In the time before David became king of Israel, he was being persecuted heavily by an unjust ruler. In so many of these recorded moments, we can find in David's character an incredible trust in God that fostered more unity for all around him. The following passage helps me greatly because I, like many people, have a foolish tendency to want to be a loner and not work in unity with anybody. That is, or course, so wrong. With godly examples of unity in the scriptures, I can be a new man.
"Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold. David went out to meet them and said to them, 'If you have come to me in peace, to help me, I am ready to have you unite with me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.'" (1 Chronicles 12:16-17)
This example of unity through trusting God blows me away! David did not know these people. Yet he trusted what God would do to unify the relationship. Regarding these strange men in a chaotic time of war, David even "received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands" (1 Chronicles 12:18).
What can we learn from this? David's readiness for unity increased his capacity to accomplish great things for God. And his back-up plan (if anyone should betray him) was to simply trust God with whatever goes wrong.
Here are some related questions we can ask ourselves:
As one of the heroes of the Bible, David certainly was part of something truly grand. His trust in God was inspiring and it drew more people to God's kingdom, as we see from 1 Chronicles 12:22. "Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God."
So many people want to be part of something "great," and that is only natural. Yet we must learn from these and more historical examples. The way to greatness is to be unified with God, as well as anyone else who wants to be unified with the Lord's mighty purposes!
