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David Part 3 - The Problem with Success - 1 Samuel Chapter 18 to 1 Samuel Chapter 24


David was chosen by God as the next king of Israel.  He had been anointed by Samuel.  He had just saved the Hebrew people from the Philistines by killing Goliath. (After that victory, I’m sure he would have been going to Disney World if it had been around back then).  It was pretty safe to say that David was on the fast track to success.  However, like so many people, David was about to experience one of the major problems with early success.....Jealousy from people around him.  The major problem in David’s case, is that the sitting king of Israel, Saul, was the person who was after him.  From the time that David killed Goliath until the death of Saul, David would learn how to be a leader through the school of hard knocks.

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t assume that everyone goes about things the same way you do.  David was a hard worker who was doing his best to follow the will of God.  Unfortunately he was working for a jealous, insecure, King, who was constantly trying to have him killed.

Saul made David the commander of a large number of men, not because he valued him, but because he wanted him to get killed in battle

Saul challenged David to bring him the foreskins (yikes) of 100 Philistines in order to win the right to marry the king’s daughter, Mikal.  Not because he loved his daughter, but because he thought that David would get killed while trying. (By the way, David brought twice as many than he was asked for)
 
The only reason that Saul was willing to give his daughter to David in the first place was because he hoped that she would distract his attention and it would be easier for him to get killed in battle.

However, with all of these cards stacked against him, David continued to work hard and accomplish his goals, the right way.  In the process, David learned how to command large numbers of men, and become an effective leader.  The people saw him as a hero and he became very popular. This all made Saul even more insane with jealousy and rage.

2. Build close friendships with people you can trust.  There were two relationships that David would truly have been lost without.  Jonathan and Mikal....The interesting thing is that both of them were the children of Saul.

Jonathan was instrumental in helping David understand what Saul was about to do.  He advocated for David as long as he could with his father, and then when the time came, and David had to leave, Jonathan kept him informed of what was going on.

Mikal was Saul’s daughter..She warned David when Saul had plans of sneaking into his house and having David killed.  This allowed David to escape into exile, until the time was right.
David was forced to leave Jerusalem, but if it wasn’t for his two trusted friends, he would have been killed before he ever became king.  During his time of exile David continued to learn lessons that would serve him later.

3. Don’t let your current situation dictate who you are.  David was on a roller coaster ride through this part of his life...He had been a quite shepherd, musician to a king, Savior of the Hebrew people, Mighty warrior for the king’s army....and then....lonely exile who was trying to survive while being hunted by a mad man.  Through all of this, David kept his wits and did not let this shake his faith or his confidence.  In fact, as people learned where David was hiding, they came to him and joined in his cause...

4. Take responsibility for your actions, even if no harm was intended.  David had stopped in Nob shortly after fleeing Jerusalem.  Ahimelek, the priest gave David and his men consecrated bread to eat, and the sword of Goliath as a weapon.  One of Saul’s servants witnessed this event, and David knew this.  When the servant told Saul about the priest, Saul went to Nob, a city of priests, and had everyone killed, including women and children...One man escaped, Abiathar, and found David.  When David heard the news, he took full responsibility for the deaths of the people, and took Abiathar into his group.  When David stopped in Nob, he had not wanted to bring trouble to the place, he even told the priest that he was on a secret mission for the king, but when bad things came of it, he was the one who took the blame.

5. Understand that God has a plan, and DON’T RUSH HIS PLAN.  The last point today revolves around one of the main differences between David and Saul, and why God chose the one he did.  The reason that Saul had lost God’s favor, was that he didn’t follow the plan, in fact, he disobeyed a direct order.  By taking things in his own hands, Saul lost everything.  David also had an opportunity to take matters into his own hands....Saul had been tormenting and harassing David all across the countryside.  One day, Saul went into a cave, to relieve himself.  David and his men were hidden in the same cave in the back....It would have been very easy for David to have killed Saul, right there.  In fact, he was able to sneak up and cut a piece of Saul’s robe off.  Even though David knew he was destined to be king, he was not going to take the life of the current king to get there.  He was willing to let God decide when the time was right, and for that, he would later be rewarded.

