The Boy King: The humble leader waits (Devotion 3 of 5)
Humility is an interesting thing, as soon as you think, I've arrived at this humility thing, you have just lost all humility. God can teach us things by humbling us and he wants to use humble servants. Obviously, David was just such a young man by what we read about his life after his anointing. We all like to think we don't have problems with pride, but as soon as we end up in a situation where someone is looking down on us or assuming we are ignorant because of a seemingly mindless job we may be working at, we instantly swell up with indignation and think, "Who do they think they are talking too?".
In this devotion, we get to see what true humility looks like. In I Samuel 16: 12-13 we read the iconic scene of David walking in from the fields, probably smelly, and being anointed in front of his family as future king. The only information we are given is, "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah."
So what did David do? We will see in the verses to follow he goes back to shepherding, but he also gets an interesting call to be the musician to come and minister to King Saul. As David walked back to the sheep that day, I wonder what he must have thought about, but ultimately, I believe he was praising God. He knew he could trust the good shepherd and wait on the next steps to unfold. Many of us would have been singing, "I just can't wait to be king!!!" and imagining life behind palace walls. David was waiting on the Lord. It is no wonder he wrote those very words multiple times in the Psalms.
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.
The anointing of David came with the anointing of the Spirit of God. We live in the age of grace, so we can't comprehend a world where the Spirit of God only rested on certain individuals, but before the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit's arrival, that is what happened. So as soon as the Spirit rested on David, Saul was left without the Spirit of God and was open to being tormented by an evil spirit. (Read about this in 1 Samuel 16:14-21 ).
Saul was so miserable that the servants in his courts were desperate for help and suggested he find peace in music. "17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him. 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” 20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him”
So imagine young David, just been anointed king a short time prior, has no clue how God is going to move him to the palace and he gets this summons from the current King! I don't know about you, but I would have been thinking, "Ok, this is it, I am moving into the palace, the king is going to love me and eventually name me the son he always wanted and pass the crown to ME!" WRONG!
Notice how David was still tending the flocks, He also came humbly with gifts to honor the current king and he did as requested. He is never found jumping at the chance to try on the crown, sit on the throne, look around and think, "This is all mine baby!" No he just did the next right thing God led him to do.
These scriptures are sometimes overlooked because they are wedged between the anointing and the Goliath, but there is so much to be learned form these few verses and they tell a HUGE story about who David was and how he truly was a humble man after God's own heart. It is easy to see a glimpse of Jesus in these verses. Jesus came to earth, the world he created, as a humble servant. He never ran ahead of what he was here to do. He always served, loved, and preached the truth, ultimately dying for His creation.
As you reflect on your life and where God has you, are you fighting the season you are in or are you asking God to make you more like him while you are there? Are you humbly serving others in a place that seems to be the least important position you could be in right now? Remember, man looks on the outside, but God sees the hearts. God has you where you are supposed to be, He is teaching you, molding you, using you to reach others. Just ask Him every single day to see what He wants you to see and love like He wants you to love and even what seems like a humiliating position, will soon be seen as exactly where God wants you.
I will end with a little honest information about myself. When both of my children went to school I wanted to find an easy, flexible job to work during their school hours. I looked at many of the obvious places most moms would look, but at that time finding places that needed to hire was a tough situation. Finally, one day someone said, "The parts store is hiring delivery drivers". I was slightly insulted. "A parts store?" I am a lady who hated even the smell of a parts store, I have talent, I am educated, why would I be a delivery girl at a parts store?
Well, I took the job because it paid more than minimum wage, was super flexible and it was nice to drive around most of the day, listening to the radio. During the time I worked as a parts lady, I was humbled over and over again. I knew absolutely nothing about car parts, my husband handled that department and I could have cared less. So you can imagine how I felt like an absolute fool many days when I wasn't out driving and actually had to help customers. In my time there I learned many things. Several of them I will write about later, but one huge lesson: It is not all about me! While it was easy to think God was using that time to grow me, which he was, it was more important that I had many opportunities to befriend, encourage, and point others to Jesus. People I would have otherwise never have known. David willingly humbled himself to serve King Saul, even though he knew he was destined for more.
-Melissa Pyle
*join me soon for devotion 4: If the armor fits
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