"Humbly Confident" March 24 Readings: 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 18, Psalm 20, 60, 75

Today's Reading - 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 18, Psalm 20, 60, 75 

Background

The passages in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles recount more of David's victories, leading up to, in 2 Samuel, his fall into sin. The Psalms we read today all deal with those victories and explain that they come by the power of God.

Two key passages in these Psalms for our meditation.

Psalm 20:7-8. Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses,
but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand firm.

Psalm 75:6-7  Exaltation does not come
from the east, the west, or the desert,
for God is the Judge:
He brings down one and exalts another.

Devotional - Humbly Confident 

Where is your confidence? From what source do you get your security?

• Does it come from the money you have in the bank - your insurance, your nest egg, your savings? 
• Does it come from your friends; what people think of you and what they say about you? 
• Does it come from your self-image; what you think of yourself? 

David went through innumerable challenges from the day that the prophet Samuel showed up at his home and anointed him as the next king. He fought a giant and for his trouble came to be seen as the enemy of the king. He was hounded and harassed, chased from his home. He had more enemies than he could count.

But he did not trust in his own abilities or even in the loyalty and strength of the mighty men who surrounded him. He had learned something that saw him through the difficult days. In the three Psalms we read today and especially in the two passages copied above, we see a key concept. Our strength comes from God, not from anything in this world.

In Psalm 75:6-7, David asserted that God was the one who sets up one and puts down another. His duty was to be obedient to the Lord of Heaven. God would exalt him or bring him low by the dictates of his own will. David did not have to scheme, manipulate, fret, or stress. All he needed to do was to trust and obey.

The secret was revealed in Psalm 20:7-8. He need not take pride in chariots and horses - what a normal warrior would trust his life to. He simply put his faith in the name of the Lord and God would make him stand firm.

As I live my life, I need not live in fear of others and what they can do to me, or even seek what they can do for me. My strength comes from heaven. My duty is to seek him and obey him. He is the one I can depend on no matter what is going on in this world.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way...

Father, help me to live and walk in faithful obedience to you every day of my life. May I never trust in myself or the work of others, but in you and in your work in my life. 

Think and Pray

Do you trust in God for everything, or do you scheme and manipulate, seek to curry favor with others, and try to "do-it-yourself?"