Imperfect Man

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,
“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord?
20 “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord. 21 Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.
22 “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 23 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. 24 You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

- 2 Samuel 7

David wanted to build a temple, a home for the Ark of GOD that was at this time, staying in a tent. But GOD spoke thru the Prophet Nathan that David was not to build a home for Him, it was going to be David's son who will build the temple. But GOD had promised David that his family and descendants will always be a royal family, that kings will come from their family. This is what made David in awe that GOD would promise to him such an eternal blessing on earth, when he never even dreamed to be king of Israel one day while he was still a shepherd boy. It was too much to ask and now GOD is giving him even more after GOD has fulfilled the promises of David in his life and made him king over the entire nation of Israel.

A heart of thankfulness is what David's heart is really made of. From his heart, wonderful thoughts of praise and worship came out of his mouth remembering everything that the LORD their GOD has done for them from the time Israel was still a slave of Egypt until now... King David was not perfect, in fact he stole a man's wife and killed the man to have her. But David was still a man after GOD's own heart, and in the true praises of his heart towards GOD, we can understand why GOD was pleased with such an imperfect man.

Trusting GOD

9 But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the Lordwhat he should do. 10 Then David prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. 11 Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him?[a] And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.”
And the Lord said, “He will come.”
12 Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?”
And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
13 So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after all. 14 David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.

- 1 Samuel 23

The favor of GOD rest surely on David whom GOD had protected from Saul ever since Saul was trying to kill him. But if David was truly favored why was someone, and not just anyone, but the King of Israel trying to kill him? The favor of GOD is something anyone would ever ask for in their life, but it comes with many other things. When GOD favors you, you receive many good things from GOD such as the ability to know what is about to happen to you in the future, people that will stand by you even in death, the honor of many surrounding you but it also comes with envy from the ones GOD has rejected such as a man Saul, the King of Israel who had envied David ever since Saul felt that David now has GOD's favor instead of him.

For David, GOD's favor cost him his life, running away from his enemies for a long time, hiding in the wilderness and always being threatened of being killed. But David did not complain to the Lord his GOD because David trusted that GOD is Sovereign, whatever was happening to his life at that time was allowed by GOD to happen. David understood that GOD was in total control of everything and that HE could just strike his enemy one time and he is gone, all his troubles will be gone. But David trusted GOD in spite of the troubles that he was facing, trusting that GOD will one day give the entire Kingdom to David and that whatever he has to go through now is training him to be the best King Israel is going to have. Do we trust GOD enough to go through the tough times without questioning GOD?