Grace For The Journey

The Bible says in Proverbs 6:10-11, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”

The title of my blog today may strike you as odd?  Whether we grew up in a Christian home or not, just about everyone remembers the story as being just the opposite: David slays the giant!  The shepherd boy David was the anointed of God, chosen to be the next king of Israel.  Along the way, David stepped up for his nation and accepted the challenge from the giant Goliath.  Armed with only a sling, five smooth stones, and unwavering faith in his God, David slew the giant.

But there is another giant in David’s story.  The Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 11:1-4, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army . . . But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.”

Up until this time in David’s life, he had known only victory.  Why?

Because David was more

Focused on God

Than he was on himself.

David was living according to God’s will for his life rather than for his own will.

But now something was different . . . very different.

David was more concerned with satisfying

His desires than living out his devotion to God.

Many Christians see the giant that now confronted David as Lust, and that is certainly true.  But there was another giant that challenged David long before his lustful look at Bathsheba.

You see, springtime in the Near East was the best time to engage in a military campaign.  The winter rains would have subsided and the fall harvest had not yet arrived.  So when we read that David sent Joab and the entire Israelite army out “in the spring, at the time when kings go off to war,” the Holy Spirit intends to arrest our attention and cause us to look for the deeper meaning in the text.

King David should have been leading in battle, but he chose to send Joab in his place and relax at the palace.

David neglected his calling as king

And his purpose in growing

In His relationship with God

and in leading the Israelite

Army in the battles of His Lord.

Instead of doing battle in the fields of Rabbah of the Ammonites, David lounged in his bed in Jerusalem.  The giant of Sinful Slumber slew King David long before the giant Lust unlimbered its deadly sword.  When David abandoned his purpose he paid a very heavy price, as did all those he was responsible for leading.

We are rightly inspired when we read of

David’s glorious victory against Goliath,

But may his appalling failure

Also inspire us to not let down

In our daily walk with God.

Let us stay focused and committed to our calling, regardless of the cost or circumstance, knowing that “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest” may very well lead us into God-dishonoring defeat, just as the great king David  was conquered by the giant of Sinful Slumber.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”