Completely Trusting the Lord - II Samuel 3-5 and Luke 14:25-35

I believe that II Samuel 3-5 shows us evidence that David was trying to trust God completely. As I said before, he was not promoting himself. He was waiting on the Lord to establish him as the king over all of Israel in God's timing. He was trusting toward Abner, because he saw God working through him. He hated Joab's murder of Abner, because it was done out of revenge and with a lack of faith in God. He killed the men who killed Saul's son, the king of the rest of the tribes, because they acted unrighteously. However, having said all of this, I want to emphasize that David was not perfect in all of his actions. He was sinning by having more than one wife, and this sin would cause him a lot of grief in the end. Therefore, how can I say that David was trying to trust God completely? I think that polygamy had become such an accepted practice for kings that David did not question whether it was God's will or not. He was not rebelling against the Lord. He simply was not considering his beliefs in this area. I believe we all are prone to fall into these types of sins, if we do what everyone else is doing, and we do not check everything out by God's Word. Of course, David did not have all of God's Word to consult like we do, either.

Just consider what Jesus said in Luke 14:25-35. It is pretty strong, isn't it? It is so strong that some people want it to mean that a person can be a Christian and not be a disciple of Jesus. I do not believe that fits with what Jesus was saying or with the rest of the Bible. I believe we become Christians when we decide to respond to God's revelation of Himself to us by trusting Him in faith as completely as we know how. That is the only type of faith that is worthy of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. It is the only response that allows a meaningful relationship with Jesus, which is the only basis for salvation. Anything less is a game or a lie.

Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 6-8 and Luke 15:1-10.