The Harp & the Field

The Man After God’s Own Heart

1 Samuel 16:6–7 ESV

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

The Field

When people think about the story of David, they immediately think of the time he went and faced off against Goliath. The face-off between this unlikely pair would be retold to future generations as perhaps the best underdog story of all time! When a young man not even 18 years of age slayed a giant with a sling and a stone. How epic this story is by its accuracy, heroism, and grand display of faith! If you were to ask someone what their favorite story of David is in the Bible. Most people would undoubtedly say it was when David famously slayed Goliath, but I would disagree. I think the best part of the story starts in a field where he tends his father’s sheep.

A Valiant Warrior and A Skilled Musician

David was known as a valiant warrior and a skilled musician. It is puzzling to conceptualize why David was left in the field tending sheep.

David was prudent in speech.

David could play the Lyre skillfully.

David was a valiant warrior.

1 Samuel 16:17–19 ESV

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, 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.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

The Lyre

The lyre is a six to eight-stringed instrument used in celebrations, worship, and prophecy. It is often mentioned with the 10-stringed harp found in (1 Kgs 10:12; 2 Chr 29:25).

The word kinnôr (‘lyre’) occurs some 42 times in MT.

According to the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, the lyre appears to be credited in the tradition with the ability to enable communication between the spiritual and natural worlds.

There are two passages of scripture with David playing the Lyre.

1 Samuel 16:16 ESV

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.”

1 Samuel 16:23 ESV

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.

The Lyre in the Psalms

Psalm 33:2 ESV

2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

Psalm 43:4 ESV

4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 71:22 ESV

22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 144:9 ESV

9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,

Psalm 147:7 ESV

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!

Leading Up to the Field

Hannah is barren and is weeping in anguish before God in the temple.

Eli is a priest and blesses Hannah to receive her request to God to have a child.

She get pregnant and give birth to Samuel who becomes a prophet.

Eli’s two sons are perverse, immoral, ungodly drunkards who recieve the wrate of God

1 Samuel 2:34–35 ESV

34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

Hophni and Phineas

Eli’s two son’s

1 Samuel 4:4 ESV

4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

The Ark Was Taken

1 Samuel 4:17–18 ESV

17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

The philistines steal the ark, and they were afflicted with tumors.

The statue of their god Dagon falls supernaturally, and its head and hands break into pieces.

The philistines bring back the ark of God because they couldn’t withstand the glory and splendor of God.

And after all of this, the people of Israel asks for a king to be like all of the other nations.

1 Samuel 8:22 ESV

22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

I Will Be There Howsoever I Will Be There.

Exodus 3:14 ESV

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

I AM WHO I AM (Ehyer-Asher-Ehyer) - I will be there howsoever I will be there.

Saul’s Rejection

God gives the people a king because they want a king.

1 Samuel 15:10–11 ESV

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.

In Sin Did My Mother Conceive Me

Some scholar’s believe that David was a bi-product of adultery.

Psalm 51:5 ESV

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Explain the purpose of the field.

God’s Anointed

Do justice & righteousness

The anointing is an act pouring oil over someone as a symbol of God’s Spirit empowering and commissioning them for a specific role or task. It is significant of being marked by God for His own purposes.

1 Samuel 16:13 ESV

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

The Difference Between the Sacred and the Common

2 Samuel 6:2–5 ESV

2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark. 5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

David Dances

2 Samuel 6:12–14 ESV

12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.