Insights from the Life of David – Part 4:
“Watch Your Back! David & Saul”
I Samuel 18:5-29
If you’ve been with us over the past three weeks you know that we’re studying the life of David who the Bible tells us was “a man after God’s own heart.” Our study began three weeks ago as we discovered that God chooses us not according to our abilities or appearances, but according to what’s inside as we learned from the story of David who was the runt of the liter, the youngest in his family, a no name boy from the little town of Bethlehem, whose job was to take care of the family sheep, but who was anointed by the prophet Samuel, as instructed by God to be the next King of Israel. The following week we dealt with the familiar story of David and Goliath and discovered some principles for overcoming the giants in our own lives. And last week we looked at David’s family tree and in honor of Mother’s Day studied the life of David’s great-grandmother Ruth.
As our saga continues we find ourselves this week at a turning point. Only a chapter before our reading this morning we find David having appeared on the battlefront killing a giant much bigger than himself, winning for King Saul a decisive victory over his enemies. And in the beginning of chapter 18 we find out that as a result of David’s victory over Goliath, Saul has made him a commander in his army. David, we’re told quickly became a very successful leader, to such an extent that the women adored him.
You can all see the handwriting on the wall. If David was anointed as the next King, then obviously King Saul had to go. King Saul and newly anointed David couldn’t live side-by-side. That’s where our story begins.
You see in order for David to become King there were several obstacles that he would have to overcome.
Before we look at them may I suggest to you that the same is true for us. I just finished a tremendous book this week entitled “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson the thesis of which is that God has a great big dream for each and every one of us. The problem is that too many of us never pursue the fulfillment of those dreams. One of the reasons that most people never enjoy their dream is because they fail to see the obstacles that lie in their way in the right perspective. The secret to overcoming the obstacles is in how we view them.
You see that’s what this part of David’s journey is all about – it’s about seeing things from the right perspective. Because any one of the things that David went through in our reading today could have been enough to break him. But somehow David kept the faith and learned an important lesson from each obstacle, a lesson that is invaluable for us as we pursue God’s dreams for our own lives. Somehow David was able to take several obstacles which could have easily encouraged him to turn around and pursue a different vocation and see in them important lessons which helped him become the King that the Scriptures have called “A man after God’s own heart.”
Let’s look at David’s obstacles… I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be able to identify with a few…
The first one is one we talked about two weeks ago. Before David could ever become King he had to overcome a Giant. What we discovered two weeks ago is that when we view giants from our own size and perspective the battle is hopeless. But when we look at giants in comparison to God’s size our perspective changes entirely. What David understood about one of his first major obstacles to becoming King was that the battles that he would face were not his own but that the battle belongs to the Lord. When we surrender the battles in our own lives and recognize that in our own strength they are hopeless and instead rely on the power of God our giants don’t seem so giant any more.
The second obstacle that David had to overcome were flying spears. One day David’s in the King’s court playing his harp, doing what he could to lighten the king’s dark spirits, when all of a sudden, whoosh, a sharp-pointed spear flies right past his head! The King had become so jealous of this young man that he wanted to kill him! I don’t know about you but I’ve never had anyone hurl a spear in hopes of killing me before. You might think that David would have realized how nuts this guy was, but the text tells us that it happened on another occasion. For some reason David stuck around.
The one thing that struck me this week as I read this passage is this lesson: the closer you get to becoming the man or woman God wants you to be, the more enemies you’ll create. I can attest to the truth of this lesson. The closer I’ve got to fulfilling God’s dream for my ministry and my life the more enemies I’ve managed to create. Up until recently it’s always been very important to me that everyone like me. For some time I did everything I could to make people like me. But I’ve recently discovered that the closer I get to becoming that man God wants me to be the more enemies I’ve got, do you know why? Because when we become an active force in the Kingdom of God to bring about transformation and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, the Evil one is very interested in our demise. I’ve said this before, but I believe it more as the days go by, if you’re not accomplishing anything for the Kingdom of God, then the Evil one will leave you alone because you’re not a threat to him. But if you’re at work pursuing God’s big dream for your life then you’ve got to understand this lesson when ever you encounter an enemy: the closer you get to becoming the man or woman God wants you to be, the more enemies you’ll create. If you see those flying spears, those attacks on you from others, as opportunities to continue your growth then you’ll be able to maintain the strength to continue your journey.
