, but if they looked a little further, with a little more humility, they would see that their thinking was wrong. We may want to boast of our faith with all kinds of fine phrases — for the glory of God, out of fullness of faith, and so on — but if we stop to ask whether God sees it that way too, we will find that this, too, is sin. Since God’s thinking and ours do not even start from the same place, we must ask the Holy Spirit whether we are on the right road.
From the depths of his heart David declared that all the Lord’s words are truth. Then he prayed that the house of the Lord’s servant would be blessed forever, showing a humble faith that leaned on God completely. Told that his son Solomon would build the temple in his place, David showed his good heart by preparing the gold, the silver, and the materials Solomon would need to build it well, though Solomon was not yet born. Seeing such a heart in David, God gave him greater strength so that he could gather great quantities of material without difficulty. Through David we can learn the way to be blessed by God. Though God had refused the thing he longed for, David believed that God leads his own work toward good, and so he could offer thanks and praise from the heart.
At times you too will bring God a wish you hold with all your heart. God could answer that prayer at once, but if he sees that it would do you more harm than good, he may refuse it. Without understanding this about God, we may pray yet still be anxious and angry, close our hearts, and leave him. As we do not give our children dangerous things, so God will firmly refuse if an answer would do your life no good at all. Even so, we must not give up praying, because there are times when he answers long after, when so much time has passed that you have forgotten you even prayed. He does this because your faith has matured to the point where you can bear whatever answer comes; the God who remembered your prayer answers it in its season.
God’s time and human time differ in just this way. When he refuses, there is a reason for refusing; when he answers at once, there is a reason for answering. All we need to do is pray, believing that God will work in his own season. Such faith requires the wisdom to set priorities well and a deep knowledge that understands the word of God. It is the faith found among the discerning, those who know how to lay down their own righteousness.
2 Samuel 8:1
1After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
Let us look in the Bible at how people of faith receive blessing. When they put God first and lay down their own righteousness, we see God giving them wealth and authority so that they can fulfill their calling well. God, who blessed David’s faith, stirred up foreign nations and peoples and made them help him, so that he could prepare what the temple needed. God helped David because David’s true desire was not to build the temple for his own glory but to exalt God.
What must David have thought as he watched God refuse what he longed for and give him a different blessing? God accepts upright faith, noble character, and a trust that is pure. This is not a call to act holy or pretend to be good; it is a call to persevere, to sacrifice, and to strive to live by the word right where you are. Even if David could not understand the situation right away, in time he would come to see that God had allowed it because he had a use for it. Put simply: the Israelites only realized later that they had carried great treasures of gold and silver out of Egypt in order to build the tabernacle, and this shows that it is not easy to understand God’s will at every moment. For that reason we must do what is good at every moment, so that we do not take the long way round in life.
When Israel, after 430 years of slavery in Egypt, came out in the exodus, God commanded that the people take with them the gold, the silver, and the many jewels the Egyptians handed them. As though they had heard God’s command themselves, the Egyptians gave their gold and silver to the Israelites who were leaving. At the time of the exodus, the Israelites thought the Egyptians had given them the treasure because they were afraid of them.
But as they built the tabernacle from the jewels brought out of Egypt and offered sacrifices of animals, the people presumably realized, belatedly, that God had prepared all this ahead of time for the tabernacle. We must obey God, who always goes beyond what people can imagine. This shows that the worldly possessions God has given his people are entrusted to them for doing his work. If we fail to understand God’s deep purpose like this, we will not live according to his will but will use those things to exalt ourselves, and our lives will be full of regret.
God had given the building of the temple, David’s own wish, to Solomon, who was not yet born; yet David believed God’s decision was right. In other words, once he came to think that God had stopped him for a clear reason, he came to believe that this, too, was a blessing for him. David knew how much God loved him. Because he believed his life was under protection, he could stay humble whatever situation God brought about. David’s trust in God gave him a bold faith, a heavenly hope without doubt, and a peaceful heart free of anxiety. God gave a David like that victory in battle so that he would grow stronger, and gave him still more spoils so that he could govern the people. Though his own wish had been refused, as he heard God promise to bless even his descendants, he realized that human plans have their limits. Once he saw that not all his plans were wise or right, he handed God the final say over every decision of his life.
