Wed.’s Devo - David Becomes the King

Read: 1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17; Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 19:4-5 When David was fleeing from Saul he had gone to the Philistines and joined with them. They decided to attack Israel but sent David and his men home and wouldn’t let them fight with them in case they changed allegiance in the middle of the battle and turned on them. As David and his men were returning home to Ziklag they went through Manasseh and over 7,000 of its warriors joined him. *** The numbers of soldiers from all the tribes were given who also deflected from Saul’s army to join David’s. Issachar only had 200 leaders that joined with David but they were men who understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take. They understood where they were in history and what God wanted to happen during their time on earth. *** This is valuable for us to know about today and what God is doing on the earth. I believe that this same thing is happening in our military. There are those who are realizing what is going on in the earth and how the evil is fighting God’s people. They are jumping ship to join with God’s military to fight the evil of our day. We are ramping up for the greatest battle in history but few even realize what is happening. This is one of the final battles against sin and death. *** All of these men went to Hebron with the sole purpose of making David their king. We are about to see that happen on the earth soon. *** David addressed them and wanted to invite all of Israel to come and join them and bring back the Ark of God that had been neglected during Saul’s reign. This is the return of the nation from evil to God. They all agreed it was the right thing to do. They put the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Ballah of Judah or Kiriath-jearim. When they got to the threshing floor of Kidon, the oxen stumbled and Huzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark. God struck him dead. David was upset with God for killing Uzzah and didn’t know what to do. He was afraid to take it to the city of David so he took it to the closest house which belonged to Obed-edom and it stayed there for three months. God blessed everything in his household. *** David busied himself building his own palace He married more wives in Jerusalem and had 13 sons. Solomon was one of them born in Jerusalem. *** When the Philistines heard that David had become Israel’s king, they came to attack. David asked the Lord if he should fight them and the Lord told him yes. It was a great defeat and David gave the honor to God. The Philistines had brought their gods with them and left them in haste. David had them all destroyed. *** The Philistines returned and God told David to set up an ambush and he did and defeated them again. David’s fame went thought out the land and all the nations feared him. *** Romans is divided into two parts. The first part, Chapters 1-11 are doctrine that Paul preached. The second half from Chapters 12-16 are the practical advice of how to live our lives. Paul’s main theme of Romans is how we are justified by faith and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is church talk for how we are made sinless because we believe that Jesus took our sins and put them to death on the cross. It is the Holy Spirit that cleanses us day by day as we seek the Lord and read his Word. *** Paul begins his letter to the believers in Rome by defending his belief about Jesus in the words of the prophets who told us this was coming. Jesus descended from David and proved himself the son of God when he rose from the dead. Jesus became our Christ and has called Jews and Gentiles to belong to him. *** Paul praised them for the testimony he had heard about them and their reputation of faith. Paul had prayed for them and longed to visit them for a long time and was thrilled to finally be with them. He defined the Good News as what makes us right with God. It is through faith that we are saved. *** Lord, thank you that you are and have always been over all the nations. You are our creator and you have called us to be your friend. It is overwhelming to think about. We are honored to be invited into your family and to know your presence and love. May we be offerings of your love today.