HOW TO COPE WITH SUCCESS (5)

TOPIC: HOW TO COPE WITH SUCCESS (5)
TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 9

It was NOT just praise and worship that endeared God to David; it was David’s abilities and what he valued in life that made God to declare David, a man after His Own Heart. Here is the third thing that helped David in coping with his great achievements:

3. David did not forget promises. Do not forget yours when it is well with you. When many reach the top, they conveniently forget promises given and commitments made. A man may find that the woman he married when he was struggling is now an embarrassment - she has to be dumped. An agreement with a former business partner may prove expensive to fulfil - it is ignored, with the justifying phrase “We never signed anything.” When David finally reached the point where he could do so, he fulfilled a pledge made twenty or so years before. Considering how he had been treated by Saul, many would not have blamed David if he had conveniently forgotten his promise.

Nevertheless, David looked upon it as a sacred vow, made in the presence of the Lord, not to be broken. Thus, he searched for Jonathan’s son and honoured him. All of us have made commitments. Many of us are Christians and committed our lives to the Lord when we confessed our faith and were baptized. Many of us made the lifetime commitment to “love, honour, and cherish” a wife or a husband. Probably we have also made other commitments. Consider Numbers 30:2: “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” We cannot maintain our integrity if we do not keep our commitments.

Word Affirmation: He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake - Psalm 23:3 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“We cannot maintain our integrity if we do not keep our commitments.”
Central Truth