And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.--1st Samuel 20:3
During this very difficult time in David's life, he lived very conscious of his own mortality. Saul and his armies were hunting him like an animal. David stood in jeopardy with each passing hour...day and night his life hung in the balance. What was the result? David drew near to His God and learned to depend on Him. He began to understand with heart knowledge that his life was truly in His Father's hands. He began to understand, also, I am sure, that his sufficiency was not of himself but from HIs God. David lifted up His soul to Him who was able to save him not only from earthly death but from spiritual death as well. He put His trust in the One who was and is able to keep us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!
This is true for every one of us alive today. All of us have the sentence of death in our bodies. When God's hand of protection is removed, our life here on earth is over. None of us knows how long we may have left. There is much "wisdom" in acknowledging this and living our life accordingly. If you are not a believer, there is much wisdom in searching out the things of God and finding out for yourself whether or not they are true. The wisest man on earth, King Solomon, David's son, said this:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Solomon also penned many of the Proverbs...
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. "For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding....He preserveth the way of his saints."
Each one of us are in the hands of the Lord...His hand of protection keeps us. Do as David did in life...draw near to your God...learn from Him...depend on His counsel and His strength. Live your life with your eyes on the eternal rather than the temporal. Our permanent dwelling place is with our God in heaven...our days here on earth are numbered...our days in heaven are eternal. Colossians 3 speaks beautifully to how we are to live as believers here on earth...I will close with it.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.--Colossians 3:1-17
