I’ve always been amazed at how an old tree like this (pictured) can turn into something like this (an artistically carved wooden chair that looks more like a throne). How does that happen? Does the rain and wind just whittle away the tree until it turns into something so delightful and useful? Of course not. There was an artist who had a design in mind, and who was skilled enough to turn the tree into a work of art. But this artist didn’t bring about the transformation with his bare hands. He used tools like chainsaw and chisel to get the effect he wanted.
King David confessed that God had worked a similar transformation in his life. He wrote: “It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great. 36 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way” (Psalm 18:32-36).
How exactly had God done all that for David? As far as we know, God never came down to earth to show David how to shoot an arrow. No, David’s father or perhaps his older brothers had taught him how to do that. Today we’re starting a new sermon series called Agents of Grace. It’s about the people God used in King David’s life to sculpt that individual into the man of God he wanted him to be. As we learn about the agents of grace in David’s life, we’ll want to recognize and thank God for the agents of grace in our lives. For it is through them that God sculpts us into the people he wants us to be.
The agent of grace in David’s life that we’ll talk about today is Samuel. Samuel is one of the few characters in the Bible whose life we get to follow from beginning to end. He was a miracle baby—the result of his barren mother’s ardent prayers for a child. Hannah promised God that if he blessed her with a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord’s work. True to her word, when Samuel was only about three years old, Hannah dropped him off with Eli the high priest. Samuel not only worked at the tabernacle, he lived there, becoming familiar with the ways of the priests. This would become important later in the advice Samuel could offer David. I’ll come back to that thought.
From early on, Samuel also functioned as a prophet—a spokesman for God. One night God appeared to Samuel and told him how he was going to punish the high priest’s sons for their wickedness. Samuel, who may have only been a boy of 10 at this time, was expected to pass that news along to Eli. The next morning Samuel told Eli everything the Lord had spoken—even though it must have been difficult for Samuel to do so since Eli had been like a father to him. But, as a faithful prophet, Samuel didn’t hold back any of the Lord’s words. He shared it all.
Yes, from the time he was a boy, Samuel gained experience as a prophet and priest. Then when he became a man, God used him as the last judge for Israel. Judges, like Samson and Gideon, and also Samuel, were people who would settle disputes and lead the Israelites in time of war. The way Samuel led as a military commander was interesting. He wasn’t a strongman like Samson, or a strategist like Gideon. One time when the Philistines attacked, Samuel didn’t call a council of war, but offered a sacrifice and called on the Lord for help. God answered by sending such a great thunderstorm that the attackers fled in a panic (1 Samuel 7).
Samuel was such an important and respected person that hundreds of years later God said that he wouldn’t change his mind about punishing the sinful, rebellious Israelites, even if Moses and Samuel were to intercede on their behalf (Jeremiah 15:1). We know just how important Moses had been. God had used him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. And God had given to him the Ten Commandments. Well, in God’s eyes, Samuel was just as important as Moses.
It was this same Samuel who would serve as an agent of grace in David’s life. Ironically it was something Samuel had to do because someone else he had mentored turned out to be a failure. That person was King Saul. God had directed Samuel to anoint Saul as king, and at first the two seemed to have a close relationship. But after Saul enjoyed success on the battlefield, he became proud and didn’t think he needed the Lord, or at least didn’t need to do things God’s way. In time, God rejected Saul as king and directed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse and anoint one of his sons as the next king.
That perhaps was the first time Samuel and David met, but it would not be the last. First, David would serve King Saul as a court musician. And then he would go on to kill Goliath. The praise David received for this feat made Saul jealous of David. Saul’s jealousy became so consuming that on a number of occasions he tried to kill David with a well-aimed spear.
It was after one of those attempts on his life that David fled to Samuel where it seems he stayed for some time (1 Samuel 19). Now Samuel could really mentor David, and just think of all he had to offer the future king. As a judge who had led battles, Samuel could tell David what it took to be a military leader in Israel—and that wasn’t cunning or ruthlessness. Rather David would be successful in his battles if he continued to trust in the Lord, as he had done when he fought Goliath.
Having grown up with the priests, Samuel was also well-versed in the ways of Israelite worship. It was perhaps this contact with Samuel that equipped David for all the organizing of the temple worship he would do. But first and foremost Samuel had been a prophet, and David would be one too. Many of the 150 psalms we have in the Bible were written by David. And these psalms aren’t generic hymns of praise. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit and many speak prophetically about the work the Messiah, Jesus. Did Samuel impress on David the awesome responsibility he had as prophet to faithfully proclaim God’s Word? Samuel was just the agent of grace David needed at that time in his life.
Likewise God has provided you with the mentors you’ve needed just at the right time. These are people who taught you how to cook, to do the laundry, to balance your checkbook, and to drive. For most of us our parents are these mentors. But do they always seem like agents of grace? Don’t we often think of them as agents of angst instead? We chafe under their rules. We think their ideas old fashioned and are quick to dismiss their concerns over the friends we had made and how we spend our time.
Wouldn’t it have been easy for David to dismiss Samuel too? I mean Samuel was much older than he. The times were changing and David was the up and coming king. What did Samuel know that David needed to learn? There was, of course, plenty for Samuel to teach David. Not least of which was God’s Word. While it seems that David came from a God-fearing family, we do know that his brothers, at least, didn’t impress God. They seemed to be vain and arrogant—more concerned with their outward looks than anything else. What kind of influence had they been on David? But in Samuel, God provided the humble, yet bold spiritual mentor that David needed.
Who are those agents of grace in your life? They could be your parents, or perhaps it was the pastor who confirmed you, or it could be that older member who encourages you with her bright demeanor and trust in the Lord even though her body is starting to shut down. Perhaps the mentors are your grandparents who model for you the importance of daily devotions and love for God’s Word. The mentors can be your children who remind you how to keep marvelling at the blessings God gives each day. God has placed each one of these people in your life and uses them like chainsaw and chisel to cut away at the rough edges that surround us. And yes, that’s a process that hurts sometimes! We don’t like it when others give us advice or point out our shortcomings. But the sacred author got it right when he wrote: “Like an earring of gold…is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear” (Proverbs 25:12). Pray that God gives us the wisdom to believe that passage!
Yes, Samuel was no doubt an encouragement in David’s life—especially when David was on the run from Saul. But encourage is really all Samuel could do. It’s the same with your mentors. They may have taught you valuable skills and attitudes, but they can’t live your life for you. That’s what sets Jesus apart. He not only lived in such a way that we want to emulate. He not only faced difficult situations like we do and so can learn from him on how to handle them. The life that Jesus lived, his perfect life without any sin, was a life that he lived for us! And the death he suffered on the cross he suffered for us! That’s why we don’t call Jesus our mentor, but our savior. And so the times when we lose it with our children, the times when we set poor examples for our friends and co-workers, we can take comfort that Jesus lived as we should have lived. And God the Father gives us credit for Jesus’ perfect life, not our imperfect one. Wow!
As we continue this sermon series we’re going to see how David’s life wasn’t all roses. Goliath, the Philistine strongman would be a significant adversary, but even he turned out to be one of God’s agents of grace. We’ll find out how next week. Until then, give thanks for and give thanks to the positive role models and mentors God has given to you. And with Jesus’ help think of how you can be an agent of grace in the lives of others. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
List at least three ways in which Samuel was well-suited to be a mentor to David.
Why did God feel it necessary to anoint David king, when Israel already had a king in Saul?
Who are the mentors in your life? List them here, and find a way to thank them for their work.
To whom can you be a mentor? Ask God to help you serve faithfully in this role.
