February 6, 2011 DAVID, week 2 humble trust in God Last Sunday, we began a new worship series called DAVID, a life of worship. For the next several weeks, we re gonna be looking at the story of David in the Bible, letting him teach us to live lives of worship. Last week, we saw how against all odds, in spite of everyone s opinions and expectations David was chosen by God. To his family, David was just the overlooked kid brother, but God chose David to be king of all Israel. We saw how the prophet Samuel anointed David as king in the presence of his brothers. So what would you expect to happen next in this story? I d expect maybe the royal chariot to come and escort David to the courts of the king, where Saul would take off his crown and place it on David s head, and then all the people would cheer, and David would ascend to the throne & start ruling over Israel. Or, since David was likely a teenager at this point, you might assume that he was too young to be king just yet. (although Israel later made Josiah king at 8 years old, so I m not really sure that David was too young.) But, even then, David at least should have been taken to the King s side as the king-in-training or second-in-command or something! You know what actually happened after David was anointed as king? Pretty much, nothing. Apparently, David just went back to the fields and continued tending his father s sheep. I don t know if they didn t understand the significance of what had just happened, or if they simply couldn t believe it, or if they didn t want to believe it. But David s first job as the newly anointed king was shepherding the same old flock of sheep back out in the same old fields where he had been for years! And we know that David returned to shepherding, because out with the flock is where they find him when he gets his next assignment as king. And it s not much better than the first! King Saul was looking for someone to play the harp for him (to make him feel better). One of his servants identified David as a skillful musician. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.
1 Samuel 16:17, 18, 19 Saul told his servants, Find someone who plays (the harp) well and bring him to me. One of the servants answered, I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who is a skillful musician. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me your son David, who is with the sheep. So, when David finally was summoned out of the fields to the royal court - it wasn t to take over as the new king, or even as a trainee, but to be the court musician! Once there, Saul became fond of David, and promoted him to armor bearer which basically meant he was one of Saul s (probably numerous) personal attendants. 1 Samuel 16:21 David came to Saul and served him. Saul became very fond of him, and David became his armor bearer. So, David s second job as the newly anointed king was to be a personal servant (& musician) to the foolish & rebellious king that God has already rejected! In fact, the Bible says that David had to go back and forth from serving Saul to continue tending his father s sheep. So now he s got TWO jobs that he has to juggle! And, frankly, they re both lousy jobs! Low-ranking, entry-level, humble positions. 1 Samuel 17:15 David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father s sheep at Bethlehem. Now - while David was in this cycle of shepherding and serving, a battle with the Philistines started brewing. The Israeli and Philistine armies gathered and began preparing for battle. David s 3 oldest brothers went out to be soldiers in this battle. But not David. You know what his task was? His father sent him out to the battlefield to deliver bread and cheese to his brothers and to bring back news. 1 Samuel 17:17-18 Jesse told David, take these ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp. Also take these ten portions of cheese See how your brothers are and bring back news of them. So David s third job as king was running errands for his dad and delivering snacks to his brothers! Let s review 1 st job as newly anointed king TENDING SHEEP a humble, menial, un-glamorous job. Not exactly appropriate for a king. 2 nd job PERSONAL SERVANT to the foolish, rejected-by-god king. Again, humble, un-glamorous, and un-kingly.
3 rd job DELIVERING SNACKS to your brothers (while the real men are gearing up for battle!) Totally humiliating and definitely not kingly! How would YOU respond in David s circumstances? We ve all had times in life when we ve been overlooked and treated unfairly and passed over. When our potential went unrecognized and our abilities were belittled. Although few of us (I suspect) have had it any worse than David experienced here. Just ask yourself how have I responded in such situations? And then factor in that David has clearly been called and set apart by GOD! Now, if you or I had strongly sensed God calling us to a particular task or role, and then had our circumstances unfold like this I think our tendency would be to say, well that anointing deal (set apart by God, chosen deal) was a nice church thing, but that s obviously not worth much in the real world. We often tend towards losing trust in God when things start to go wrong as in NOT the way we had hoped or expected. Wow, I really thought God had called me to do [whatever], but now THIS happens (or doesn t happen) & I just don t know Beth Moore says: We often want to be called by God, then ushered painlessly into a position of service and honor, miraculously possessing the character our callings require. God doesn t work that way. In fact, He often works the same sequence in us that He s working here in David: He calls us - He prepares us - He uses us ( in some very humble, unglamorous way that s not what we had expected.) Then, He prepares us some more - He uses us some more. As soon as we ve learned one lesson, He brings another. Step by step, bit by bit, working to mold His character in us. I think this is another place where we need to let David teach us how to live a life of worship. Let s take a look at how David responded to all this, not only in his actions, but also in his heart. You see, this is another great advantage in studying David: Not only do we have his actions recorded in Biblical narrative, But we also have his heart responses recorded in his Psalms. David s poetry takes us behind the scenes and gives us glimpses into his inner thoughts and emotions.
