When King Saul failed and disobeyed God, He “…removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART. He will do EVERYTHING I want him to do.’” (Acts 13:22) How could God still call David a man after His own heart when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murder her husband Uriah? David’s life was a portrait of success and failure. David had ABSOLUTE FAITH IN GOD. Nowhere in Scripture is this point better illustrated than in 1 Samuel 17 where David fearlessly slew the Philistine, Goliath. Shortly before the duel, we see evidence of David’s faith when he says, “’The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the HAND OF THIS (9’6”) PHILISTINE.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the LORD be with you!’” (1 Sam. 17:37).
In this 34th Psalm, David said, “I will bless the LORD AT ALL TIMES; His praise shall CONTINUALLY BE in my mouth…I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And DELIVERED ME FROM ALL MY FEARS…The ANGEL OF THE LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And RESCUES THEM.” (Psa. 34:1-7)
Look at what one angel of the Lord can do, “…THE angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.” (2 Kings 19:35)
-Bill Stockham