David was a great warrior king with many conquests. Scripture tells us that his military victories were due to God’s help. “David grew steadily more powerful, for the LORD of hosts was with him” (2 Sm 5:10). This view of divinely sanctioned kingship caused many of Jesus’ disciples to expect him likewise to bring military conquests, but Jesus offered power and conquests of another sort.
In Jesus, God is with us (Emmanuel). That presence gives us a steady growth in power, much like David’s. We grow in our power to do what really matters, which is to obey God’s will and to carry out his commandments. This is the greatest power of all: to do what is right, despite temptation to do what is wrong.
Every one of us is tempted, from time to time, to refuse God’s gifts, to destroy God’s creation. Today is a day of prayer for the legal protection of unborn children, because in the United States, many of us have succumbed, even lawmakers, to the temptation to refuse God’s gifts. We must pray for them and for ourselves, too, that we may all remain close to God no matter what, and that, with God’s help, we will have the wisdom and the strength and the courage to do God’s will.