Scripture
"Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah." (Joshua 15:63)
Observation
There were tens of thousands in the tribe of Judah, but even over hundreds of years they could not pry the foreigners out of their capitol city. But later one man, King David, in just one day would toss the strangers out. Why could one man do what tens of thousands could not in so short a period of time?
David would one day take Jerusalem for two reasons.
First David could not imagine anything less than God having his city back. It was obvious to David that Jerusalem should belong to God. The city of Jerusalem was like an exclamation point in Israel. It stood prominent on a mountain top overlooking the nation. That strangers should be like squatters on the Lord's hill was just unthinkable to David the shepherd boy. Tending his flocks between Bethlehem and Jerusalem the boy would have imagined what Jerusalem would be like used for the glory of God. No one else had thought of Jerusalem as David did or they would have conquered it. When David looked at Jerusalem he felt that it was an insult to the Lord that anyone else should live there other than God's own people. Because David could not imagine anything less than permanent occupation one man was able to do what tens of thousands could not.
Second David studied the back door while everyone else trembled at the front door. If you had asked anyone in Judah to describe Jerusalem, they would have painted a picture of impenetrable walls perched on an unscaleable hill. They didn't even try. But David was a shepherd boy who had done what all boys do: he explored every nook and cranny around the walls of Jerusalem. Here he found adventure in the hidden tunnels under the city. One of them let to the heart of the city. Tens of thousands of people gazed at the thick walls of limestone while David noticed that the back door to t he city was left open. With a handful of men David was able to sneak into Jerusalem and make room for the Lord.
Application
Like the tens of thousands in Judah I can become comfortable with unconquered problems in my own back yard. King David's example of passion for God's glory and creative thinking reminds me to think with greater simplicity and clarity.
Sometimes problems won't budge not because the problem is too tough but because I am not tougher than the problem. That toughness comes when like David I see problems not as my problems but God's and look for the simple solution buried in the complexity of the difficulty. When I see my problems as God's problems he gives me another view of things so that I see solutions that others miss.
Prayer
Father help me not to become comfortable with obstacles in the roadway. Give me the grace to do what must be done even when I may think that nothing can change. And let me be inspired by one man who did what tens of thousands could not.
