God gives strength to bring good life and justice

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

When it gets to the military battle bits of the Bible, I usually find myself distancing this from my own life. I’m so grateful that we have soldiers, but I don’t want to be one, and I’m often stuck to find where the goodness ever is in war.

But reading about David’s victories in the context of the rest of this story of God’s provision, I’m reminded that God wants to give many of us a better life than the one we have. This is not so that he can satisfy our greed with more stuff, but so that we can overcome injustice and ill treatment, anger and fear, the products of self-centred life. It’s a battle to replace these with love and the rest of the fruit of a God-centred life. Sometimes that battle is fought personally in the heart, but in Chronicles we also see it in large-scale, physical battles. God’s establishment of a way of life centred on his presence did not take place in a vacuum but among competing, opposing forces and cultures.

What I love about these stories, apart from the odd gory details of massive weapons and “How many fingers did that guy have?!”, is that God was clearly the source of Israel’s strength. Each named fighter had victories to record, but their inspiration, direction, resources, relationships, purpose and practice of faithfulness came from God.

God was fulfilling his promise made to David to build a house for him. And what did David do with that house? He was “doing what was just and right for all his people.” None of these battles were about acquiring shiny stuff for its own sake, but about building a culture where God would be recognised, and good life and justice would prevail.

So, what was the problem with David running a census? Scholars debate this – it could be that this was also a tax which David didn’t need to impose, or that David was being proud or self-reliant. It strikes me that David was being foolish by, effectively, trying to measure how much water was in the tap. Israel’s strength was not in numbers but in God and his promise to do what he said. Hadn’t God demonstrated what he could do with a few people as well as with many? It’s painful to see the impossible choice David had to make as he reconciled with God, but I love that David found within himself a voice for justice, a desire to sacrifice himself for his people and, following this, a God-given way to do this through worship.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God gives us everything we need to fight the battles we need to overcome selfishness and injustice and replace them with justice, goodness and love. He also grows a desire in us for the things that he wants for us too, which can change our communities, not just ourselves.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I want to reflect on God’s purpose for us at this time when a battle against a virus has also revealed inequalities and injustices which should bother us. Where is God giving us strength, resources and a desire to fight for change? How can I respond to this faithfully?

Who am I going to share this with?

My family and other people I pray with.