2 Samuel 8:14–15: “He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people.”

June 17th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Unlike King Saul, King David ruled his kingdom in a just manner. As we continue to study through 2 Samuel, we see that David becomes more and more like the future Messiah, the ultimate King, who reigns perfectly, both with justice and mercy. David was of course still a human being and displayed human frailties throughout his life, just like all of us in the human race. He was an imperfect picture of the Messiah, but a type of Him nonetheless. We find ourselves in this same imperfect, ironic position. We are to model Jesus Christ and to follow His example in daily living, but we often find ourselves coming up short of the mark.

The word Christian means Christ-like. After we surrender to Him, we spend the rest of our lives learning how to take on His character. There is a true story of a young girl who surrendered to Jesus Christ as her Savior. The practice of her local church was to apply for membership and answer some questions. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?” inquired an old deacon. “Yes, sir,” she replied. “Well, are you still a sinner?” he asked. “To tell you the truth,” she replied, “I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.” “Then what real change have you experienced?” he asked. “I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin; but now that I am saved, I’m a sinner running away from sin!” She became a member that day.

Like the hymn writer of “Amazing Grace,” John Newton, said just before his death:

I am not what I ought to be . . . I am not what I wish to be . . . I am not what I hope to be . . . [but] I can truly say, I am not what I once was . . . and I can heartily join with the apostle [Paul], and acknowledge, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.”

“We thank You again, LORD, for Your grace for us today.”