Real Hope: Discovering Hope in the Life of DavidExemple

## God Is My Strength God was on David’s side, but God’s will can take time. David was anointed to be king, and yet he still had to battle Ishbosheth whom Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, had made king after Saul’s death. He was a man-made king and not a God-anointed or Godappointed king. There could be no peace between the rightful King David and the pretender to the throne, Ishbosheth. The cease-fire seemed to make things better, but in reality it only made things worse and led to a long war. The increasing strength of David and increasing weakness of Saul’s house did not begin when Saul died. It began when God first chose David and withdrew His Spirit from Saul (1 Samuel 16:13–14). David was confident even in the midst of his enemies because the Lord was his strength. He had learned to trust that the ‘battle is the Lords’ as a shepherd boy and as a king in waiting. That’s how he could write Psalm 27 when King Saul was trying to chase him down and kill him. He said that, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?… Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident’ (Psalm 27:1,3 NKJV). In the midst of political wars or spiritual wars, we can rest knowing that the Lord is the strength of our lives. #### Written by Heidi Wysman