David is still a king in waiting even after Saul is dead. You’d have thought that was a done deal after all the waiting and fighting. God’s said this was going to happen but still not yet. The frustration! What are you waiting for? Lord Jesus, enable us to find You in the NOW, to live today hand in hand with You, believing that You are at work in the world even when we can’t see it! See Psalm 130.

This reading focuses on the civil war skirmishes as David’s influence grows. It is interesting that here no one is enquiring of the Lord, perhaps because there is an assumption that all will be sorted through combat because this way of doing things was blessed by God. Before it may appear SO it will be right now. No enquiring either about what other wives to take and the upshot of this is only felt later.

So like us yet again, how easy it is to run to God in the dire moments and yet fail to consult Him, suddenly feeling we can do this ourselves! Or because the crisis is over and ‘normality’ has returned, no wonder at times we, like these Old Testament characters lurch from one drama to another! We think we’ve cracked this. If we keep to a particular formula (how to be God’s king or soldier or teacher or church leader .... fill in the blank!) as if it was the order of actions or the words that somehow charmed God unto getting involved and acting rather than our deliberate turning to Him and seeking Him. How do we find God? How can we see Him move? We find Him when we SEEK Him with all our hearts.

When will we learn...will we ever learn? Where they once turned to Baal they now turn to their God-given fighting skills (2:16) or as we watch David’s actions (his idea of what kings do - produce heirs and make political alliances through marriage) we might grasp a vision. Hallelujah! But then that becomes a problem as we take our eyes off Him! David meanwhile is nowhere to be seen, leading no one, despite his gifts in the military because he’s busy adding to his household.

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It’s really easy to think there’s not much to be learned in some of these chapters, but here we see what happens when we take over and trust in our own judgement and what we believe is skill or even a gift.

Lord Jesus, help us to keep our eyes on You as the true guide through this life.