Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.” – 2 Samuel 2:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 3, 2013): 2 Samuel 2

One of the stories that has touched me during the disaster of 9/11 is about the moment that President Bush found out about planes crashing into the twin towers. I know that he took a lot of heat for that moment in time, and we all saw it played out over and over again through the media outlets. The President was reading to a group of children and there was a pause as he received the news. And then, he just swallowed and went back to reading to the children. For his critics, this moment in time was too much. Why did he continue to read? Why would he not leave the children and start to react to the news that he had just received? But the answer to the question is actually fairly simple – because he was the President of the United States. And the most important people in that moment was the children – the ones that he was reading to and the ones across the nation. To just leave them abruptly would have caused panic. And in that moment in time we had panic in abundance already. For that moment, the President had to finish reading to the children.

The circumstances of our lives may not be as dramatic as the ones that a President would have to meet with. But the reality is the same. In each moment there is something that we need to attend to – there is an action that we need to take. To not take it is to shy away from the responsibility that rests on our shoulders. There is a time when each one of us simply needs to step up to the plate.

David had found that time. He had already been anointed as king of Israel, but he refused to take any action – it was not his time. But now that Saul was dead and the nation was in mourning, now was the time for the king inside of David to emerge. Would he be criticized for the move? Most definitely. People would question why this moment. But the only answer is because at this moment Israel needed a leader, and her enemies needed to know that someone was still about the task of defending the nation.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 3