While there are some events that I think I will still cover in David’s journey to be king, I think that is enough for now.  The big take-away that I have through this part of David’s story is the amazing confidence that David had in the Lord’s promises.  Think about it.  How easy would it be to think that the Lord had forgotten him, or had changed his mind.  From hero of Jerusalem, to public enemy #1 of the king....Yet through the entire process, David continued to do things the way he thought was right, He created close relationships with people and trusted them to help, He didn’t let his current situation dictate how he felt about himself or his ability, he took responsibility for his actions, and he was willing to follow God’s plan on God’s time.  I am amazed at David’s ability to stay the course and continue on the right path....I know at times, that doubt about my own ability and future creep up on me when even the slightest things go wrong.  I pray that when I begin to feel that way next time, I will remember this part of David’s story draw strength from his experience.

David Part 2

God sent an evil spirit to torment Saul. People in Saul's court knew of David's musical ability and suggested that he play for Saul to calm his demons. This gave David access to Saul's court early on.

The next part of the time line talks about the famous "David and Goliath" story. While most people know the basic story, I think there are leadership lessons that can be learned from David.

1. "Understand your identity" - the Israelite army forgot who they were. These were God's people, and they were cowering because they were afraid of one man. While Goliath was huge, he was still only one man.

2. "Age does not necessarily mean wisdom". It took David, a 15yr old boy, to point out the problem with the situation. The king of God's people did not even have the wisdom to know that God would be with them.

3. "Pull from your past experience to build confidence". David had killed a bear and a lion while guarding his flock. David reasoned that if God was with him in that situation, he would be with him here. David went into the battle, knowing he had been successful in the past in beating larger foes.

4. "Be yourself". Saul tried to give David his sword and his armor to take into battle. David knew right away that he would be unable to fight in this bulky attire. He reasoned that he didn't need all of that to kill the bear and the lion, so why would he need it now. So often as leaders progress, they begin to act how others think they should. How often, have you seen someone get a position of power, and begin to act differently than they did before the power was theirs? Is it any wonder that they struggle?

5. " Don't be intimidated". David was facing a proven warrior who towered over the tallest men. The entire weight of the Israelite army was on David's shoulders. Additionally, he had Goliath talking trash to him before they got started. David realized that none of that impacted his performance, unless he let it. Delivering our best performance is totally up to us, yet how often do we let things around us impact the outcome.

6. "Trust in God". In this case, David trusted God with a big decision, but the size of the decision should not impact the level that we rely on God. We all need to practice leaning on God in small decisions. As we build trust in the small decisions, the large ones will just seem natural.

7. "Don't let your success go to you head". After David killed Goliath, he carried his head around with him throughout the day. As I read the scripture, it almost seemed like it was his trophy. Yet even with his recent victory, and the fact that he had been playing music for Saul, the king still did not know him by name. No matter how big our victory, we still need to remain humble.

In all of our lives we face a Goliath that is keeping us from reaching our goals. Do we attack the situation with the confidence that God is with us and has prepared us to face what he has put in our path? Or do we marvel at the size of our enemy as we cower and wait for someone else to step up and save the day?

Study of David Part 1

The last couple of weeks at my Men's Bible Study we covered the life of David. David was known as a man after God's own heart. The good news is that we can learn a lot from David without being intimidated.

The first thing that stands out is that God was the one who chose David to be king. The people had chosen Saul. The stark contrast was that the people chose Saul for all of the outward reasons. He was tall, strong, handsome, superficially the best choice. When God sent Samuel to choose his next king, David wasn't even in the building! He was out tending sheep. He was the youngest and least significant of his brothers. God has a habit of choosing the least among us to deliver his will.

I have often wondered what David did when he was by himself, in the wildness, watching the flock. We know that he learned how to defend himself and his flock, because he references killing a bear and a lion before his battle with Goliath. We also know he was quite a musician, since he was later asked to calm king Saul down by playing to him, not to mention all of the psalms he later wrote, which were originally sung, not read. But is this also where he grew close to God? From what I understand, tending a flock is very lonely work, Perhaps David spent a lot of his time praying and growing close to God.

I think the lesson I choose to take away from this is that the best way to get to know someone is to spend quality "alone time" with them. Maybe one of the reasons that God favored David is because David took the time to let God know his heart. David was by no means perfect, far from it, but because God knew who David was, he knew that the mistakes did not necessarily define the man. The key is what happens after the mistakes are made. The question I constantly ask myself is: "Do I spend enough quality alone time with God?"

It is comforting to know that trying to be perfect is not what God is looking for. Being Thankful, Humble, Loving, Caring, Believing, and Repenting are the qualities that God rewards.