Triumph & TurmoilSample

A Song (And a Life) of Praise

This week, we have walked through the book of 2 Samuel and David's kingship. In some ways, a triumph, and in others, an absolute tragedy. There are characteristics to emulate and faults to avoid.

Here, at the end of the week, in the last chapters of the book, we are presented with events that are no longer chronological. Most of the book moves along with phrases like, “in the course of time,” or “two years later.”

But the events of these last chapters are relayed outside the flow of the story.

Chapter 22 is a song of praise from David that reflects events early in 1 Samuel (it is important to remember that in the original writing, 1 & 2 Samuel were one continuous writing). As a culmination to this week, read this song several times and reflect on the images that David paints of God’s faithfulness and power.

Let’s consider for a moment the reality that this literary insertion reveals.

These chapters certainly could have been put in their proper sequence and chronology. But doing so would have disrupted the flow of the narrative and perhaps the story the writer was trying to tell. It does not make those events unimportant (they are included in the end, after all); it is just that not all the events necessarily find a place in the flow of the larger story.

This is just like life. Sometimes, events just don’t seem to fit. It doesn’t mean they are unimportant; we just don’t always get to fit them into a flow that makes sense to us.

God often works in mysterious ways; it’s one of our favorite ways to describe His movement. When this happens, we remember that the full and final picture is what God is painting, even if we don’t see how the part that He is working on now relates to the rest of the image.

Praise God, the Master Artist, for seeing and creating the whole picture.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the story of David and how You moved through him despite his many deep flaws. Help me to learn from him what it means to be a man after Your heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reflection: Thank God for some of the parts of your life that may not have made sense yet. Ask Him to help you be patient and wait for Him to show you their significance.

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