DAVID’S CALL & ANOINTING
1 Sam. 16:1-13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had two sons. One was named Mind Your Own Business & the other was named Trouble.
2. One day the two boys decided to play hide and seek. Trouble hid while Mind Your Own Business counted to one hundred.
3. Mind Your Own Business began looking for his brother behind garbage cans and bushes. Then he started looking in and under cars until a police man approached him and asked, "What are you doing?" "Playing a game," the boy replied.
4. "What is your name?" the officer questioned. "Mind Your Own Business." Furious the policeman inquired, "Are you looking for trouble?!" The boy replied, "Why, yes."
B. TEXT
16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 4...When he arrived at Bethlehem...5 he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him....He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. 1 Sam. 16:1,4-7,10-13
C. THESIS
We’re looking at Samuel’s recovery, David & Saul contrasted, and seven aspects of “David’s Call & Anointing.”
I. SAMUEL’S RECOVERY
A. SAMUEL GRIEVED OVER THE PAST
1. After Samuel had prophesied that the kingdom would be torn from Saul’s hand, he no longer appeared publicly, except in training the prophets. Only here do we see Samuel move back into a national role.
2. Saul had disobeyed God and as a result, God was no longer supporting him against the enemies of Israel. Samuel had thought he would champion God’s cause and bring victory for God’s people; but he had failed.
3. All Samuel could see was that the old order had collapsed and there was no hope of fixing it.
B. THE PROBLEM OF GETTING STUCK IN THE PAST
1. There IS a season for mourning, but there’s also a season for going on. Many people struggle with that. We all have pain in our past – circumstances/people that wounded us - and we struggle to emotionally deal with it and let go.
2. Frequently we find ourselves going over the same ground: Why did this happen to me? Why did they hurt me? Why did I do this or that? We keep meditating on the past. What good will that do? We can’t change it! THERE’S TWO CHOICES:
3. You can keep talking about the hurt or start talking about God’s goodness. You can keep asking ‘why’ or get a hope for the future. Samuel learned he needed to “get over it” before he could “get on with it.”
4. God is saying today, “Let go of the past! Put it behind you. I have new things ahead for you, focus on those!”
5. JOKE. A woman came to her doctor in a panic. "Doctor, all day long my daughter eats yeast and car wax, and won't get out of bed! What will happen to her?" "Don't worry," said the Doctor, "eventually she will rise and shine!"
C. ILLUS. We Can’t See Ahead
1. Eight-year-old Frank had looked forward for weeks to a particular Saturday when his father promised to take him fishing if the weather was suitable. But when Saturday dawned, it was raining and looked like it would rain all day.
2. Frank wandered around the house, grumbling; "Seems like the Lord should’ve known that it would’ve been better to have it rain yesterday than today!"
3. Then, about three o’clock, the rain stopped. They quickly loaded the gear and were off to the lake. Whatever the reason, the fish were biting hungrily and father and son returned with a full string of fine, big fish.
4. At supper, Frank’s mom asked him to say grace. Frank did--and concluded, "And, Lord, sorry I was grumpy earlier today, I COULDN’T SEE FAR ENOUGH AHEAD." How true!
D. GOD STILL HAS A PLAN
1. No matter what happens, God still has a plan! Just because Saul failed, didn’t mean that God was finished with Israel. God still has a work He wants to accomplish.
2. Samuel couldn’t see past Saul, but God could. God’s kingdom isn’t dependent on men or women, but on God! Jonathan himself said, “there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few!” 1 Sam. 14:6.
3. There have always been attacks on the Church of Jesus. In the last 10 years, record numbers of Christians have been martyred, courts have over-ruled our belief system, the media has mocked and the atheists have scorned.
4. But remember this, Jesus said, “…on this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!”
II. SAUL & DAVID’S CALLS CONTRASTED
The careers of Saul & David began very much the same way.
A. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SAUL & DAVID’S CALL
1. Both were CHOSEN by God out of all the tribes of Israel. Both ANOINTED with oil by the Prophet Samuel.
2. Both were moved upon by the HOLY SPIRIT and gifted with a spirit of prophecy. Both were destined by God to LEAD Israel.
B. REASONS FOR SAUL’S FAILURE:
1. SAUL DIDN’T SEEK GOD until it was too late. 1 Sam. 14:35; “Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this.” God was like a spare tire to him – only resorted to in emergencies. He ended up seeking a witch (28:7).
2. SAUL WASN’T TEACHABLE/OBEDIENT (or Humble)
a. 13:9,13-14 Saul offered a disobedient sacrifice.
b. 15:19 He kept the Amalekite king and the plunder.
3. SAUL’S ONLY AMBITION WAS FOR HIMSELF – he compromised to get acceptance and applause.
a. He built a monument to himself, 1 Sam. 15:12.
b. He wanted to be honored above all, (15:30).
c. He was setting up a dynasty (his son to be king after him), 1 Samuel 20:31.
