After David became King of all Israel, he captured Jerusalem and made it his city. It became known as the City of David, as it is to this day. The occupants were the Jebusites and should have been conquered when Joshua led the Israelites in the conquest of the Promised Land, but this was one of the parts that remained unconquered. The Jebusites felt secure in their fortified city, so they said they were not worried about David and his men entering their city. In fact, they said, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off” (2 Samuel 5:6). They certainly underestimated David because his men gained access to the city and conquered it for David. It appears they used the water system to enter the city and capture it and its occupants without much of a fight. Maybe a less courageous king would have thought there was no way he could overcome that fortified city, but not David. David’s life is inspiring on many levels. His willingness to fight when the odds were against him was what he did, from fighting Goliath to conquering Jerusalem.
The narrator of 2 Samuel says that God was blessing David’s
life: “And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was
with him” (2 Sam 5:10). God had been blessing David since his youth when he
killed Goliath—what seemed an impossible feat. But, this had been happening
through the years as God had protected, provided, and guided David through the
fugitive years when he was on the run from Saul. Now that he was King, it was
even more evident that God made David great.
What is refreshing is verse 12: “Then David knew that the Lord
had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the
sake of his people Israel” 2 Sam 5:12). David knew what was happening was not
because he was making it happen or because someone else was—but it was God.
Seeing God’s hand in your life is a blessing beyond description! Can you look
back over the years and see God’s hand at work in your life and be grateful for
that? Secondly, David knew he had been made King to serve God’s people. He was
a different kind of King—like the King born in a stable in Bethlehem. Jesus did
not come to be served but to serve. We are to imitate David and Jesus in this
way.