I Chronicles 11:9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.
Sometimes we look around at other people and see the sudden changes they accomplish in their world. We wonder, “Why doesn’t everything change where I am? Why doesn’t anything change where I am? Why isn’t anything happening after all my hard effort?” It is easy to feel that way, especially when you read a passage like I Chronicles 11 where a mighty man like David had things happen so quickly.
We must keep in mind that the whole point of the Chronicles, especially chapter 11, is David’s kingdom and what would come of it in God’s grand design. Verse 1 says, “Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.” They anointed David king after Saul had died.
Everything that follows happened very quickly. David conquered Jebus, which we know as Jerusalem. Then, “David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David.” Verse 7 says, “David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of David.”
So, you have got an old order, Saul, Jebus, and the Jebusites. Next, you have change, the death of Saul, the conquest of Jebus and Zion. Then you have what came of it, Israel gathered behind David and David conquered. Finally, David built and repaired the city that he had conquered. Thus the new order was the city of David and Jerusalem.
Perhaps the summarizing verse is verse 9, “So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.” David was a mighty man with mighty men, yet the whole point is that this is a narrative of God’s working His plan through His man.
If these changes seem very quick and abrupt, remember that this is a condensed history and remember the years of waiting and even hiding from his enemies that characterized David’s life. The Bible says something interesting in verse 2. The people said to David, “And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest… and… God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people.”
Even when David wasn’t king, he was serving people. He was leading people and doing what he should. All the changes of which we read here were a culmination of years and years of patience. We can learn from this that “sudden” changes are often God’s response to our patience and our persistence. Usually sudden changes aren’t sudden at all! They are the gradual working of good or evil to some particular end. In this case we want good and not evil. What we want is God’s grace and not our scheming and striving.
Whatever it is you want to see change in this world today, be faithful, patient, and persistent where you are and trust God to do what you cannot.