4. He was CONTROLLED BY FEAR instead of faith; he violated God’s rules of sacrifice, (1 Sam. 15:24); he wouldn’t fight Goliath (17:8) though he was head and shoulders taller than the Israelites (9:2); fear drove him to try and kill David, (20:31); fear drove him to the witch of Endor (28:5).
C. LESSONS
1. I don’t care how anointed you are – (or how much God has used you), we still must be obedient to God.
2. Saul came to Samuel pursuing asses, and he never altered his life from worthless pursuits.
3. The saying on his tombstone could read, “The Man who missed his destiny.” God forbid that should ever be said of us.
III. SEVEN ASPECTS OF DAVID’S CALL
A. CALLED FROM OBSCURITY
1. The least & the youngest of eight sons.
2. In David’s time, the oldest son was automatically the family head and chief heir. The eighth son would never be considered.
3. David was overlooked by Samuel, Jesse, and Saul. He wasn’t even invited to the feast all the sons of Jesse were invited to attend. His own father forgot him!
4. He was a nobody that nobody noticed (except God – who watched & fellowshipped with him).
5. Sometimes we may feel like nobodies, but God knows all about us. He hasn’t forgotten us.
B. CALLED WHEN BUSY
1. God usually calls busy people. Ex. – Elisha was plowing when he was called. The disciples were running a fishing business or tax offices.
2. David’s regular job was keeping the sheep. It wasn’t a grand job; the only position lower was a slave.
3. But David was faithful; they knew where to find him. If we’re faithful in the little things, we’ll also be faithful in the big things (“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much,” Lk. 16:10).
4. Some busy people respond to God’s call, some do not. The Rich Young Ruler (N.T.) sadly refused to follow Jesus.
C. CALLED WHEN UNAWARE OF HIS ASSIGNMENT
1. Everything created contains an instruction, an assignment. Everything is created with a purpose. Every rock, plant, ocean, river and animal are necessary for the balance of nature.
2. Pumpkin seed. It’s impossible, even with a microscope, to see a written, clearly defined instruction to produce more pumpkins, yet the command can’t be doubted. Plant a million pumpkin seeds – none will produce a tomato plant!
3. We too have invisible instructions as to our destiny & purpose. “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’” Jer. 1:4-5.
D. CALLED BECAUSE HE HUNGERED FOR GOD
1. David hungered for God the way other people hunger for food and water;
a. “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” Ps. 27:4.
b. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” Ps. 42:1-2.
c. “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water” Ps. 63:1.
2. Out on the hills around Bethlehem David spent many days and nights in solitude with God. There he sang to God with his harp and communed with him as with a friend. David found God and God found David.
E. CALLED BECAUSE TEACHABLE/ FLEXIBLE
1. Throughout his life David faced many challenges. To succeed and survive, he had to be teachable and flexible.
2. EXAMPLES:
a. David had to admit he was wrong and repent, like when he had cut off part of Saul’s robe, or when he was going to kill Nabal. He left room for God to intervene and altered his course when he sensed God stepping in.
b. Even though King Saul tried to kill him and when many hardships came his way, he didn’t let his love grow cold for God.
c. He trusted in God even when he was punished by God!
F. CALLED WHEN THE TIME WAS RIPE
1. FORMER LEADERSHIP STILL IN TACT. He was called when Saul was declining. The prophet Samuel, though old, was still able to travel and moving in the anointing.
2. CALLED BEFORE THE GREAT BATTLE where he defeated Goliath. This began to turn the tide of the Philistine occupation.
3. God knows that for some of you the time is ripe: the hour of anointing has arrived!
G. DAVID’S CALL ACCOMPANIED WITH POWER
1. To be anointed means to be consecrated or set apart for service, a mission. The Holy Spirit then releases anointing to carry out the mission.
2. That’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost; the Spirit set the Church members apart to reach others with the Gospel. Then He continued giving specific anointings to accomplish the individual segments of the mission (Acts 4:8,31; 6:8; 7:55; 11:24; 13:9).
3. The Bible teaches that we all may have anointing for mission; “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God” (2 Cor. 1:21); “But you have an anointing from the Holy One” 1 John 2:20.
4. The anointing is an assignment, but in order for the anointing to flow, there must be an alignment with the purposes of God. God doesn’t pour out His Spirit on those who are sitting at home watching TV, but on those who are about the Father’s business!
CONCLUSION
A. DAVID’S ANOINTING AND YOURS
1. It was a sweet day to the heart of God. God was pleased to give him the kingdom. You too! “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” Lk. 12:32.
2. As William Barclay said, “There are two great days in a person’s life: the day we are born and the day we discover why.”
B. THE CALL
1. God is telling some of you to lay down your former season of doubts and fears, and move forward to God’s new mission for you.
2. I believe God is saying, “My child, it’s time to receive a fresh anointing to accomplish your mission!”
3. How many NEED a fresh anointing? How many WANT a fresh anointing? God promises to:
a. Give us as much oil as we need;
b. Recommission us with His Spirit;
c. Revive our drooping spirits by His Spirit!
4. Let’s pray!
