Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. . . ( Proverbs 3:5-6)

Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and He answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the Mulberry trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the trees, move quickly because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines (2Samuel 5:22-24)

David is famous for many extraordinary feats, most notably his encounter with Goliath. By the time of the incident of the mulberry trees,David had defeated the Philistine army once, and other armies as well. David had reigned as king for more than six years, doing battle every year. He had fought the Jebusites and taken Jerusalem for his royal city.

It seems almost beyond belief that the man who had led thousands of soldiers into battle would seek God’s council on every detail of his approaching encounter. David was a seasoned warrior, a general who had won many and varied battles, who was at home on the battlefield when he stopped to inquire of the Lord, not only whether he should engage the enemy, but how and when.

This story seems to me to embody the real greatness of David. It is the greatness that Jesus spoke of to his disciples on the night before he was arrested: The greatest among you should be like the youngest; and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:26) With these words, Jesus could have been describing David himself at the moment that David did in fact, hear the marching in the trees. In that moment David moved according to his Lord’s direction, and followed that direction to total victory over his enemy. No one accused David of weakness or of being a coward. David’s strength was a gift that he always acknowledged.

Reading from Proverbs to David’s victory, to the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, we can hear the unmistakable message from the Word of God, Trust the Lord with all your heart. David’s life and his reign, and God’s promise to him to preserve his inheritance for all time, find fulfillment in the birth , life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When we trust the One who made them, these promises find fulfillment in us, as well.

Love in Him,

Prue