It is not enough for us to know as a fact that God is alive; we must experience it as we live. For our faith to show itself as faith, we need confidence in the word and the patience to wait, expecting God to act. What we must clearly understand is this: we do not hold fast to our faith by fighting the world. The fight with ourselves, who cannot let go of our desire for the world, is what keeping our faith in Christ means, and it is what living by the word of God means. Those who understand this do not find it hard to stand firm in faith. If only you believe that the living God loves you, you will be able to choose for yourself what deserves your very best.
When we have the wisdom to tell God’s work from the world’s, we can give up our own choices and overcome our fear of the future. On a pitch-dark night, someone who has walked a road many times can travel it without losing the way; in the same way, on the roads of this world, where God’s light does not shine, those who have met Jesus Christ do not stumble. David already knew that truth. That is why he entrusted every battle in the world to God. If we try to overcome the world by our own effort, victory is anything but easy, because we cannot know the enemy’s tactics. We must fight as David did, in battles where God helps us. The world is a darkness with no light, and if we rush ahead with plans of our own devising, we are bound to fail badly. I hope you will not forget that only those led by the Holy Spirit can walk the way of truth.
David made the Philistines surrender, and he struck Moab and received tribute. He also struck Hadadezer king of Zobah, took one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers captive, and seized a vast number of horses. No nation could defeat David, because none of his wars was a human war; each was the war of God, who loved David. It was David’s faith, humility, patience, and trust in God that turned the wars of this world into God’s wars. He did not pour his strength into making weapons to win; he even handed his own defeat over to God. God therefore sent his angels to fight in his place, so that no one could lay a hand on David.
This is the life those who believe in God must live. If we lean on the world to escape hardship, the hardship never ends. When a flood comes, countless houses, fields, and trees are swept away before anyone can lift a hand; in the same way, without God’s help we will find ourselves in the very middle of hardship. Life can be at peace only with God’s help and our own good efforts. If you truly want to escape hardship, may you offer God your sincere heart as David did and, with an upright faith, bear up with patience.
David gave his all in the circumstances he was given, sacrificing himself. To live blamelessly within the law, he beat his body and brought it into submission. Knowing that Yahweh was helping him, he could always stay humble, even as he struck his enemies in the full tide of victory. God gave David great spoils so that he would not suffer want, and David, who knew God’s heart, gave it all back to Yahweh. When God blesses like this, we can gather great wealth without forcibly taking what belongs to others.
2 Samuel 8:14
14He put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
When David lifted up God’s name, God raised David’s name higher still, gave him great authority, and crowned him with glory. This is God’s kindness, and this is the grace David received. God is the one who gives, according to our faith, more blessing than we can contain. He granted David a strength and wealth no one could touch, and made him prosper wherever he went and in whatever he did.
As Solomon needed David’s many spoils to build the temple, so, to make those caught in death into a holy temple, there must first be the sacrifice and self-giving of those who bring them the gospel. If you possess many of this world’s spoils, you should think of them as entrusted to you by God for the saving of souls. If you become people of faith who scatter your wisdom, wealth, and abilities in caring for the poor and so lead souls to God, God will always help you to prevail. It was Yahweh who prepared great wealth for building the temple, and Yahweh who caused Solomon to build it. Those who know that God’s work is always done by God, and who stay humble, will never make a failure of their lives.
Your life is that of a sojourner, but if you have faith that the Holy Spirit walks with you, you will see God at work as David did. David brought everything that happened in his life before God and strove to be of one mind with him, and because of that he lived a life without shame. So he did not delight only in receiving; he was eager in giving as well. David did not hesitate to be generous, not only toward God but toward people. He lived with a repentant heart before God even over the greed and lust that came naturally to him as a human being, and over his very life.
