David is the youngest of Jesse's boys, so he has sheep duty most the time. He is an after thought when the prophet Samuel shows up to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be the next king. He is an after thought of his father and brothers. Not God. God, in fact, chooses him. Nothing happens. Israel goes off to war. Goliath of the Philistines is set to destroy the nation. David steps up, runs down, and kills the brute with a stone and a slingshot. He has stones to spare. David becomes harpist to the king until Saul gets so jealous he tries to kill him. There goes a long chase. Saul's son Jonathan risks his own life to save his soul brother David. Saul almost prevails in killing David a few times. But each time David escapes. David has the opportunity to kill Saul a few times but refuses. Who is he to kill a king he says? He waits for God's timing. God takes a long time. Finally, Saul dies in battle as does Jonathan. David mourns the loss of the king and his soul brother. He becomes king over Judah. He wars with Saul's other sons. In the words of II Samuel 3:1 "The ware between the house of Saul and David lasted a long time." Finally, the war ends. David acts harshly to the men who prevail against Saul sons. But David in the end becomes king of of Israel. Then, he fights the Philistines and claims Jerusalem as his capital.
A few things to point out in this story. Like in the previous stories. It takes a long time between the anointing (the promise) and the realization of that anointing. People refer to it as "God's timing." What people mean by that is that God takes longer than we often want him to take. Waiting is always part of a story. That is the story in fact. Your story, most of it, will require waiting. Ponder that. How will you meet God in your waiting time?
The second thing, and if you know the rest of the story you may want to disagree with me on this point, David has impeccable integrity. He has opportunities to take matters into his own hands. He has the ability a few times to fulfill his own destiny. And yet, he chooses to do things the right way. In his mind, killing a king is no way to become a king. So he doesn't. He does things right. It takes a long time. But because of his integrity, when he finally does become king, he is able sit on the throne with clear conscience and without the residue of wrongness. It legitimizes God's purpose to him and to others. God desires for us that we have integrity too. That we do things the right way. Whatever you are working toward, whatever you think is your right...don't grab at it. Trust God. Wait on him. Act with integrity. And let him work things out.
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