- 2 Samuel 8:6 (NLT) Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
- 2 Samuel 11:1 (NLT) In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Photo by User:Gilabrand. View of David’s Citadel from Hinnom Valley, April 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What a sad contrast between these two verses. In the first wherever David went God made him victorious. In the second when David choose to stay behind and send someone else to do his job-disaster happened.
2 Samuel 11 records the sad, sad record of David’s dealings with Uriah and his wife: Bathsheba. That event started a downward spiral of events that David and his family never really recovered from.
Whatever you do, do your duty. Whether depressed, defeat or demoralized: get up and keep going. Sometimes the most courageous thing you can do is simply get up one more day and do your duty. The accumulated “doing-your-duty”’s will set you up for the favor and blessing of God.
Remember, there were a lot of trials and tribulations in David’s life before 2 Samuel 8:6, but the important thing is he never gave up but kept going. The trouble all started when he decided to not go but send someone else.
Learn from someone else’s failure: no more excuses; do your duty-and do it well.
Keep going!
Related articles
- These Things Happen (jbailey8849.wordpress.com)
- The king covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 19:4) (twgdailydevotionals.wordpress.com)
- Daily Devotion from the Church Health Center – 2 Samuel 11:26-27 (panoramicviews.wordpress.com)
The ONE THING 