I will wait for Him

"Only for God doth my soul wait in stillness; from Him cometh my salvation.He only is my rock and my salvation, my high tower, I shall not be greatly moved." King David (Psalm 62:2-3, Hebrew Bible)

I began writing Sunday about resilience and refusal to give up. Why do I keep going on about this? Because, I believe when you begin to walk with God all of the sudden you find yourself fighting on two separate fronts- there is your every day coming and going paying bills, go to work fight. And then there is the fight with yourself. Your heart wants to follow Him because it loves Jesus, your habits though are of a different mind and they drag you into the opposite direction, so you find yourself fighting on the inside as well. You will hold your ground for as long as you know the truth (read your Bible) and refuse to give up. Some of us take the same trip so many times that it's a wonder we're not dizzy by now, but for as long as we don't stop we can always make it. What do I actually mean by giving up? Well, that's simple- decide this is not for you and turn your back on Him for good (if you can:-)

I was saying the other day, that I have some teachers in this lesson. One of them was Joseph, another one that I am going to talk about today is King David. We could talk for months about King David and probably still find there are things we have not touched on, so I will not even attempt to go in depth here.

I guess David's story with God began long before the Bible starts mentioning him. It began in the wilderness, it's there where David discovered Adonai. He wasn't too popular with his brothers either and he was also just a boy when he was called. David was anointed king by prophet Samuel in front of all his family, it was a promise from God with many witnesses, but it took years until it came true. Lets just say you receive a clear notification you won £50,000,000 on the lottery and that the money are on their way to you, but you carry on for years struggling financially without seeing a penny. How long will it pass until you start calling the person who told you about the lottery a liar? David, not only didn't do that but acted at all time like the anointed one, preparing for what was waiting for him:

" He trains my hands for battle, my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and Your right hand sustains me; You stoop down to make me great." (Psalm 18:34-35)

David taught me many things. He taught me how to seek God and to related to Him as to a person not some entity somewhere, how to be real with God and tell Him exactly what I feel and think. When David was happy, he told God how happy he was (Psalm 21:1), if he felt abandoned by God, he asked God why has He abandoned him (Psalm 10:1), if David was depressed and confused, that's what he told God (Psalm 55:4-8). He never tried to sound more spiritual, nor did he wait until he sorted his act out in order to approach God: "You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from You" (Psalm 69:5)
He just went to God as he was, and every time David discovered that he was not rejected. Because of this David learnt to trust God more than anyone else and God ended up saying about David, that he was a man after His own heart. I was obsessed for a long time to find out why did God say that about David? The answer I personally found was that God loved David's realness and trust in Him. God was so touched by the way David loved Him and sought Him all his life that hundreds of years after David's death, He was still forgiving people and making promises "because of His servant, David":

"I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David, My servant" (Isaiah 37:35)

One of my favourite chapters in the Bible is 1 Samuel 30. David returns from joining the Philistines for war and finds his city, Ziklag, burnt to the ground and all the women and children taken slaves by the Amalekites. David and his men become desperate and "weep until they have no more strength to weep". Out of despair his men talk amongst themselves to kill David because they blame him for what happened. David was just as desperate as they were, but he acts like a king even though he wasn't one yet:
"...each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord, his God." (1 Samuel 30:6)
Instead of staying there crying, he asks for the ephod (a vestment worn by ancient Hebrew priests) and goes to God "Shall I pursue them?" God tells him yes, and David goes after them. He fights the Amalekites for two days, but he takes back every thing and enough plunder to send gifts to the elders of Judah. Helpful, when you consider next David becomes king of Judah and then of all of Israel. Ziklag is David's final test and he passes it with flying colours, because he doesn't despair, doesn't give up just because it looks impossible and mainly because he chooses to trust God no matter what. Just as Joseph, David was 30 years old when he became the king of Israel. He also probably waited for about 15 years for that crown, from the moment God anointed him as king until he actually became king, but the lessons he learnt in these years made him into the amazing king that he became- a warrior with a poet's soul, in love with God.

No matter how bad he had it, no matter how difficult it all became, I could not find one Psalm written by David which does not end something like: "But, my trust is in the Lord" He taught us to say: "The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

We all look at him now and see the mighty King David, but he also had a journey, just like ours. Everyday, he also had to choose not to give up, just like we have to. He wasn't born a king, he learnt how to become one.

May the Lord bless you and keep you strong.

Emanuela