David was anointed king in the midst of his brothers, even though he did not sit securely on the throne until seven years afterwards.
In the meantime, David fought with Saul and his followers, gain support and strength from the people, yet at times he faced immense challenges, and even despaired of ever becoming king.
"1And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand." (1 Samuel 27: 1)
David shared this desperate sentiment from his heart, the very seat of his being.
Yet no matter how discouraged we may be, or we may become, we must remember that we are not righteous because of what we think, or what we feel, but rather we are righteous because of all that Jesus Christ has done for us:
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
We receive this gift of righteousness and abundance of grace because of Him, as well:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
We do not receive the gifts of righteousness and grace apart from Jesus, and because we have received Him, and He has received us by His Holy Spirit, we can never lose the gifts.
In this manner, we are all anointed kings and priests in Christ (1 Peter 2: 9).
David was anointed king long before he sat down as king.
In our lives, we are saved by believing on Him, then we live our lives growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, seeing how He has taken care of all things, and more importantly honoring that He has done everything for us, and He asks to trust Him in everything for everything.
Consider 1 Samuel 27 once again:
"And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?" (1 Samuel 27: 5)
How telling indeed, the word "grace" is mentioned in the fifth verse, the number for grace. Yet instead of seeking grace in eyes of the Lord, he sought this favor in the presence of the King of the Philistines.
How low can one go, right?
King David has made himself a servant ot the greatest enemy of Israel. In the same way, many Christians may get disillusioned with God, with their life in Christ, often because they fear and trust in their efforts to live what only God can live in us through His Son, our hope of glory (Colossians 1: 27)
Yet take a look at the grace of God in David's life:
"Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. 7And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months." (1 Samuel 27: 6-7)
The territory which David the discouraged self-made servant of an enemy became one part of his future territory, and remained the terrority for all the kings of Judah!
God will keep on blessing us in spite of ourselves, and will take our greatest failures, our most defeated mistakes, and turn them to our profit.
How great is our God! How great is our Savior Jesus Christ!
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