May 1 (Daily reading: 2 Samuel 5; 1 Chronicles 11-12) In God’s timing, David became king when he was thirty years old. David had the following of all the people: “King David made a covenant with them before the LORD” (2 Sam. 5:3). The relationship between David and the people was first and foremost a relationship “before the Lord.” We read that “David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of armies was with him” (2 Sam. 5:10). An amazing story illustrates this truth. In a battle against the Philistines, God told David: “As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army” (2 Sam. 5:24, NIV). David’s victories were God’s victories!
When we read the descriptions of David’s “mighty men” and other warriors in 1 Chronicles 11-12, we are amazed at some of the remarkable feats performed by certain individuals. Two different men single-handedly killed three hundred of the enemy. Three of them stood their ground when the rest of the army fled, and they won a great victory. Other exploits are noted, but we read in summary: “For day-by-day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God” (1 Chron. 12:22). No one man or group of men could have given David victory over all his enemies. But they came together as an army with the intention of making David “king over all Israel;” they were victorious, and “there was joy indeed in Israel” (1 Chron. 12: 38, 40). I see here a picture of the Church of Jesus Christ, united and determined to make Jesus King. When that happens, there will be victory and “joy indeed!”
– Al Gary
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