Day 141: the life of david

2 Samuel 23:1-7 David’s final words reflect God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom and a perfect and definitive king. Fidelity to the covenant remained an indispensable requirement for maintaining the Davidic dynasty, and those kingdoms that did evil would eventually fall. (CCC 2579)

1 Chronicles 28:1 The final two chapters concern primarily the final instructions of David to Solomon and to his people. David recalled the words of the Lord with regard to the permanence of his dynasty and the building of the Temple. Ceremoniously, he handed Solomon the blueprints for the Temple’s construction and for the work of the Levites who would serve there. He counseled Solomon to undertake the project with trust in the Lord and his assistance as well as the support of all Israel. He also urged the people to keep the Commandments so the land might remain in their families forever.

Ch 28:9 Those who seek God with a sincere heart will find him, and those who reject him will be deprived of the indescribable blessings that flow from his friendship. This counsel to Solomon acknowledges both God’s eagerness to be close to us and his respect for the choices we make. (CCC 30)

Psalm 42 The deer in search of a stream from which to drink is an allegory of our own spiritual journey. Only God can satisfy the longing of the human heart. St. Augustine’s oft-quoted statement comes to mind here: 

“Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in you.” 

For the psalmist, his thirst was for the Promised Land; evidently, he wrote these words while in forced exile from his homeland. In this case, the thirst symbolizes feelings of abandonment in the face of hardship and apparent futility. Nevertheless, a person of faith mounts an unfailing hope in God’s ever-faithful love and support. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, January 16, 2002)

Where is your God?: This was a frequent taunt directed toward the people of Israel by their conquerors and captors throughout history. If the God of Israel was so great, why did he not rescue his people? Christ was confronted with a similar challenge as he hung from the Cross. In truth, God DOES intervene and HAS intervened throughout history as Scripture and Tradition amply reveal, even if there is no apparent outcome. 

Deep calls to deep: Prayers of praise and adoration lead us toward an intimacy with God, whom we encounter in the depths of our hearts. The Lord’s Prayer, which Christ himself taught his disciples to pray, begins with three petitions for God to be glorified in as we pray: 

“Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done” (Mt 6:10)

These petitions are followed by four other ones, which present both our spiritual and material needs to God our loving Father: 

“Give us this day our daily bread,

Forgive us our trespasses…

Lead us not into temptation…

Deliver us from evil.”

(CCC 2112, 2803)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Want to go in reverse again?

• Come on, it’ll be fun!

• 1 Chronicles Ch 28 shows David handing over the reins to Solomon

• Remember that Samuel and Chronicles are telling TWO DIFFERENT STORIES

• They are telling the story AS IT HAPPENS (Samuel)

• They are LOOKING BACK on the life of David and Solomon, knowing all of the corruption that is going to happen once the Books of Kings start (Chronicles)

• Chronicles knows all the CORRUPTION

• Chronicles knows all the DIVISION

• Chronicles knows all the EXILE

• So today, David is handing over the reins to Solomon saying, “I have amassed all these treasures and wealth so that you can build a Temple for the Lord. Solomon, my son, know the God of your father and serve Him with a WHOLE HEART and a WILLING MIND.”

• Solomon is going to start out SO STRONG

• He is NOT GOING TO END STRONG

• Remember, the Chronicler (Ezra the Scribe?) KNOWS the story of Solomon

• He knows that Solomon is going to have a DIVIDED HEART

• He knows that Solomon is going to have an UNWILLING MIND

• Solomon is going to start out with GREAT WISDOM

• Solomon is going to waste that wisdom on SIN 

• Solomon is going to waste that wisdom on POWER

• Solomon is going to waste that wisdom on ALL THE THINGS that we are TEMPTED TO WASTE WISDOM ON

• 1 Chronicles 28:9 we have these almost OMINOUS words from King David to his son

• “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; BUT IF YOU FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL CAST YOU OFF FOREVER.”

• That is ultimately what will happen

• It is so TRAGIC

• AND YET…

• We know that while God abandoned Solomon, God DID NOT ABANDON HIS PEOPLE

• NOT AT ALL

• When we turn our backs on the Lord, He does NOT ABANDON THOSE HE LOVES

• HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH!!