And I see David responding to all these adverse circumstances with a humble confidence in God. (Basically, with worship!) For example shepherding. How did David respond to being asked to tend sheep? You know, he could have easily sat out in the field and moped. Here I am, stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with these stinking sheep, wasting my life. But David doesn t see it that way. David sees GOD at work. David worships! And we know that, because David wrote Psalm 23! The LORD is my shepherd! It s like David is saying, God, the more I shepherd these sheep, the more I begin to understand how You are shepherding me. You provide for me, I lack for nothing. You lead me. You restore me. You guide me along the right paths. You calm my fears, You stay near me and protect me and comfort me. You prepare blessings for me until my cup overflows! Psalm 23 (selected) The LORD is my shepherd; I lack for nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures;he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in right paths for His name s sake. I fear no evil, for You are with me;your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life Don t miss this! This is the opposite of sitting out in the field feeling sorry for yourself! David isn t moping and complaining to God - David is amazed by the way God is pursuing him with goodness and mercy every single day of his life! I m not suggesting that he never had moments when he felt discouraged. But David found in his job a place to worship, a place where he could come to know God more intimately. You know, You d think tending sheep would have absolutely nothing to do with becoming a king, but you d be wrong, because the Bible says: Psalm 78:70-72 God chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; From tending sheep He brought him to shepherd His people Israel with skillful hands and integrity of heart.
Keeping a bunch of smelly sheep doesn t sound very spiritual, but God used the skills and integrity David learned there for His eternal purposes. (How might God be using your current job to shape you?) This is something David has to teach us: that ALL of life is worship, even your job, even when your job stinks. And it s not just shepherding Being brought to the royal court as a personal servant might have been demeaning, (especially when you ve already been anointed as king!), but who knows what lessons David learned about the affairs of the kingdom by being there in that role? And his trip to deliver snacks to the battlefield? That turned into an incredible encounter with God that we ll talk about next week. (an encounter that, if David refuses to stoop to delivering snacks, he misses it!) David s experiences are a great illustration of Romans 8:28, which says: Romans 8:28 We know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. This is the confidence that David displayed in God. Through all of this, we don t see him complaining or demanding. (or quitting) David just kept trusting God, humbly doing the work that God put before him. David stayed humble just like the Bible instructs us: 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you at the proper time. That s exactly what David does! He humbly trusts GOD to exalt him, whatever His timing may be. When we approach life like this, even the most mundane tasks can become acts of worship, actions that demonstrate a humble trust in God, who is working all things together for our good. In Psalm chapter 16, David writes:
Psalm 16:2,5,8,11 I said to the LORD, You are my Lord (my Master); Every good thing I have comes from You. LORD, You are my portion, my cup of blessing; You hold my future. David is trusting in GOD. He s not anxious about his future, about the details and the timeframe of how it s all gonna work out! David says: God, YOU hold my future, YOU guard all that is mine! It s all in Your hands! You will make known to me the path of life; I don t have to worry about my present circumstances, or even about the ultimate outcome. I can entrust that to You. You ll make the path known to me. And I don t have to wait for my circumstances to change to find JOY! God - in Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. You see - that s the heart of David. (A heart of humble trust in GOD.) That s the heart of a worshipper. PRAYER: Father, we confess that this is very difficult for us. To set aside the worry & the stress & the weariness, and simply trust in YOU. To entrust our jobs, our families, our futures to YOU. Father, we hear Your Word tell us that You are working all things together for the good of those who love You, whom You have called. And God, that s who we want to be. Help us to look to You to find the path of life. Teach us to experience fullness of joy in YOU, here in Your presence, regardless of our circumstances. Help us to see all of life as worship. And humble us, Father. Teach us to lay aside our pride, and to humble ourselves under Your mighty hand, as an act of profound trust and deep worship.