Understanding the Work Of God In Your Life

2 Samuel 5:12 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

Seventeen and a half years had passed after David had been anointed by Samuel in Bethlehem until he took the throne as King over Israel. The waiting took place in caves, in the area of the Dead Sea called En Gedi and in Philistine territory. He was on the run from Saul, his father-in-law and king of Israel. Saul's jealous heart drove him mad. David had some narrow escapes. His feelings on some of these occasions are chronicled in the Psalms.

I am sure at times David wondered if taking the throne would ever come about. Certainly he cried out, "How long O LORD?"
Psalm 13:1-2 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Psalm 94:3 How long, Lord, will the wicked, how long will the wicked be jubilant?

Psalm 119:84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?

God has now accomplished His Promises in David's life. The Shepherd has become King over Israel. You could not make this stuff up. It is beautiful story of the underdog triumphing. It is a story of the Making of a Man of God. It is an account of the work of God in David's life.

It is important we always see attempt to see God's Hand in our lives. To understand His working is important. We may like David have questions along the way. We don't understand God's ways. They are beyond our finding out. There comes a time along the way where we see His Purposes in our lives being fulfilled. The Psalmist wrote, Psalm 119:49-50 Remember Your word to Your servant, for You have given me hope. This is what comforts me in my trouble, for Your promise revives me.

God fulfills His Word, that personal word to us. He did so with David. He will do the same with us. When we understand it is Him, His working it is good to do like David and attribute it all to the LORD. We are told why this is the right thing to do:


1. It gives Him Glory

Look at verse 11
2 Samuel 5:11 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

David had been the family shepherd. When Samuel went down to Jesse's house in Bethlehem to anoint Israel's next king, David's 7 brothers passed before him. None of them were the one. Samuel asked if they were any more sons. I love there answer, 1 Samuel 16:11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “but he is tending the sheep.”Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

Fast forward about 20 years. Now David, after wondering if he would survive at times the jealousy of Saul, is king over all Israel. One of the tangible proofs is that the king of Tyre sends materials and craftsman, as a gesture of good will, to David. Their assignment: Build David a palace. It seems here he goes into some reflection on how he got there. A wise thing to do when the blessings of God come, when His purpose for you are accomplished.

Six miles away, in the hills of Bethlehem, he was tending sheep. He was low man on the totem pole in his family. Now he is the ruler of the whole nation!

David did not let success go to his head. He humbled himself. He knew where he had come from and understood the work of God in his life to the extent he realized fully it was the LORD Who did this. It wasn't his wit, his cleverness, his ability. God had anointed him, brought him through a horrific decade of being the hunted, and had established his throne.

David never got away from this. He understood it was God and he took this to heart. It is reflected in his Psalms, in his life and in his rule. Even though the people remembered and complimented his military victories, David understood that "The Battle is the LORD's" and gave God glory.

When we understand, like David did, that the work of God through us is just that: God' Work, we give the glory to Him. We refuse to touch it, to take credit for it.

Because of this all along David never spoke a word against Saul, he honored him and his family in death. He led the people following him in mourning. David's rule could have been ushered in with revenge, hated and bitterness. No one would have blamed him. He, however, was different. He was a man after God's own heart. What wise decisions he was making even before he became king. When you love and live like that you naturally give the glory to God because you know it is the LORD Who exalted you. The blessings of God follow a man or woman who live like that.

Understanding the Work of God in our lives...
2. It Prevents Us From Believing Our Own Press.

David celebrated the LORD's work in his life but he remained a shepherd at heart. He was forever a shepherd.

2 Samuel 6:13-15 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

Psalm 78:70-72 He chose David his servantand took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.

1 Samuel 18:6-7 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang:“Saul has slain his thousands,and David his tens of thousands.”

Proverbs 27:2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;an outsider, and not your own lips.

David wisely did not embrace the praises of the people. He didn't let it go to his head. He was a man after God's own heart and a servant of the LORD and his people, Israel. He understood the workings of God in his life.

He never left, in his heart and mind, the sheep pens. I was in one this past week. My grandson Timmy had a field trip to the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park. For over 50 years, never knew it was there! 3/10's of a mile off the Grand Central, south on Little Neck Parkway is a full blown farm, vegetables, tractors, hay rides and animals. I went into the sheep pen with my grandson. Not the cleanest place but the gentlest of the animals. Providing wool. Needing help to find food, needing someone to watch over them and protect them. David experienced this first hand as did Moses. Of course Jesus is the Good Shepherd, that Great Shepherd of the Sheep.

Understanding the work of God in our life also...

3. It Lets Us See The Big Picture.

There is always a bigger picture, a much bigger picture.
Mature Believers see that.
People Who have experienced much suffering can see the bigger picture.
David suffered. Suffering purifies our heart, burns away the nonsense of life.

Suffering in the fiery trials personally enables us to hold on very loosely to the things of this world, to grasp the eternal things and let them captivate us.

We need to learn how to look for the Hand of God and the larger view.

*Read God's Word, search for the stories and verses like this one which point this out.
*Pray for the LORD to open your eyes. One of the reasons He came was for this restored vision.
*Be still and meditate quietly.

It is Not All About Us. God was blessing David so he could be a blessing to Israel. Most tragically never get this. They fail to see the bigger picture.

James 4:1-3 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.


Understanding the work of God in Our Lives...

4. It Settles Us Where He Wants Us.
David had been a vagabond fugitive. He had been on the run for years.
Beware of restlessness. Beware of not being setttled.
I watched the Memorial service for Pastor Chuck Smith on Sunday evening and one of the testimonies given by a pastor was advice Chuck gave him years ago when he was starting out: " Stay the Course".

When we understand the work of God n our life we give Him glory for the things done through us. We realize that work is part of His kingdom coming to earth and we rest in the work He is doing.