“So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.” – I Chronicles 14:2
When the word of God says, So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel. David truly understood where his position came from. He recognized that the LORD was the One behind all his victories, accomplishments, and success. David did not see the throne as something he achieved on his own, but as something God established.
This challenges us today. How many Christians truly have this kind of heart, one that fully perceives that it is God who is at work in our lives? So many believers fail to recognize the hand of God over everything they have and everything they do. We forget that all we possess comes from Him.
This is often why giving, especially tithing, becomes difficult for many. When we see money as something we own rather than something God has entrusted to us, our hearts struggle to release it. As it is written, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…” (Deuteronomy 8:18). It is God who supplies the strength, the ability, and the resources that enable us to reach any measure of financial success. King David understood this deeply and fully recognized the presence of God over his life, knowing it was the LORD at work in him and in everything around him. In the same way, we are called to live with a clear and humble awareness that every blessing, every opportunity, and every provision flows from the hand of the LORD.
But how did David have the awareness to recognize that God was the One who established his throne. It was because his story did not begin with a crown, but with a field. As it is written, “Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. “And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth”(II Samuel 7:8). Before David was called by God to rule a kingdom, he faithfully served as a shepherd. Before he wore a royal robe, he wore the rugged clothing of a shepherd, stained by dust and sweat. His hands were trained with a staff long before they ever held a scepter.
Those fields became God’s training ground for David. It was there that David developed a intimate fellowship with the Lord. In the fields, he learned patience before he ever received power, and responsibility before authority was placed on his shoulders. David faithfully carried his role as a shepherd, and he testified to this himself when he said to Saul, “ “But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it (1 Samuel 17:34–35). David did not only tend the sheep and help them grow, but he also learned how to protect and guard them from predators.
King David always gave God the glory. Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine…”(1 Samuel 17:37). Through his life in the fields as he cared for his sheep, David was often exposed to danger and the risk of losing his life while protecting and guarding them from predators. In those moments, David became familiar with the hand of God that was always upon him, preserving and strengthening him. As it is written, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Those unseen battles in the field prepared David for what was ahead. That is why David was able to stand confidently before Goliath, not trusting in his own strength, but in the power of God who had been with him all along. David said, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). David never forgot his beginnings. God met him as a shepherd boy whom no one paid attention to, spending his days in a dangerous and secluded places. When Samuel came to anoint the next king, David was not even considered at first, and Samuel had to ask for him to be brought in from the field. Even after David became king, he knew that it was God who sought him, chose him, anointed him, and established him as ruler.
Then now we understand why his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.” David not only knew that God was the One who established his kingdom, but he also understood why God established it. His kingdom was not given for his own benefit, but for the people God entrusted to him. David knew that God had placed him as king to care for, lead, and protect God’s people from the enemies around them. We also see David’s heart when many people died because of his sin. Instead of protecting himself, David cried out to God and asked, “… “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house”” (2 Samuel 24:17). Throughout all the trials in David’s life, even when he sinned with Bathsheba, we see that his heart was never set on power, wealth, or even preserving his own life. His heart was always after God’s own heart. When David sinned and saw the people suffering because of it, he did not cling to his position as king. Instead, he was willing to lay down his own life so that the people of God might be spared. Again and again, we see that whether David was walking in obedience or had fallen into sin, he remained a humble man who loved God deeply. Even in his failures, David continued to seek God for forgiveness, longing to be reconciled to Him. More than anything else, David desired the presence of God and to remain close to Him above all things. As it is written, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.” (Psalms 27:4)
If we desire to be part of leadership, our hearts must first be after God. When our hearts are not aligned with Him, how can we lead God’s people to Him if God is not leading our own lives. This is why it is so important for us to first love and serve God in hidden and quiet places, where intimate fellowship with Him can grow. It is in those places that we learn to recognize His voice, to trust His leading, and to understand what God truly desires for our lives.
We see this clearly in David’s life. David never said, “I want to be king of Israel.” Even when he had the opportunity to kill Saul twice, he refused, saying, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed” (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:11). David trusted God’s timing and God’s hand to move in his life. He understood that if it was God’s will for him to be in a position of leadership, God Himself would establish it and would open the door for him. When God opens a door, no one can shut it (Revelation 3:7).
David focused on building his relationship with God, not building his own future. As he walked closely with God, he became familiar with God’s ways and learned to recognize His hand at work in his life. When the heart was ready, God established David, not only in position, but in purpose. Scripture says, “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep” (Acts 13:36). This reminds us that leadership is not about ambition, but about serving God’s purpose in our generation, just as David did.
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