The third obstacle that David encountered was a Demotion. In verse 13 of our scripture reading today we discover that after David had killed Goliath, had been successful as a commander in the King’s army, done everything he was asked to do successfully, King Saul, rather than promoting him to a greater position of power, demoted him and banned him from his presence. What a reward for doing what was right!
Have you ever experienced anything like this? I’ll never forget my first move as a pastor. We had spent two years in our first two churches and I finished my first year in seminary and was excited about my new career. I loved what I was doing and the first two churches had done very well while we were there. When the District Superintendent called us to let us know we were moving I was very excited. I was told that this was an incredible promotion. I was going to a much larger church as their new Associate Pastor. Everything seemed absolutely fabulous. I was on top of the world until a few weeks into the new appointment when we discovered that things were not what we thought they would be. I was very upset. I thought I deserved better than what I had gotten. We wanted to go back to where we had come from. This almost seemed like a demotion rather than a promotion. What I couldn’t seen then was that experience was a greatly needed season of my ministry when I learned a very important lesson. It’s a lesson that couldn’t be put better than it was by a contemporary Christian song-writer when he wrote “It’s all about, You, Jesus… It’s not about me, as if you should do things my way. You alone are God and I surrender to your ways.” So often we become so wrapped up in what we deserve or think we deserve that we forget that the purpose of our life is to bring glory to God, not to ourselves.
It’s obvious that David understood this lesson because when he was demoted, rather than becoming furious and refusing to work within the system or quitting his job, verse 14 says that “he continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.” Are you in a place where you feel like you’ve been demoted? Maybe you don’t think you’re getting what you deserve. Let me challenge you to rethink the purpose of your life – to bring glory to God – and instead of focusing on yourself, do everything to the best of your ability using the obstacle of demotion to be a season of growth.
The fourth obstacle that David experienced that most of us can relate to. You may recall that in chapter 17 when Goliath was challenging the Israelite to a man-to-man fight, King Saul had offered as a reward to the victor his daughter in marriage. In verse 17 of our reading today Saul basically says to David, “Claim your reward. The only present that I require is that you continue to be a strong warrior.” Interestingly, the writer reveals Saul’s real motives: Saul thought that he would send him out against the Philistines and have him killed. But when the time for the wedding came Saul gave his daughter, the one to be married to David, in marriage to another man.
We’re not really told how David felt but I’ve got a feeling that the obstacle that he had to face at this point was heartbreak. I can’t imagine it’s an easy to thing to be left at the altar.
How many of you are experiencing the pain of a broken heart? Maybe someone who you loved has left you or someone you love has hurt you deeply. You’ve got a choice: either you can allow this obstacle to prevent you from continuing on your journey to becoming the man or woman God wants you to be or you learn from the lesson David taught by his example: Rise above the challenge.
Do you know what David did after he was left at the altar? He was offered Saul’s other daughter in marriage and this time the price for the bride was – and I’m sorry for the graphicness but it’s in the Bible – 100 Philistine foreskins! If David would bring 100 Philistine foreskins back to the King, which would require killing 100 of them, he could have his bride. Here’s what’s incredible David not only lived up to the challenge, but he rose above it. The Hebrew tells us that not only did he supply the 100 but actually brought back 200! Now please don’t think I’m suggesting you to go and follow his example literally. The point is, David rather than falling into the trap that we so often fall into: refusing to put up a fight – went out and rose above the challenge and overcame the obstacle of heartbreak.
Finally, the last challenge that we see that David encountered in today’s scripture lesson and actually throughout chapters 18-26 was a deadly threat. David constantly had to watch his back. King Saul had a contract out on him. He wanted him dead. It got so serious that David at one point went into the land of the Philistines and pretended to be a madman in order to hide from King Saul. Eight chapters are devoted to the chase during which David was constantly having to watch his back. Could it be that it was during this time in his life when David penned the words of the 23rd Psalm where in verse 4 he said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”?
It was this obstacle that taught David this very important lesson: adversity builds character. There’s an awful lot of truth to the cliché “No pain; No gain.” Growth doesn’t occur when things are easy. Growth occurs most in us when we’re experience adversity, struggles, and trials.
This season of David’s life is all about right seeing. It’s about the ability to look the obstacles of life and see them as stepping-stones not as roadblocks.
Conclusion…
