Davd and the other Goliath's

I am at the airport lounge waiting for my flight back to Canada. It has been a wonderful vacation although I missed my wife. My siblings do appreciate my visit and hopefully my time spent with them will encourage them in their spiritual journey.

Just finished reading the book David and Goliath. In terms of facing formidable enemies and the wisdom and the endurance needed to defeat them, I wrote in my last blog how David needed not only strategies and skills (like throwing a little rock with utmost precision), he was no doubt trusting the Almighty God (El Shaddai) to win the battle for him.

Now the opposite can be true also. In today's scripture reading of 2 Samuel 5, David has finally eliminated all his immediate enemies and is now reigning over the entire Israel. He continued to demonstrate his political wisdom by carefully gaining trust and support from Saul's supporters. He also defeated the Philistines utterly and removed the Jebusites from Jerusalem to establish his own palace there (The City of David). Knowing what will be coming in the next few chapters I feared for David. Success often comes with its own enemies. He will become overly reliant on himself instead of God. He may feel his entitlement to luxury and other pleasures of life (such as his many wives). He will become slack in his disciplines - and prone to temptations. These are the real giants that face those of us who have come to this point in our lives when we feel we deserve to "retire" from all the hard labor of yester-years. The next few chapters in David's life weren't pretty. Let me learn from his mistakes and keep running my race strong - and be able to say as Paul said:

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)