King David’s Worst Enemy
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. Proverbs 16:32 NLT
Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com
David prayed for deliverance from his enemies. He also prayed they would not disgrace him. David faced Goliath, but Goliath did not turn out to be too much of an enemy as he fell by the first stone David threw. King Saul tried to destroy David too, but he was not much of an enemy to David after all, since he fell on his own sword. David’s own son Absalom tried to rise up against David, but he ended up hanging himself in a tree.
We have met the enemy and they are us. -Walt Kelly 1960’s
Then one day, while the war is going well and David’s throne secure, David saw a woman bathing outside on a flat roof. Well, David more than saw a woman bathing. We all see things we shouldn’t see sometimes, and hopefully we look away. David did not look away. He saw, and then he watched. Next thing we know, David has done something Goliath, Saul and Absalom could never do – disgrace David!
David was worried about his enemies, but in the end the only person who ever got to defeat David was David himself!
David defeated Goliath head to head, or at least slingshot to head, but the other cases were a little more interesting. Saul was afraid of David, but David did Saul no harm. Saul ended up falling on his own sword. Saul should have been more afraid of Saul, and David should have been more afraid of David, instead of each one being afraid of the other one. They both did themselves in, not each other. David did no harm to Absalom. Absalom hung himself in a tree. So Absalom was his own worst enemy. Saul was Saul’s worst enemy, and David was David’s worst enemy.
We are told that “We have far more to fear from within than from without.” –Ellen White, Last Day Events, p.156. 1
All the more reason to pray:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. Psalms 25:2 NLT
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Last Day Events by Ellen White is a 1992 compilation of statements from published books, manuscript collections, and material not previously published. It includes chapters on “God’s Last Day Church,” “Country Living,” “The Little Time of Trouble,” “The Shaking,” “The Close of Probation,” and more. You can read it for free through the link in the post above, or get your own copy in paper or Kindle format on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca. ↩
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