1 Samuel 16 : 14-23 part 2 Building a Servant-Leader
David’s story begins in 1 Samuel 16, where we read that God sent Samuel to anoint David as the next king of Israel (16:1-13). When Samuel anointed David as the next king over Israel, PHOTO David was just a young boy, perhaps as young as twelve to 13 years old. After the anointing, David went back to the fields to take care of the sheep, and Samuel returned to his home in Ramah.
Meanwhile, Saul remained King for another 26 or more years.
But God choosing David was not random. He was seeing a boy who had a great love for Him. David’s great grandparents are also known to you. Boaz who married Ruth, from the book of Ruth whose mother=in=law was Naomi.
And David? He was in training. He was a shepherd (PHOTO) over a flock of sheep. As a shepherd he had to protect his sheep from lions and bears. As a king, he had to protect his people from their enemies. As a shepherd he learned to trust in God. He had no other shepherd to help him if a lion or bear attacked the sheep. He only had God as a companion. And I believe this is what made him great. He sang love songs to God.
But now Samuel came and anointed him to be the next king. No one spread the news… Why?, because they feared King Saul. The older brothers probably thought it was laughable. And David? He went back to being a shepherd…. He was only 12-13 years old. But as he was maturing. His singing ability also became known in Bethlehem. God’s hand was on him and now lets’ read how God helps him to understand how a kingdom should be run. Now Remember: the spirit of the Lord is on David. But back at the palace it is the opposite. Let’s read
1 Samuel 16:14-23
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
When Saul decided to follow his own counsel and NOT listen to God… the Holy spirit left him.
Now that brings up a slew of questions. Does that mean the HS can leave us?
But I want you to remember. This happened before Jesus died on the cross and Pentecost. It is at Pentecost that the HS came upon the believer and stayed with him to guide and teach him. This is a 1000 years before Jesus died on the cross. In the Old Testament the HS would come and go. He was there to help people to do God’s will. Saul no longer wanted God so God took away the HS… this left him open to demonic attacks. God gave permission for Saul to have problems because he refused to follow him after he was made king. His shield was gone. His hedge of protection.
15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
The people recognized that it was a harmful spirit…. A demon spirit that plagued him off and on. Their solution? Music. And it is true that worship music does help people who are in a depression. You start praising God and the BLUES melt away. A sacrifice of praise. Praising God when you don’t feel like it.
But is this a solution to Saul’s problem? No. There is a spiritual problem. SIN. The source of his problems. This is why I do sessions for people who are having issues, nightmares, and seeing ghosts…..called spiritual cleansing so that they can take care of their sin problem and get released from the spiritual problems/ or oppressions.
Lesson: Trust in God's Sovereignty
Throughout 1 Samuel 16, we see God's sovereign hand at work, orchestrating events according to His divine plan. Trust in His sovereignty, knowing that He is in control. If he made you a promise: trust Him to do it.
In the life of Abbraham that took 25 years. For David to become king…nearly 30 years. But God is faithful to do what he said he would do.
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite (from Bethlehem), who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
So David is becoming known as a man of valor Honest, skillful in playing, has learned war skills and is wise in speech, but everyone knows that the HS is on him.
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
So Jesse lost his shepherd because the king asked for David.
But I want you to hear this: “ a problem for Saul was an opportunity for the shepherd in Bethlehem to go and see how a kingdom is run.
God’s plan was NOT manipulated by man but by God alone.
David did not advertise for the position. The kingdom asked him to come. A young shepherd who could sing and play well was heard by someone in the courts and mentioned it to Saul. Wow.
And then.
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
Saul liked David so much that he got fired his armor-bearer and gave it to David. But David also still had another duty.
23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. (1 Samuel 16:23)
And why did the demon leave when David played? If David sang it was love song about God and his faithfulness. If you hate God… you sure aren’t going to hang around and listen to the music.
What struck me in this story is David’s gentle heart. He knew one day he will be king. But he ministered to Saul who was the “unfaithful to God” king of Israel. He comforted him. He protected him. Why? Because David recognized that Saul was chosen by God to be king and David’s ethics, his morals, his integrity was that he would respect him and honor him until Saul died. Wow. And you will see him do this in future stories.
