1 Kings 1:1-4
King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm. So his advisers told him, “Let us find a young virgin to wait on you and look after you, my lord. She will lie in your arms and keep you warm.”
So they searched throughout the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her.
The one part of my job I love more than anything else is being a part of young lives growing up. I love to watch as they first “get” God. I love to walk alongside as they begin their journey with the Holy Spirit. My heart breaks when they stumble and my spirit struggles to lift them back up. But I MOST love watching them later, as somewhat more mature disciples, when they make decisions that they wouldn’t have made just a few short years earlier.
That’s what I see here in 1 Kings. David’s lived a long life, from humble shepherd to giant slayer to king’s servant and eventually to the throne itself. Early in his kingship, he saw a woman he liked, had an affair, and did everything he could, including murdering her husband, to have her. As a result, he suffered some serious consequences from his actions and repented before God.
Now, decades later, at the end of his life, he’s laying in bed waiting to die and his advisers have a great idea. ”Let’s get a beautiful young virgin to sleep with David and keep him warm.”
But David’s learned from his mistake and Scripture tells us, “[he] had no sexual relations with her.”
And, in my heart, I applaud a somewhat more mature David who is making decisions he wouldn’t have made a few years before.
Look around you for the David’s who are maturing and changing right before your eyes. And applaud them. Encourage them. Cherish them.