Memorial Day 2009: Heroes Carry the Stain
King David was a man after God’s Own heart; the Lord Himself selected him to rule Israel. The Lord approved of David and sustained him. But the King was a man of war. That left the stain of blood and combat on David’s hands, a necessity for anyone who is called to fight for his country and his people. When the day arrived that his throne was securely established, his palace erected and his nation prospering, David began to imagine a great dwelling place for his God, a Temple! It was to be a tribute to the Lord of all the earth Who had granted Israel their success.
Through Nathan the prophet, God stopped David from building this temple of his dreams! The Lord assured His warrior-king that a time would come when David’s son would build the House of God. The King obeyed. He began laying by supplies. He instructed his son, Solomon, in his vision of the Temple and gave him his plans. In I Chronicles 22:8 the old King tells his successor son why he was denied the pleasure of building the Temple: "But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.’”
Yet David is still one of the great “Christ figures” of Biblical history … even though he paid a sacrificial price to play his part in his own generation. We all have our individual roles to play and we must seek to play them. David’s role was partial and temporary but necessary. He was a man of war and of bloody hands. It was too late for his reputation to be redeemed enough to make the Lord’s point of peace with His people Israel. Hence, David’s son of peace, Solomon, was chosen to build a Dwelling Place for his God. There is a great and continual price to be paid for keeping a nation free. It is wise to count the depth of that cost for those who will risk the most! It is good to ask questions about the goals, methods and strategies we use to fight a war, lest we forget that building the House of God requires clean hands. As we honor our fallen and living heroes this Memorial Day, let us keep in mind the cost to the spirit, soul and body every warrior must pay! These are men and women who served us by waging war and having to endure bloody hands! They have paid a price that their own generation is slow to appreciate and may never appreciate. Yet those who have paid the price of battle experience a wisdom, camaraderie, vision and glory that others “behind the lines” can never understand. True warriors find their own satisfaction and contentment in knowing they have done their proper duty and will be vindicated by earth and heaven’s highest truth.
Remember, even when the Lord denied David the privilege of building the Temple, He told him, “You do well to have the building of it in your heart!” (I Kings 8:18; II Chronicles 6:8). The Scriptures tell us David wanted peace but those who surrounded him wanted war (Psalm 28:3). The true God warriors may have to fight bloody battles but in their hearts, while they fight them, is a passion for peace. So it was for Israel’s greatest King, David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). So let it be with us!
“Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” The Lord to David in II Samuel 7:16
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