In the Course of Time (Part 2)

2 Samuel 8:1

“In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.”   

I am one of 4 children. I come from a large family by today’s standards. I also have a large family myself with 5 daughters. I can remember my mother purchasing clothes for me and my brother. No, we did not have much of a say in what was purchased for us to wear. My parents had to feed and clothe my brother and my two sisters, so we did not get any room at all to be nitpicky on what we wore. My mom looked for the clothes, we tried them on, and she decided if they would work or not. I remember wearing jeans that were too big for me when we purchased them. I spoke my mind about this injustice to my parents. What did they say? Well, “you will grow into them.” And that was that. In the course of time, I did grow into them and further down the road I grew out of them as well.

In chapter 7, David hears a word from God through Nathan the prophet and prays an amazing prayer.  I invite you to read it, it is full of phrases like, “You will” and “You have” but it starts with the David saying “Who am I?”  We often get excited and feel like General Paton in WW2 when we have some victory in our lives.  It is in the midst of the depressing and hard times where we feel like our life is stuck in mud.  One thing David did no matter what is that he acknowledged God in everything he did.  We will see further down the road where David goes off course, but he was a man after God’s own heart for one reason….God was at the center of everything for him. 

The Psalms are full of praises and emotions from David crying out to God over the course of his life. You can look up when each Psalm was written and back-track it to the very story found in 1st and 2nd Samuel. A real life prayer journal if you will. In the course of time, David goes on to conquer all of his enemies because the Lord gave David victory wherever he went. Unlike other kings of Israel, verse 15 tells us that David did what was just and right for all the people.

Life is not a short story for us, but it is rather a long, ongoing novel that seems to over-explain things all the time. You know those type of novels that seem to take 5 pages to explain the smell of a flower. Those kind. We say “we get it” can we move on please, and God is like, “nope” you have some reading still to do before the next chapter. Victory is not won quickly nor does defeat overcome us suddenly.  In the course of time, watch God work and know that it is Him who gives you the victory.

Prayer: Father, life is a waiting game. We sometimes get impatient and demand our own way in the moment, but many of your blessings and victories happen over the course the time. Give us faith like David who continually inquired about your direction and put you in the center of all that he did. Even through all of his mistakes and imperfections, you still called him a man after God’s heart. So today, we commit to placing first in our lives and waiting on your perfect timing. Never late and never early, you are always on time and we praise you for that. In the Jesus name, amen.