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.”

=============================================================

1 Samuel 8 KJV

¹ And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. ² Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. ³ And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, ⁵ And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. ⁹ Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. ¹⁰ And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. ¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. ¹³ And he will take your daughters to beconfectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. ¹⁴ And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them , and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.  ¹⁶ And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. ¹⁸ And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. ¹⁹ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; ²⁰ That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. ²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. ²² And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.