What I Know
6 min read
4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’”
— 1 Kings 9:4-5
How is it that God can say to Solomon that his father David walked “faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness”? Isn’t David the man who effectively raped a married woman and then killed her husband to cover up his sin? How is it that King David could ever declare his innocence (2 Samuel 22:21-25)?
Clearly, David could declare his innocence because God declared his innocence. And God declared David’s innocence because of his repentance.
King David did not live a perfect life after that incident, either. But he always recognized his sin and sought redemption through his repentance.
But even when Solomon did not remain faithful to God, God remained faithful to His promise to King David and established his throne forever, and not just over Israel, but over the whole world.
The comparison between David and Solomon is really educational. Most people in this world would say that David’s sin of adultery and murder is unforgivable but Solomon’s sin of idolatry is no big deal. And we are reminded once again that God’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than ours, “as the heavens are higher than the earth” (Isaiah 55:9).
But the human heart is quite stubborn in its lack of understanding. We don’t know what we don’t know, and yet we hold on to what we don’t know as if our lives depended on it.
Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10b). But we can’t really experience the fullness of life from Jesus Christ if we hold on to what we don’t know as if that is the reality of this world. If we close our minds to the truth of God’s word, we find ourselves in a fantasy world that has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. We find ourselves just playing church instead of being the church.
The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10a). And our only hope against the thief is Jesus Christ. Truly, truly (as Jesus would say), the world needs Jesus and the world needs Jesus now.
None of us are perfect, but if King David is redeemable, then so are we. The fullness of life that Jesus promises begins by acknowledging that God’s way is right and that we don’t know what we don’t know. We need Jesus to lead us into the kingdom of God. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
To have life and have it to the full, to walk in God’s kingdom, we must follow Christ. We must follow Christ. We must follow Christ. Everything else is idolatry.
Father, Forgive me for losing sight of Your love for me. I know that You desire what is best for my life, but I live my life as if I know better. I confess Lord that Your ways are right. I don’t know anything. Lead me in the path of righteousness for Your name’s sake and for my good. In Jesus’s name. Amen.