There are principles for leadership here which we can learn nowhere else in the entire world and yet so many ignore and overlook and even reject all the riches and guidance and direction on offer.
David, the second King of Israel, needed everything that was available if he was going to overcome his weaknesses and be strengthened where he was so vulnerable and forgiven where he was exceedingly and seriously sinful.
He needed Almighty God and he declares how he relied upon God in the second book of Samuel Chapter 22 and which is repeated in Psalm 18. We can learn much from a study of the Old Testament.
If there are no reservations on our side, there will be none on His, and leaders in every walk of life need to know this and experience the reality of it.
David would never turn away to other gods. He knew they did not exist anyway. It would be stupid to do that and it would be nothing other than sin, and David did not want to sin at that level.
He had been forgiven for previous misdemeanors so why fall again into a very subtle trap?
He is not sinless compared with our sinless Christ, but God had cleaned him up and lifted him up after his many and various falls.
David never denied that he belonged to God, and he never denied his faith in God even when he experienced failures and faults.
David would be true to God even when Satan tried to trip him up.
What a word for us in Christ at the beginning of a New Year, and in fact what a word at any time.
David would never turn way to other gods, although his son Solomon did and made a mess of things.
Think of Paul in this light in his letters to Timothy. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. But oh how he knew and realised that he was a sinner. Is this why he mentions so frequently in his letters the Grace of God?
If we do not keep the faith we are unlikely to fight the good fight and complete and finish the race marked out for us.
God's ways with men are described in such colourful detail. To the crooked God is shrewd.
God will not be a partner in certain activities or businesses or good ideas.
God's strength and light are given in place of our weakness, and darkness which is all around us, but darkness is no impediment to God.
When many were trying to blow David out God kept him alight.
Darkness doesn't hinder or stop God.
We see the darkness, and when we are aware of its dangers and temptations, we rely upon the light of Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Every leader needs to be aware of the light and love and strength and guidance which is available.
Sandy Shaw
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org/ entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
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