Thread by @GPrater85015

#GeraldsDevotional
It is God Who Sets up Kings and Removes Kings

On this day after early voting ended and the weekend before Election Day, I have a special word that the Lord initially placed on my heart this past weekend. It’s a word about how in the end, it is the Lord who selects and equips kings and leaders. It is also Him who removes

them. This is also a word that is very personal for you and for me, the regular Christ follower or disciple.

The basic theme of this message comes from Daniel 2:20-23 when Daniel had just been told the mystery of the king’s dream (without even knowing what the actual dream was).

After being told this by God in a vision, Daniel said:

“20 Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. 21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.

22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light. 23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king

demanded.”

Now, the specific king that the Lord led me to highlight in this message today is King David. He was the second earthly king of Israel after the people had essentially rejected God as their king and demanded a king like all of the other nations (based on what they saw

in the world). God initially gave them that kind of king in Saul who looked good on the outside, but had many flaws that caused God to reject him.

As the second king, God chose David through a very interesting process. 1 Samuel chapter 16 shows how God had Jesse present all of

his 7 strongest sons to Samuel so that he could anoint the next king. But God rejected them all, telling Samuel about Jesse’s first son:

“Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward

appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

After rejecting all of Jesse’s best and older sons, Samuel asked him if he had any other sons. David was the youngest and smallest and was out watching the sheep and goats. When David approached after being summonsed,

God said “That’s him!” and had Samuel anoint him as the next king. God described him as a man after His own heart (see today’s scripture verse). God also said that David would do everything that He wanted him to do.

But curiously, we know from David’s history that he was far

from a perfect man. Did God want him to commit adultery or murder Uriah the Hittite? Absolutely NOT. Yet even though God knew that he would do these things, He still talked about David’s heart and how David would do what He wanted him to do. No, David was far from perfect, and

this is really good news for you and me. The bible says that NONE of us is perfect (Romans 3:23).

But David had at least two qualities that made him appeal to God as someone that He could use to do great things. First, David had a very humble spirit and knew deep inside that it

was God who did great things through him. Second, David had a repentant heart so that when (not if) he messed up, he would realize it and run back to God for help and forgiveness. In his spirit, David didn’t want to sin against God, but in his flesh he knew that he couldn’t avoid

it.

Let’s end this message by looking at how David committed this great and well-known sin. It came at a moment when he relaxed from being busy about God’s business. As a king in the Army of the LORD, David was truly un-stoppable. But one day, instead of being out in the battle

with his men, he stayed home and relaxed while they continued the fight. Soon after, spiritual disaster and the unthinkable occurred with him.

There are lessons throughout all of this for you and me today. God is always in control. He alone selects the anointed and He anoints

the selected. He gives grace to and uses the humble in mighty ways, and He humbles the proud (Saul). We all need to remember that everyday is a spiritual battle field and we need to be about our Father’s business all the time. Finally we each need to acknowledge that NONE of us

is perfect and we all need to have tender hearts that know that God is real (more real than our circumstances). We need to be inclined to run to Him when we make mistakes.

Now for today’s scripture, let’s see how God’s selection of David is described by Paul in Acts chapter 13:

21 Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22 But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He

will do everything I want him to do.’

23 “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! - Acts 13:21-23
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