• 2 Samuel Ch 23 shows more stories of David’s Mighty Men

• This is one of Fr. Mike’s favorite chapters 😁

• David has roughly 37 Mighty Men

• But the TOP 3 Mighty Men were the SPECIALISTS of his SPECIAL FORCES

• Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite, the chief of the three, who once killed 800 men AT ONE TIME with a SPEAR!! (Take THAT, LEONIDAS!!! This is Sparta, indeed! 😉)

• Eleazar, son of Dodo, who rose and attacked those pesky, precarious Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand CLEAVED (STUCK) TO THE SWORD

• Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite, who fought for a hill full of BEANS (wonder if these were the same beans Esau sold his birthright for? 🤔) 

• Everyone else fled, but Shammah stayed there in the middle of the field and defended it from those pesky, precarious Philistines and the Lord brought about a GREAT VICTORY

• These three INCREDIBLY BRAVE SOLDIERS are noted here at the end of David’s life

• One of the things we need to highlight today is that David could have chosen to be CORRUPTED by the fact that he did WRONG

• David could have chosen to be CORRUPTED by the fact that he has been through SO MUCH

• David could have chosen to be BITTER AND RESENTFUL by the fact that his life is ending

• AND YET…

• DAVID GAVE GOD PRAISE

• And now, David is giving the MEN AROUND HIM PRAISE

• Maybe it is easy to give God praise in certain situations

• But at the end of one’s life, to be thinking of SOMEONE ELSE

• At the end of one’s life, to be thinking, “Where can I give the people around me, who have cared for me, who have fought by my side, who have lived a life with me, can I tell the world of THEIR GREATNESS? Can I praise THEM in the face of OTHER PEOPLE?”

• That is one of the things that WE can do

• It is SUCH A GIFT

• We don’t have to wait until the end of our lives to do it

• On one hand, we can give God praise in EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE

• On the other hand is to be able to recognize the people around us and PRAISE THEM

• THANK THEM

• David could not have done all that he did BY HIMSELF

• He is BUT ONE MAN

• He could not have united the kingdom

• He is BUT ONE MAN

• He could not have defeated those pesky, precarious Philistines

• He is BUT ONE MAN

• He could not have defeated the Ammonites

• He could NOT have done all these things BY HIMSELF

• So David recognized that he NEEDED THESE PEOPLE AROUND HIM

• He needed these people around him to be at the place that GOD CALLED HIM TO BE

• So what does David do?

• David gives God PRAISE for having anointed him and strengthened him

• David recognizes the people AROUND HIM

• This is one of the invitations God gives us

• To give God PRAISE

• To not become RESENTFUL

• To not become CORRUPTED by the battles we have been through

• BUT ALSO…

• To look up from OUR OWN PAIN

• To look up from OUR OWN STORY

• And recognize here are the STORIES

• Recognize the LIVES

• Recognize the COURAGE

• Recognize the GIFTS

• Recognize the SKILLS

• Recognize the STRENGTH

• Recognize the ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• OF THE PEOPLE AROUND US

• Today, can we recognize ALL those things WITHOUT BITTERNESS OR RESENTMENT?

• There is something MASSIVELY IMPORTANT to learn from the story of the last days of David’s life

• There is one chapter left before we get to the Books of the Kings

• David is going to stumble one more time

• At the end of David’s life, we have TWO MAJOR LESSONS

• First, GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE and don’t be corrupted by our BATTLES

• Second, is to LOOK UP FROM OUR OWN PAIN AND OUR OWN STORY and to look around us so that we can praise those people around us and LIFT THEM UP 

• The only thing David COULD DO at this point in his life was to LIFT UP THOSE PEOPLE around him

• Maybe he could have chosen to be resentful and bitter

• But David gave what he had to give

• That is an invitation for all of us

• TODAY GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE

• If that is PRAISE

• If that is THANKS

• If that is BLESSING

• If that is NOTICE

• If that is ATTENTION

• GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE

• It’s not always easy

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise. We do give you praise in all things. And God, thank you so much for Psalm 42. We are reminded that we can ask the question, ‘God, where are you?’ Actually, we are not only reminded that we have the question, ‘Where are you?’, we get so often assaulted by that question, ‘Where is your God? If you believe in Him and if He’s there for you and if He loves you then point him out to me. Where is He?’ Lord God, in those moments we might be our own accuser. The evil one might be the accuser, or those around us might be the accuser that ask that question. And yet, in this moment, Lord, we know where you are, you are with us. Who you are for, you are for us. And you are beside us at all times and you are beside us at all times. Lord God, we give you praise and we thank you and we make that declaration of faith. That declaration of faith that is even when it is hard for us to know where you are, or hard for us to sense your presence, we have faith. We have faith that you are faithful to your promises and you have said that you will be with us forever. You are with us at all times. Without you, we can do nothing. And so with you, we can do all things. Father, keep us close to you and never let us be parted from you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”