If you ever want to perform an interesting experiment in how the human mind works, ask a number of persons this question: “What do you do for a living?”
Many, if not most, of the answers will sound something like one of these: “I am a carpenter.” “I am an attorney.” “I am an accountant.” “I am a stay-at-home mom.”
But did you notice that in the above examples, none of the hypothetical answers actually answers the question, “What do you do for a living?” Every one of them answers a different question: “What are you?”
The reason for this phenomenon is the firm connection in the human mind between our life’s work and who we are as individuals. To put it very simply, a big chunk of our personal sense of identity comes from the work we do in life.
Our vocations also can define us to the world—not just what we do, but also the way we do it. It doesn’t take much of an effort, then, to connect the dots and conclude an accurate assessment of the work we do in our lifetime is an essential part of our commitment to Jesus Christ. Our lesson passages in 2 Samuel 5-7 examine the early years of David’s reign as king and provide helpful guidance concerning our attitudes toward our life work.
When we see David here in 2 Samuel 5, he had come a long way from the sheepfold in Bethlehem. David had held a number of jobs in his young life: He had been a shepherd, a court musician to King Saul and a soldier. But at the age of 30 (5:4), David began the greatest and most influential period of his life’s work when he became the second king of Israel.
Chapter 5 describes how David took control of the city of Jerusalem and moved the Israelite capital there from Hebron (vv. 1-10), established a beneficial relationship with the king of Tyre (vv. 11-12) and led his army to victory over Israel’s Philistine enemies (vv. 17-25). Verse 10 summarizes those early years of David’s reign in this way: “And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.”
A personal application arising out of the study passage has to do with our responsible stewardship of our life work. 2 Samuel 5:12 emphasizes David’s awareness of the fact that it was God who had chosen and established him as king. His having been placed in that position by God laid on David a heavy responsibility to rule wisely and well and to lead Israel toward obedience to the Lord.
Although we ourselves might not rule over a nation, our life work also is a sacred trust given to us by God. Indeed, our abilities and competencies which enable us to work effectively in a given profession are themselves a gift and a stewardship from the Lord.
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A great example of this principle can be found in Exodus 31. That chapter indicates it was God who gave to the workmen who were constructing the tabernacle the skills that they needed to do that work. One artisan was singled out in particular, a man named Bezalel, about whom God said, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship” (Exodus 31:1-5).
As we make personal application of this idea, a good question for us to ask is this: “Am I using my God-given abilities wisely, and in ways which advance God’s agenda in my life and in the world?”
But it is not just the skills we possess, but also the vocations in which we utilize those abilities, which also should be viewed as a divine stewardship. Through our work we can provide for our own financial needs and those of our families; but we ought not to see our jobs merely as a way of paying the bills. We should work in our jobs in a way which testifies to our commitment to Christ.
For example, a worker who is a follower of Christ ought not to work half-heartedly or lazily: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
Another application of the study passage is a reminder that throughout our professional lives, we need to remain open to having our course corrected by God.
It was David’s great desire to build a temple, a permanent structure in which the Ark of the Covenant would rest and in which God would be worshipped (7:1-3).
From all outward appearances, everything was in David’s favor. His intention was honorable: He wanted to build for God a beautiful house of worship. His motivation was right: He desired to bring glory to God through his building project. His approach was wise: He confided his desire to a prophet of God and sought that prophet’s counsel before proceeding with his plans. Everything seemed to be going full-speed ahead.
But God’s plan for David’s life work did not include him building the temple (7:4-17). That task was one God already had determined would be given to one of David’s sons to accomplish (vv. 12-13).
David surely felt keen disappointment that he would not be permitted to follow his great dream. We can imagine that he already had begun drawing up rough plans and making cost-estimates when Nathan came back to him with the news that God had other intentions.
This was a tremendous test of David’s motivations: The young king stated he wanted a temple to be built for the Lord, and he received assurance from God one indeed would be built, but not by him. Here was the test: Would David be more concerned over the temple being built for God, or over who was going to get to build it?
But David passed the test with flying colors. He humbly accepted God’s correction of his personal plans and rejoiced in the role God chose for him to play in the divine agenda (7:18-29).
We all have our own personal dreams of what we desire to accomplish through the work we do in life. Perhaps we set our goals very early in our professional lives and have worked steadily with those objectives in mind ever since. How open are we to having the pursuit of our goals interrupted by a course-correction from God?
The 19th-century novelist Samuel Butler observed “every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.”
As we examine those early years of the reign of King David, we are challenged to ask ourselves exactly what sort of self-portrait it is that we are painting through our life work.
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