All of God’s providential work was for the purpose of Jesus becoming our King.   ~~~   We clearly see that God was moving in and around David’s life, to bring him as King, for the sake of the Israel. And the providential ways God has been doing this is through conviction of sin in I Samuel 24, the confrontation of a woman in chapter 25, and now, in chapter 26, through a sanctified heart. But I want us to stop right here and think for just a moment, because this is not the only time God has moved in providential ways in order to protect a soon to be King so that God’s people may have something better. In fact, God acting in this way sets the stage for His doing the same thing in grander fashion for great purposes in the fullness of time. In the bigger story is the story of God’s acting and moving in history in order to protect His chosen One so that He could be provided not just to Israel as a King, but to us as God’s best gift to us. Jesus is the absolute best gift the church could ever receive and cling to. And so as we read the opening chapters of the gospel story in Matthew, we find Joseph was kept from divorcing Mary by the providence of God; we read about a decree that would go out form Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered, which would land Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem when it was time for her to give birth, so that former prophecy would be fulfilled. We read in Matthew about wise men from the East, who followed a star! And then, when you think about the wise men, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod to tell him where the baby born King of the Jews was located. And then right after that, Joseph was told in a dream to take the baby Jesus into Egypt in order to avoid Herod’s ghastly slaughter. When we get into the life of Jesus, we discover that all the kingdoms of the world were offered to him by Satan, if he would only take a shortcut. “Don’t take the way of the cross Jesus, take this shortcut, and the result will be the same!” But no. God protected him, and empowered Jesus to trust God’s word. We read several times where either the people wanted to take Jesus in the moment and make him king right then, but he slips away, OR we read about the crowds wanting to throw him off a cliff, but He slips away. All of this is God’s providential working in the life of Jesus so that Jesus could ascend to the throne by way of the cross. And then think with me for just a moment. Think about how God must have had to restrain the angels as they peered over the balcony of heaven watching him be beaten and crucified. Think about how God must have had to encourage and console them as they laid Jesus in the tomb. How he must have had to stay their tears from flooding heaven. All of it was God’s providence and power, pushing, pulling, protecting, providing, so that His people would have the best gift, the best King.