2 Samuel – Chapter 5

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.” ⁷Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 2 Samuel 5:6-7 – David is crowned king finally over all of Israel, some 15 years after Samuel anointed him king. One of David’s first tasks was to take over the city of Jerusalem from the Canaanites to build a royal city for himself. While God gave His people around 400 years prior the command to rid the promise land of the Canaanites, Jerusalem still hadn’t been taken over yet, and the inhabitants weren’t going to go easily. They mocked David and made it clear he could never breach the city, even their weakest in the city could fight him off. Nevertheless, even though the city was strong, even though the city was well defended, even though it had been in the hands of the enemy for far too many years, David was able to take the city. Such is our story with Jesus. Our lives were in the hands of the enemy for far too long. The enemy was strong and mocked any who would come and try to take us from his hands. But God, who loves us so much, sent our Savior Jesus Christ to break the stronghold of the enemy and rescue us from his vile hands. No one has been in the enemy’s hands too long and no barrier the enemy puts up it too difficult for Jesus to break. If you have found that rescue today, live today in such a way that praises your Rescuer. If you have not found that rescue yet, know Jesus has already broken the grip of the enemy and all there is now is for you to come to Jesus. If you have questions about how to do that, reach out. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3024

2 Samuel 5 Daily DEVO And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 2 Samuel 5:23-24 – What we see unfolding in this passage is the reason why it is so important to come to God and ask Him direction rather than just move forward how we think God would lead us. See just previously David had a battle and he asked God how to handle it and God directed David in the way to go. Now that same enemy has come back for more battle in the same place. David could just go and handle the fight like God told him to last time, but David chooses to ask God again for direction and this time God leads him in a different way to handle the enemy. What we see is that God is going to be for us, but the directions He gives us will change with different situations. That’s why creating a habit of coming to God for direction every day is key because how God wants to use you today may be different than how He used you yesterday. While the path was different for David the second time, the ending for both was victory; so will it be for you each time you choose to follow God’s direction. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 436

And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. 2 Samuel 5:21 – If it didn’t help your enemy win his battle don’t believe it can do anything different for you. We see King David’s enemies bringing their idols to battle with them. A very common thing in that day to do for they thought they would intimidate their foes and help them in the fight. Clearly though neither of which happened. Our passage says David and his men carried away the idols and in 1 Chronicles 14:12 tells us what they did with them, they burnt them. David was wise enough to know those idols would do nothing for them. They didn’t help the Philistines in their time of need and they wouldn’t help him. It can be tempting though to believe that what the enemy leaves behind will help you. The enemy will leave behind pathways to sin, open doors to certain ways of thinking, the ammunition you need in your fight with someone, etc. What the enemy leaves behind will not help you, it’s only good for the fire. What actually gave the victory to David? Following the voice of God. Be wise enough to leave the things alone that the enemy leaves behind. If they didn’t win the fight for him, it won’t for you either. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1864