Do the Israelites really know what they want? It seems like the land is in a bit of an upheaval after the events of recent days. A family feud gets way out of control where it affects an entire nation. That’s a powerful family.
It began as a conflict between brothers over Tamar, a sister to one and half-sister to the other. This is already a bit of a different scene than we would see today. Bloodshed was also punished in a different way than we are used to. Then anger ensues from son to father due to difference of opinion in how a situation should have been handled. It was David’s own daughter, after all. Shouldn’t the king have done something?
Rather than go down the “what-if trail,” let’s look at what the people want now that David is back in town. It appears the followers of Absalom are a bit fickle or at least not hesitating to move on. They say, “Why not ask David to come back and be our king again?” That sounds like the easy thing to do.
But the people of Judah were being a bit more stubborn. David sent the priests to try and talk sense into them. This whole ordeal had taken a toll on many people, and David was finding himself in a position of trying to win people over again.
Apparently his dear son, Absalom had done a very good job in a short while of undermining the loyalty of David’s subjects and getting them to follow him. It would seem that even then the people didn’t seem to know what they wanted or who they wanted as king. Was it that unimportant?
Not having “kings” in the culture I was brought up in or in which I currently live, it’s hard for me to truly understand and appreciate what having a king means. The royalty I think of today seems to be more for show than for battle. (I may be wrong and welcome any discussion!)
Knowing what we want is helpful. It’s an exercise we go through regularly in goal setting, daily and future planning activities, etc. We also help our clients put together a picture of what they see their ideal future to be. The idea is to come up with the plan to get there.
Many people say all you have to do is visualize and it will appear. Like magic! I don’t think that’s really how it works. But I do think that imagining yourself living in your dream life has it’s perks. I do it as often as I can. Daily is my goal, but I don’t always make it a priority.
I am clear that what I want is to be living in God’s will. That looks different for each of us because we are all precious in God’s sight. He has many jobs and many ambassadors of his will. I always want to be one of those ambassadors, representing God well in all I say and do.
But we all mess up. We all need forgiveness and grace. I’m just grateful that I get to share my reflections with you. I want to be obedient to God. He told me to write for him, and that’s just what I’m doing.
Take some time today to ponder what it is that YOU want.
Let’s pray …
Father God, thank you for keeping me on the right path and rescuing me when I step away. Forgive my restless heart. I am your servant, and I am listening for your voice. Show me how to live my life in a way that honors you and fulfills my life’s dreams. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
