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76,000,000 Documented decisions for Christ

If I Encounter Resistance, Am I Out Of God's Will? (Part2)

David in the Wilderness of Waiting

David was not a favourite candidate for greatness. He was not his father’s first choice. In fact, when Samuel came to anoint a king from Jesse’s house, David’s father didn’t even bother to call him out of the field. Instead he presented his older, more impressive sons to the prophet.

But God’s choice is often different from man’s choice because while man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. God found David in the field, faithfully watching his sheep and worshipfully playing his harp. Against all human logic God chose David to be the next king of Israel. But before David could sit on the throne, he would have to go to the wilderness.

King Saul, possessed by evil spirits and plagued by cruel jealousy, hated David with unrelenting passion and hunted him like a bird (Lam. 3:52). David fled south toward the Dead Sea into the barren desert land where water is scarce and life is precious. There he hid in caves and ran from Saul for eight long years. David had been anointed the next king of Israel, yet he was hiding like an animal in a hole.

It would have been easy for David to question God’s plan during the desert years, but God used the scorching heat, the salty air, and the pelting sandstorms to forge a king from a shepherd boy in the lonely suffering of the wilderness. When David emerged from that barren wasteland, he ascended to a throne and an eternal covenant with the living God.

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