How Did You Do It, David?
I’ve covered this topic before, but in light of recent events, I’ve been drawn to this fascinating time in the life of David. If you’ve followed my writing for any length of time, you know David is my favorite character in the Bible and the one to whom I most relate. Reading through David’s many mood swings in the Psalms brings me comfort and helps me remember I’m not the only believer whose faith wavers from time to time.
Yes, there are many ways I identify with David, but the period I want to look at today is not one of them. Nope! Instead, I read through this particular stretch of David’s life and I wonder, How did you do it, David?
In I Samuel 16, David is anointed king of Israel. Even though Saul was still reigning in the palace, God had rejected him just as he had rejected God. So, David—a man after God’s own heart—was chosen to take Saul’s place. I could go into a lot of detail about what actually took place at that anointing as it is sad and comical at the same time, but in order to get to my point, I’ll skip the details for now.
Okay, so David is anointed king, right? We would expect the king to be in the palace. But the next time we see David, he’s in the field with the sheep, and he seems content to be there. Nope, not me. If I had been named queen, I’d be like, “Okay, where’s my crown and my throne and my riches?” I seriously doubt I would have been content to go back and watch over some stupid sheep. But David seemed unaffected by the delay to his rightful place on the throne.
Finally, David makes his way to the palace but not as the king. No, he’s called in to sing lullabies to King Saul who is troubled by an evil spirit. Seriously? First, after being anointed head of all Israel, David is forced to go back and babysit sheep. Then, he has to go babysit a grouchy king. The king he is supposed to replace. Does that seem like a difficult pill to swallow to anyone but me?
Yet, David fulfills his role without complaint. Day after day, night after night, he attends to the needs of Saul. And not once do we see evidence of David trying to take things into his own hands to speed up God’s process. After all, David could have killed Saul in his sleep and promptly accepted his rightful place as king. I’m sure the shepherd boy had plenty of opportunities to “fix it” so things went his way and in his timing. But he didn’t. He waited patiently on God’s plan.
Fast forward a good bit, and we see Saul grow jealous of David because the people thought more highly of the young warrior than of their own king. So, Saul sets about to kill David and thus begins David’s long game of hide-and-seek from the angry, jealous king.
At this point, David could have easily adopted the mentality “kill or be killed.” We know on at least a couple of occasions, he had the chance to assassinate Saul and take his place as king. No more running for his life. No more dwelling in caves. No more hanging around with the “low-lives” of Israel (I Samuel 22). He could have justified his actions. Saul was trying to kill him, so if he ended the king’s life, it would be self-defense. Besides, he (David) was the rightful king. God said so. David could have reasoned that it was God’s will for Saul’s reign to end and David’s to begin at that time.
But he didn’t. He waited. Through some of the harshest circumstances, he waited on God’s timing. Yes, he cried. Yes, he complained from time to time. And yes, he even grew impatient, but during this stretch of his life, that impatience never pushed him to the point of running ahead of God or taking matters into his own hands. Though his situation was precarious and he didn’t understand how God would work all these things for his good, he trusted God’s ways and God’s timing.
I wish I could say I do the same. These past several months have stretched out before me like a vast sea of uncertainty. At the end of June 2019, we felt the Lord leading us to sell the house, so without a second thought, we began the task of packing, sorting, repairing, etc. I had the unrealistic idea that since the selling of the house was God’s plan, things would go smoothly all the way through. No mess, no waiting. All we had to do was obey, and God would take care of the rest.
And then came the delays. The process of preparing the house took much longer than anticipated due to unexpected water leaks, lack of manpower, our deputation traveling schedule, and so much more. Then, when it finally seemed like all the pieces were coming together, God allowed our puzzle to be disassembled, and it felt like we were beginning the process all over again.
To be honest, I grew tired of waiting on God. His way was taking too long. I wanted to be done. I wanted to be where He was leading us, not in the “caves” of the land in-between God’s calling and the fruit of that calling. Unlike David, I’ve sought ways to speed up the process. Impatient and fearful of the long wait still ahead of us, I’ve tried to take things into my own hands and manipulate outcomes to my liking.
Of course, all of this was to no avail. God would not be rushed, and His way would not be thwarted. Once I realized this and recognized my impatience as a lack of trust in His ways and timing, I surrendered the situation to Him. I’m not saying it’s easy now or that I’m happy about having to wait. But, now that I’ve stepped away from my own agenda, I can see how the Lord is working in our current circumstances. I don’t understand it all, but I do see evidence of His grace and mercy, even in the wait.
So, how did David do it? The answer can be found all throughout the Psalms, and believe it or not, the answer just resounded in my ears. Seriously, I’m listening to an instrumental music station through my earphones, and just when I typed the question, “How did David do it?,” a deep voice came through in the midst of the music and said, “Trust.” At first, I was startled, then I couldn’t help but laugh. I opened my phone, and sure enough, the name of the song was “Trust,” and the only word throughout the entire instrumental was the word “trust” repeated at random intervals. Don’t tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor!
David remained faithful to God’s ways and timings because He trusted God. And he trusted the Lord because every time he was tempted to get his eyes on his less-than-ideal circumstances or the long wait, he forced himself to focus on the Lord. He encouraged himself in the Lord. We see it time and time again throughout the Psalms. David begins in a huff or having a pity party, but by the end of the passage, he’s refocused his attention on God and is praising the Lord for His goodness and grace.
That’s what we need to do. When the situation is bad and the wait is long, we must keep our focus on the character of God. He is good. He is kind. He is faithful. He is just. He is merciful. He is right. He never fails. And above all, He is love. Love comes through for others just as God will come through for us. . .in His time.
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”