Today this is not our moral fiber. Our response is exactly the opposite. We would discredit the person, complain to the right people, some people during this time would assassinate him so that they could take his place. But David does not do this. He waits till God pushes him to the position.
There are times I have tried to force God’s hand in a situation. Let me tell you, It did NOT work out very good for me!
But how about you? If you knew that you could do a better job than your boss… do you discredit them? Make them look bad? I know I was in a situation that a new boss came to work at a senior living… after some time… I realized I could no longer work for her. I could not do it with a good conscience… so I started praying and asked God to move me to a different job. I applied and that is when I went to Josiah Whites.
But how about you? What is happening at your job? Do you belittle anyone? Or in your marriage? Your spouse, or kids? Do you tear them down? Berate them. Say horrible things about them at work. At home? What do you think God would say?
Verse on encouragement.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And David was just that. He encouraged, he respected Saul and for the 14 years that he was with Saul… he honored Saul and trusted God. He had confidence God was in control and would one day fulfill His promises.
As I was reading this, I saw a pattern….. It is a growth pattern. Some might call it a pattern for a “calling” by God. We see David being anointed for God’s work. He has a Calling. I knew at 11 years old that I was called to become a missionary. It can even be a calling to follow Him. After the calling came the Training. For David, it was being a shepherd and then his being in Saul’s court.
During his Training David sees Saul’s suffering and understands Saul refuses to ask God for forgiveness. He sees Saul refusing to be obedient to God. And David sees the mess and anxiety and all the other consequences of not following God. The result: David… when confronted with sin as KING will always choose to admit fault and ask God for forgiveness… I cannot help but believe this was a part of his training. So we talked about Calling and training.
After Calling and Training,
Now at this point there begins the Hardship, the fire of a Trial. This is whether you hang on to God’s promises or walk away. For David, his fire comes when Saul realizesdthat David was God’s man for the throne and he decided to kill him and David has to live as an outlaw for around 15 years.
Then comes Activation of the goal…. The experience God promised
For me, I went to activation., the experience was working on the mission field. All the hardships tested my faith in God. I lost a 6 month pregnancy… before being a missionary….I was mad at God… How could he do this to me? I have given him my life as a missionary. Then we were evacuated out of Congo. Fire during the activation time. I went into a deep depression. I even got so mad at him that I stopped talking to Him and having devotions. But I realized eventually I would rather talk to God in a depression than be in a dark hole without him. 3rd fire… So when Jerry disappeared. A man I truly admired… I felt like my ship sunk and I was trying to swim to shore. But I had already decided years ago in my depression. I chose God… for better or worse… I trusted him. Today I look back and see His faithfulness. I lived long enough to now see that. Each painful experience brought me closer to him. And you will see this in the life of David. We saw it with Abraham and Daniel when he was thrown in the lion’s den. God was faithful.
What are the Takeaways?
1, : Trust in God's Sovereignty
Throughout 1 Samuel 16, we see God's sovereign hand at work, orchestrating events according to His divine plan. AND TODAY… he is the same God…Trust in His sovereignty, knowing that He is in control. If he made you a promise: trust Him to do it.
In the life of Abbraham that took 25 years. For David to become king…nearly 30 years. But God is faithful to do what he said he would do.
2. Encouragement: David upheld his leadership. How are you doing at this point? Do you pray for your boss? Do you pray for your president? And then spiritually… Do you listen to God and are you listening to wise counsel? If NOT, expect God to react. Saul had emotional problems… (Get other examples…… King Herod had mental anguish and sickness.. We are to up hold leadership.
verse
3. So where are you on this Spiritual Growth chart: Abraham had this same pattern. Daniel. This is normal for Christians
Calling (following God, growth as a Christian)
Training
Hardship fire CHOICE
Activation/ Experience Arriving and doing what you God called you to do.
I don’t know where you are today. But I want you to know God is there. He allows you choices. You are freely able to choose and there are consequences when you chose poorly. Saul had demonic harassment… others have had: depression and anger… But they came as a consequence.
David is known as a man after God’s own heart. I pray that I will be like David and I pray for each of you to be like David, a Man- A woman after God’s own heart.
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