LIKE FATHER, NOT LIKE SON (1 Chronicles 22)

You are not the one to honor me by building a sanctuary--you've been responsible for too much killing, too much bloodshed. But you are going to have a son and he will be a quiet and peaceful man. (1 Chronicles 22:7-10)

David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said no, his son would build it instead.

Today's verses led me to think about how different David and Solomon were.  Oh, they had some major traits in common. They both had a heart for God, an almost unhealthy interest in women, and musical/writing ability.

David was a man of bloodshed, and Solomon lived in a time of peace. But the difference relies on more than military conflict. It's also a matter of their personalities.\\

David wore his heart on his sleeve. He danced before the Lord with abandon. He bought the threshing floor where the plague ended with his hand over his heart, "I won't offer something to God that cost me nothing." He grieved his son's death and his friend Jonathan's death deeply.  Whatever David felt, the kingdom knew--that included the times he went to war.

In that sense, Adonijah and Absalom were probably a lot more like David than Solomon ever was. Absalom was furious about what  happened to his sister and let it color his judgment. Perhaps David secretly favored Absalom as his favorite son, because he reminded David of himself. Adonijah had the gumption to make himself king when David was close to death.

While young Solomon waited, not acting--probably realizing the time wasn't right, like David when he was in the caves so many years before.

Instead God chose the son the least like David as the next king. Quiet, peaceful Solomon, the son who would rather negotiate a settlement than fight it ought, who could listen to all sides of an argument and come up with a solution that was fair and best for all. Part of his wisdom was supernaturally, God-enhanced. But by nature he was a lover and not a fighter.

And Solomon knew how to be tough. He followed through on his father's final wishes to get rid of threats. When his son become king, people complained to him on the high taxes and work force required by Solomon. But he didn't usually do the dirty deeds himself.

Of course God's choice of Solomon as king shows His mercy--as He included Tamar and Rahab in Jesus's ancestry, now Bathsheba joins those other shady women. God chose the offspring of the union between David and his one-time-mistress-now-wife as a king.

God chose two wildly different men as the kings of Israel's golden age. Both leaders, both committed to God--but very different.

News flash: God doesn't use a single type of individual to lead or for any needed tasks. Certainly He calls a wide variety of people to write!.

Question: Are you  more of a David or a Solomon? Or someone else?

DIVINE SYNERGY (1 Chronicles 14)

David was famous all over the place, far and near; and God put the fear of God into all the godless nations. (1 Chronicles 14:17)

David might not have prayed Jabez's exact prayer, but he had a similar experience. He was honored: respected, ethical in his conduct, and famous in far-flung places.  God certainly enlarged his borders; Israel ruled the most ground during David and Solomon's reigns.

If David had remained in Bethlehem, tending to his father's sheep, he probably would never have achieved fame. I complain about writing for 14 years before my first book was published. David waited seventeen years between God's promise and the fulfillment. A man's man--a warrior, strong, ready to even any score--and a woman's man, one who obviously loved women and wrote beautiful poetry. Love him or hate him, everyone knew about King David. Israel showed up on the nightly news on a regular basis.

In other words, David worked to become famous and studied the art of war to become better.

But then God enters the picture.  God put fear into the surrounding godless nations.

Another paradox.   David fought the battles; but God put fear into their hearts.

Whatever God calls us to do, He moves ahead of us, preparing the way. Work is hard. Writing novels is hard and takes training and practice and perseverance.

But lest I ever believe I am published only because of my work, my talent--here is another reminder that God put an open heart in the agents and editors I have worked with.

God takes our human offerings and makes them supernatural.

The Secret to David's Success (2 Samuel 22)

Wow, I could camp out in 2 Samuel 22 for a week.  There are tons of suggestions on finding the "right

direction," for instance, which intrigue me.

But I want to focus on the secret to David's success, why he was a man after God's own heart, in spite of his many failings. This is a longer passage than I usually quote, but this is too good to pass up:

Indeed, I've kept alert to God's ways;

I haven't taken God for granted.

Every day I review the way he works,

I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together

and I'm watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life

when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

2 Samuel 22:21-25

"I haven't taken God for granted." That says it all. David was passionate, sold-out for God. He knew from the rock-bottom foundation of his heart that everything he was, every would be, was meant to be--all was grounded in God and His goodness.  That with God nothing was impossible, but by himself, he was helpless. 

How do I know this? For one thing, he said so. For another, he showed it. He didn't go to war without God's okay. When he did, he was fearless--killing a giant with a slingshot? C'mon. Foolish. But not to David and his God. He offered extravagant, abundant sacrifices, of song and dance, animals and grain. 

David made his relationship with God a daily priority.  "Every day I review the way he works." He meditated, he reviewed what he knew, he prayed. I expect he asked forgiveness on a daily basis as well, with the notable exception of his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba. 

And no matter how well he knew God--he wanted more. I try not to miss a trick. He reviewed what he

knew about God, compared it to the law and to his experience. His relationship wasn't static; it was constantly growing. He also didn't want to miss out when God started something new. He was there, on top of it.

As a result, God rewrote the text of his life.

Lord, let me have that kind of passion for You.