[One-Verse Meditation]

2 Samuel 2:1 (NASB)

“Then it came about afterward that David inquired of the LORD, saying, ‘Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Go up.’ So David said, ‘Where shall I go up?’ And He said, ‘To Hebron.’”

(Meditation)

After singing a lament for Saul, Jonathan, and the people of Israel, David begins to rise from his grief. Then he asks the LORD:

“Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?”

David’s question speaks meaningfully to us. The rival who had troubled him so deeply is now gone. Humanly speaking, this is the moment to gather strength and claim the kingship God had promised him. This is the time. If he waits too long, he may lose the opportunity. But David does not follow human calculation. He waits for the voice of God.

The Lord tells David to go up to Hebron. Hebron was like the heart of Judah. It was the place Caleb had once asked God to give him: “Give me this hill country.” There the men of Judah anointed David king over the house of Judah. And in this Hebron, David reigned as king over Judah for seven years and six months.

Long before this, when David was still a boy, he had been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. Yet his life was far from smooth. Saul, out of jealousy, pursued him and sought his life. David even had to pretend to be insane before the Philistines, letting saliva run down his beard. And even now, at the very moment when everything might seem finally resolved, he still has not become king over all Israel.

This is where the believer’s faith enters. And this is the way God leads His people according to His will. God gives His people promises, and then He leads them to walk by trusting those promises. Of course, that walk may at times stagger, and at times collapse. But it never truly fails, because the believer’s walk is, in the end, God’s own work.

We often assume that such a walk must only be hard and exhausting. But that is not all it is. In that very walk, the believer learns to sing to God. Why? Because that is the place where we come to know Him. David’s forgiveness toward Saul and his grief over Saul’s death both reveal a life praising God by the life God Himself gives. This is our life today as well.

(Prayer)

Lord, we know that Your people are those who live today by trusting Your promises. And so we are able to live this day faithfully, with joy and gratitude. Because every step is upheld by Your love and zeal, we begin this beautiful new day singing to You. Amen.
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(Daily Meditation)

2 Samuel 1:21–2:11