Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

David was saying, "God did not give me a yes answer. When it came to my own dream, He gave me a no answer. But He did give me other things in place of that dream, and I'm making the very most I can of those other things." We can all glean much from David's mature response.

Are times hard? Are days of trouble upon you? When times are tough, the Lord is our only security. David assures us in his song that the Lord delights in us; He sees and cares about what is happening in our lives, this very moment.

Tracing the downward steps in David's eroding family relationships, we now have Absalom murdering Amnon, a brother murdering a brother. 'The sword will never depart out of your household, David.' Here he is groaning under the ache of that prediction.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once described friendship as "a sheltering tree." What a beautiful description of that special relationship. As I read those words, I think of my friends as great, leafy trees, who spread themselves over me, providing shade from the sun.

David refused to give up. When suffering the backwash of sin, our tendency is to say, "I am through. I am finished with living. Life isn't worth it any longer." But look at what David did: he "comforted his wife Bathsheba." It's easy to forget that she was also grieving.

Nathan didn't come on his own; he was sent by God: "Then the LORD sent Nathan to David." I think the most important word in that sentence is the first one, "then." God's timing is absolutely incredible. When was he sent? Right after the act of adultery? No.

What a father! He may have been weak at other times, but at this moment, David stands tall. "Lord, I know You don't want me to fulfill the dream, but, Lord, I'm going to set apart as much as I can to support my son as he fulfills the dream that was on my heart."

God does not call everybody to build temples. He calls some people to be soldiers. He calls some people to do the gutsy work in the trenches. He calls some people to compose and conduct music. God has all kinds of creative ways to use us.

"David, you will know the delight of having a son by whom this temple will be built. Not through your efforts, but through your son the dream will be fulfilled." It is not a question of sin here. It is not God's judgment that is coming upon David as a consequence of wrong.

David brought the ark of God up to Jerusalem and back to the people of Israel. It had begun to bother him that the ark of God was in a tent while he lived in a beautiful house. So he got the idea in his mind to build a permanent residence for God in which to house all the sacred furniture.

Why in the world would they get so excited about it? Because they're free. When you obey, you're free. When you disobey, you're in bondage. All around us we see individuals in bondage because they're in sin, and all they talk about is freedom. They're not free.

What an epitaph! Not, "I found David to be a great warrior," or, "I found David to be a faithful shepherd," or, "I found David to be a brilliant king"—none of those things. It says, "I found David to care about the things I care about. He's a man whose heart beats in sync with Mine.

We've got David standing here mad at the Lord, when, in fact, the Lord was angry at David. About now you might be thinking, Well, I thought you said he was a man after God's heart. I did—or, rather, God did. Does that mean he's perfect? It does not.

Because of David's many mighty acts and the legacy he left, it is easy to forget that for a dozen or more years he lived as a fugitive and spent many hours of discouragement and disillusionment in the wilderness.

Behind the great tragedy of Saul's life is a very interesting analogy—an analogy between Saul's death and Christ's death. At first glance we might say, "What in the world would we find common to both Saul and Christ?" Actually, there are six analogies worth noting.

What do you think those who survive you will write as your epitaph? How will your obituary read? What words will be used in the eulogy to sum up your life? Saul's epitaph was a sad one, summing up the tragic life of this man who played such an important role in David's life.

David had reached the point in life where some people think of taking their own lives. He was so far down the ladder of despair that he'd reached the bottom rung. The last stop. The place where you either jump off into oblivion or you cry out to God for His forgiveness.

Mission accomplished! Everybody wins. David and his men go back full of food and all the wiser. Fantastic! Abigail goes home, and her husband puts his arm around her and says, "Honey, thanks. You're a great lady . . . more precious than rubies." No. I wish it said that.

My, oh my, did David learn a lesson! "Blessed be God. He kept me from murdering this man—from doing evil. I don't have to fight that kind of battle, that's God's job. If vengeance is required, it is God's to do."

AbigaiI knew her husband, didn't she? Everyone knew what he was like, so why hide it? Why try to cover up what he had done? She didn't. And yet she took the responsibility upon herself.