Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Open to Attacks
After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more concubines and wives, and they had more sons and daughters. (2 Samuel 5:13 NLT)
By the time David was 50 years old, he had been ruling Israel for twenty years. He had gone from victory to victory. He had distinguished himself in so many ways: man of God, skilled musician, gifted poet, wise and compassionate ruler, and a man of great courage.
And that’s when the devil hit him. When things are going well, that’s usually when the devil attacks. When there is no illness, when there are no unpaid bills, when there isn’t a crisis we’re facing, we may not hang on to the Lord as tightly as we once did.
On the other hand, when we’re going through a crisis, we’re dependent on God. Maybe it’s even one of the best times of our lives spiritually because we’ve never been closer to Christ.
When David was facing the giant Goliath, he was trusting in the Lord. When David was running from Saul while he hunted him down like a wild dog, he was calling out to God. When he was anointed as Israel’s king and ascended the throne, he prayed for God’s help.
But twenty years had gone by, and David was kicking back and taking somewhat of a spiritual vacation from God, which never works. So the devil attacked. David had set himself up for this particular attack, because in direct disobedience to God, he took concubines (see 2 Samuel 5:13).
God had given this command in Deuteronomy 17: “The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord” (verse 17 NLT). That’s what was happening to David. His heart was slowly but surely turning away from God, and he was being consumed by lust.
This serves as a warning for us today: the devil will attack when we’re the most vulnerable.
Copyright © 2018 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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