God Awareness 1 – David’s Story

Scripture: Psalm 8; Psalm 19; Psalm 23; Psalm 24

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. (Psalm 19:1-4 NLT)

Young David of Bethlehem spent long days and nights in the fields, shepherding his father’s sheep. As he didn’t have WiFi for social media nor batteries for his earbuds to listen to his tunes, he spent some time practicing slinging stones. We also know he kept his head up and his eyes open. David observed carefully and thought deeply about the world around him, the skies above him, and the God who created it all.

David didn’t have a lot of God Encounters like Moses did. But David used his time and his energy to cultivate God Awareness. When David thought about the sheep, he thought about The Lord, His Shepherd, who cared for him as he cared for the sheep. Then he turned that awareness into praise and thanks to God.

When David looked at the moon and stars in the night sky, and the sun blazing its way across the day, he thought about the glorious majesty of the Creator God who made them. He considered the order God had built into creation and became aware of the order God has for our lives. David turned this awareness to praise and thanks to God, to confession of his failures, and to prayer for forgiveness, cleansing, and guidance.

David used his awareness of creation, and his meditations on the things he observed, to develop insights about the God who created it all. In the process, he developed an awareness that God was present with him in the fields and forests, in the day and in the night. David realized that God wasn’t only present in a temple or a tabernacle on “worship occasions” but was present with him always.

David’s God Awareness didn’t keep him from doing some pretty awful things. But his God Awareness kept him from drifting far from God. He was quick to acknowledge his error, quick to confess his sins, and quick to restore the closeness he felt with God.

Prayer:

Father, May my friends and I develop a God-Awareness like David. Teach us to observe, to see and hear, and to become deeply aware of your presence with us always.