What have you given to God? Whatever you give, you must give with it a faith God can accept. Only then will God, having received your heart, honor your life so that you are not put to shame. But there is one thing I want to ask you: you who have received eternal life, do you really have anything to give God? Everything you have was entrusted to you by God; yet each time you give, are you agonizing over it because you cannot let go of your greed and because you are lazy?
Have you ever, when God offered to give you something, politely declined, saying you already had all you needed and he did not need to give you more? Most likely you could not, because you wanted to live better than others. If we dislike giving and love only receiving, our souls will be left empty. Those who know how to give back as much as they have received from God and from people of faith are the ones who can receive God’s grace to overflowing.
What we give to God is at best the things of this world, but what God has given us is eternal life, which money cannot buy. When we offer a faith that gives thanks in all things, God accepts that small faith and gives us not only blessings for this life but eternal life as well; he is our Father. What I want to ask of you is this: become the kind of people God cherishes and cannot bear to lose, just as he cherished David. God granted David his wishes because David was so precious and dear to him; you too must become that precious to him to have any prayer answered.
2 Samuel 8:15
15David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people.
Though David held great power, he did not run the affairs of the nation as he pleased; he governed with justice and righteousness. The world takes morality as its standard and calls kindness good. But keeping the moral law and living kindly in this world is only the most basic thing a person needs in order to live. For God’s people, morality and good conduct are basics they must of course keep; they must take a step further and live as mature people of God, and only then are they children of God. Those who do not live such mature lives, for that very reason, fail to grasp fully what good is, and mistake merely human decency for faith.
The good God speaks of is believing in Jesus Christ. It is not the same as what the world calls being kind; the world and the church are entirely different. David set aside his own views and decisions and governed the nation and its people with justice and righteousness and by God’s law. A nation governed by the word like this cannot help but grow strong and prosperous. After the wars were over, David made Joab, who had killed Abner, commander of the army. To appoint as commander the man who had killed Abner behind his back took a boldness possible only through faith that God is Israel’s King. No one could make such a decision by human reasoning, but David knew God would judge Joab, so he did not take revenge himself; he waited for that time. And just as God had raised him up, he appointed those who had shared his hardships as priests, scribes, and chief ministers of Israel. By placing in high positions those who had risked their lives in loyal service to the nation and to David, he made Israel an even stronger nation.
David gave fitting rewards even to those like Joab whose will differed from his own. Of course, promoting someone who had betrayed him was a considerable risk, since no one could know when such a man might strike. But David, who had learned God’s righteousness through the experience of faith, believed that whether a man was loyal or treacherous was for God to decide. The upright were blessed down to their descendants, and the traitors were judged. When we see David appoint the treacherous Joab as commander of the army, it looks as though, by faith, he simply did what a king had to do. Yet if we look into the depths of David’s heart, we can see how hard he was holding on, enduring with everything in him as a man, even as he entrusted Joab to God.
He likely did not stop praying until the moment of God’s judgment, and because he gave his all not to lose the battle with himself, he would have been able to experience once more the God who judges Joab. That is how much it matters to have a faith that knows God will judge and punish in his own time, without our having to shed blood ourselves. In the same way, God will never abandon those who go on loving and serving Christ faithfully in a dark world. Just as David honored the toil of those who left behind the comforts of the world to serve him loyally, making them priests, scribes, and chief ministers, God will give eternal rest and peace to those who give themselves to Christ.
You are the people of this righteous God. The God who knows your faith will deal with the world that torments you himself. And with wisdom and understanding he will see to it that you gain this world’s spoils, and bless you with a life of ease. The blessings God gives are eternal; they can never be taken from you. Do not give your heart to the world; if you live looking only to Jesus Christ, you will be led, as David was, by the Holy Spirit who is always at your side. The God who showed mercy to David so that he would not fall will make the road of your life smooth as well.
When you give thanks from your heart, God will give you, as he gave Solomon, even what you did not pray for. I hope you will love God with all your heart, free of worry and doubt, and always grow into a vessel ready to hold the blessings he gives in answer.