I am very close to having a David experience myself . I have just been thrown out of my church after ten years because I stood up against sin within the church . David could of murdered those who were pursueing him, he had the oppotunity, and this would of stopped all his problems , but he chose not to , because he knew the holiness and rightiouness of God, he knew he was created in God’s image, maybe this will bring some answers to you Soazh. Kind regards Sarah

Regarding your first point ‘all the days ordained for me…’ (and there are numerous other verses in the Bible on a similar idea) – this aspect is sometimes referred to as ‘God’s Providence’, ‘Predestination’ or ‘Election’ – a doctrine on which there has been substantial disagreement among Christians since the early history of the church, particularly with respect to the causes of evil, man’s free-will, salvation, willing choices etc. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go into any detail here as it would end up being very long and probably very boring! Also, I don’t consider myself even remotely an authority on this complex subject.

So extremely simplified, there are two main views: the Calvinist view (from John Calvin, a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation) and the Arminian view (from Jacob Arminian, a Dutch professor in theology) who is known for his opposition to some of Calvin’s ideas. The Calvinist view affirms that God has pre-ordained everything to happen while, at the same time, does so in such a way that He somehow upholds our ability to make willing, responsible choices, choices that have real and eternal results and for which we are held accountable.

The Arminian view on the other hand, affirms that in order to preserve the real human freedom and choices that are necessary for genuine human personhood, God cannot cause or plan our voluntary choices. Therefore they conclude that God’s providential involvement in or control of history must not include every specific detail of every event that happens, but that God instead simply responds to human choices and actions as they come about and does so in such a way that his purposes are ultimately accomplished in the world.

Interwoven into both these views is the issue of ‘free-will’ and is complicated by the fact that people have many interpretations as to what true freedom and free-will is exactly. Some argue that absolute freedom, totally free of God’s control is simply not possible in a world created, sustained and directed by God Himself while others argue that the ability to make personal willing choices is central to our relationship with God.

That’s all I’m going to say now on this question. Some years ago I embarked on a journey of reading and study on this subject and, while I found it very interesting, I also found it to be quite difficult, even disturbing at times. I didn’t arrive at any great revelations or conclusions although I did find that it got me thinking a lot about many of life’s important questions. If you’re brave enough to embark on a similar journey then I wish you ‘bon voyage’!

Regarding your second point, and I think you’re asking about how David’s life being in danger can bring him closer to God and the same with ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I find that going through difficult times often gets me more focused on God and what’s written in the Bible. For example, Proverbs 3:5-8 has helped me on several occasions when I’ve just not known the way forward. When David’s life was threatened, he focused his mind on all that he knew to be true about God which brought him to the conclusion that God’s got His hand on things in so many ways and that fact alone will help him through his difficult situation.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

is this saying that our life is writern and that we simply live playing it out, almost like a dvd?
i am confused? the things that happern to us in life like david s is under threat! are they ment too, because it was writern long before. how can having your life under threat in danger bring you to a place where you say?

fearfully and wonderfully made’; a definite decision by God to make him the way he is.

interested but confused
sozah

congrats by the way on the gandchild