2 Sam. 15
David never made assumptions about his position with God, always leaving his fate in God’s hands. I don’t mean that he lacked confidence in God – quite the opposite, I think. When David and his men fled Jerusalem to escape his son, Absalom, David sent the Ark of the Covenant back into the city, saying, “If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place. But if He says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let Him do to me what seems good to Him” (2 Sam 15:25b-26). I think David trusted that God would bring him back to the city. But he was ready with open eyes, ears and heart to accept God’s word if God told him otherwise.
Ps. 3
And in this Psalm, we further see David trusting his life and his fate to God. He acknowledges God as his sustainer, his shield, and his salvation. He knows that it is God, not man, who will determine if he lives or dies, is humbled or exalted before his enemies.
Ps. 69
David again pours out his heart and his distress to God. However, though he does seek the LORD’s salvation, his concern is not “woe is me.” His concern is that justice be upheld and that the wicked would not be exalted. And his concern is that others won’t be shamed or dishonored through or because of him.
This is also one of the many times when David is pouring out his heart to God that God lays a prophecy in David’s heart concerning Jesus. Ps 69:21 says, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” As far as I can tell, that never happened to David. So I wonder what he was thinking when he wrote it. Was he just writing down whatever came to mind and not questioning it, or did he somehow know that it was a prophecy of some kind?
John 4:27-54
This official that came to Jesus seeking healing for his son….he asked Jesus to come to his son and heal him. But Jesus didn’t do that. Instead, he told the man, “Go; your son will live.” Then it says, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” Interesting.
The man did not get exactly what he asked for, but he was willing to believe that what Jesus gave him was sufficient. If he had been stuck in his expectations, it might have been very difficult for him to turn and walk away from Jesus, believing that Jesus’ direct presence was not needed for his son to be healed. It is also interesting that this action followed Jesus statement to the man, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” My bible notes that the word “you”, used twice in this verse, is the plural version. This indicates that Jesus was not really saying this directly to the man. I think Jesus knew the man’s faith, so he said this to show that faith to the rest of the crowd. The man believed without seeing.