Greatness
“Now I will make your name great, like the names of the
greatest men on earth.” 2 Sam 7:9
David didbecome great, but his greatness was quite different from other great men on
earth.
David did conquer some nations, but his greatness didn’t lie in his conquest of nations;
he did slaughter many of his enemies, but he didn’t establish his greatness on the
destruction of enemies; he did found a formidable kingdom, but he didn’t derive
his greatness from being the father of a nation; he did compose many psalms
that moved people’s hearts, but his greatness wasn’t based on his literary
skill. David the man rose above all these superfluous things, which were
nothing but chaff and straw.
David wasn’t great because of his loyalty to either to his nation or friends; he was great
because of his holiness and integrity of being a man of God. David was, in fact,
flesh and blood like all of us, and was capable of committing heinous sins.
Surely the man wasn’t above abusing his power while he was sitting on the
throne, for he took many wives and concubines and, in one incident, he even
took another person’s wife and, to cover his crime of adultery, he committed a
crime of murder.
David was great because he was a man after God’s own heart.
This doesn’t mean that the man never did anything to tear God’s heart apart; it only means
the man’s heart was so very tender that he was quick to repent when the Spirit
convicted him of his sins. The worst moment in the great man’s life was when he
called the woman into his tent and the time when he schemed to take the life of
the woman’s husband, but the most glorious moment was the time when he repented
in sack clothes and ashes and composed a psalm of brokenness that has spoken to
millions of broken hearts and will continue to speak.
It makes me feel rather uneasy when I read through David’s life, for he did some
unthinkable things and the blood he shed was beyond what I can bear. Yet, I
encounter a man whose relationship with the Lord was beyond compare when I read
through the book of Psalms and his love for the Lord often lifts me so high
that it causes my spirit to soar and to dance in the sky.
Do I desire to be great like David when he conquered his enemies and established his kingdom?
Do I want to be like him when he stood a head taller than his peers with a
crown on top and a scepter below? Do I yearn to be like him when he was
surrounded by the virgins of Israel and encircled by his concubines who craved
for his attention and affection? O let me be a dwarf if greatness is defined by
such things. Do I envy the man because his name was recorded in history and his
deeds of glory were lauded by school children studying history? O may this
never be. I just want to be like the man when he was lying in ashes, confessing
and repenting his heinous sins, which is the true greatness we should strive to
achieve.