1 Sam. 22:1-2 “David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.”
Those who are distressed, in debt, and discontented with life, they believed in David and were willing to follow him even though it meant hardship for them. And David accepted these men and trained them as his own. He knew that if they were willing to side with him during his trouble, they would then make faithful leaders when he reigned and became King of Israel. It wasn’t an easy decision for these men to make however, as King Saul didn’t make life easy for those who identify themselves with David. Many times, they had to run for their lives. Many times they went hungry and were forced to live in caves as they tried desperately to escape from the clutches of Saul. Yet despite all of these, they looked forward. They looked forward to the day when David would reign. They looked forward to the day when the difficulties they had encountered for the sake of David would be rewarded. And indeed, rewarded they were. You see, we read about these people again in 1 Chronicles 11-12, where David after he received his kingdom, all of these men’s deeds were recorded. No loyalty to David was forgotten. No faithfulness to the king went unrewarded.
Now, I’m sure you get the picture. Like David, our Lord Jesus has been declared by God to be the true King. But we do not yet see our Lord Jesus reigning yet in His kingdom here on earth. Instead, we know that Satan is currently ‘the god of this world’ even though, like Saul, he has been rejected and will be overthrown. Now, until this happens, the Lord is gathering to himself those that long for His kingdom – the distressed, in debt and discontented with life like me (and hopefully you!) who long for the true King to come into His Kingdom! And on that day, those that have faithfully followed the Lord will be fully rewarded. And don’t you just pray that this would come quickly?
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