Young David's Formation

Introduction

Tomorrow we celebrate Labor Day in America. Since I grew up in this great state I always thought Labor Day was a celebration of all the various ways that people live out the Eden Mandate - to be fruitful and reign over raw materials.

It wasn’t until I moved to Wisconsin that I learned Labor Day was not about all workers, but about the power of organized unions of workers. The older I get, the more I see pursuit of power as ingrained into human struggles and institutions.

We saw last Sunday that Saul forfeited the kingdom because he forgot the role of God and began to exalt his own political power and opinions over the revealed will of God. Today we begin an introduction to a young man who early in life became familiar with God’s power and lived an imperfect life that returned often to the confession that God’s power is essential to a godly human life.

TRANSITION: Since today’s text are frequently the theme of children’s stories, songs and Sunday School lessons, I won’t retell the familiar plot, but rather focus on 3 indications that God’s power dominated young David.

God Displays Power when Oil was Poured (16:13)

1 Samuel 16:13 ESV:2016

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.

Spirit equals power

Contrary to the teaching of some of our Pentecostal brothers and sisters, the gift of the Spirit is not primarily identified by unexplainable signs.

The anointing/baptism/filling by God’s Precious Spirit is to enable service.

The presence of the Spirit of the Lord described in v.13 is not to make David impressive to others, it is to make David useful for God’s purposes.

In my life I have personally met 2 different competitive body-builders. These 2 were very different than those who do weight training for athletics or develop muscles on the farm. My 2 friends specialized in the demonstration of their muscles, athletes and farmhands specialize in the function of their muscles. Likewise, the Gift of God’s Spirit is not for show, but for go!

Anointing is a Sovereign Gift

1. God chose David from a back pasture. On Pentecost God chose to give the indwelling of the Spirit to disciples gathered in an upper room.

God’s power is not something we deserve.

God’s power is not something we earn

God’s power is not something we can purchase

2. David would later describe shepherdly anointing in Ps. 23:5

a. While there may/may not be a chronological aspect to David’s Psalm, there is clearly an order that these dimensions of the sheep/shepherd relationship. b. The anointing of the head FOLLOWS God’s leadership, experiences in the shadow of death, correction and comfort from the rod and staff, feeding in the pastures, still waters and banquet feast. c. The anointing of sheep was a therapy and a provision. Scratches that the sheep received from briars throughout grazing would receive the balm of healing. The tactile wool would be lubricated in order to provide a way of escape in tight situations. Illustration

3. Likewise, priestly and kingly anointing were symbols of forgiveness of the past, and provision for the future. We also see this in the Christian rite of baptism (whether the Spirit’s baptism in Acts 2 or water baptism throughout the New Testament epistles which is a picture of what the Spirit does at conversion). All look back AND forward and all are unearned, kind gifts from a Sovereign God.

Anointing was not for David’s happiness, but for God’s purpose

“a man after God’s heart” (back in 13:14) indicates and alignment with God’s purposes.

I have some dear friends who wear their spiritual experiences as if they are a privileged uniform—"I am a FULL-gospel believer because I speak in tongues”. Implying that those with other gifts are partial gospel.

I can believe ALL that the Bible describes (and thus be “full Gospel”) without experience all that the Bible describes. I have never been told to build an ark or expeienced 40 days of flooding (although I wouldn’t be mad at 4-5 days of rain about now). I never saw walls collapse because of marching soldiers, I never possessed the strength to push over pillars supporting a castle. I’ve never taken a sling into battle. I’ve never spent a night with lions or in a smelting furnace. I’ve never conceived as a virgin or walked on water.

3. Samuel never specifies how he knew what was true about David from that day forward that was not true before the oil was poured.

4. Saul was a man who let his anointing go to his head. David was a man who allowed his anointing to empower his hands.

Transition: Speaking of empowered hands, our next depiction of God’s power is seen in David’s hands on a musical instrument.

God Displays Power in the Presence of Praise (16:16)

1 Samuel 16:16 ESV:2016

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.”

Does God send demons to people?

1. Harmful spirit from God is a phrase that may cause you to ask “Did I just read what I thought I read?”

2. This is a word that appears 375x in the Hebrew Scriptures and can mean anything from breeze, breath, wind, spirit, sense, mind, intellectual frame of mind.

I know that LMI has a shipping department and I know that most ranchers ship cattle. But to the best of my knowledge a large, ocean-going boat has never been seen in Chase County. Just as ship has a range of meanings in English, ruah has a range of meanings in the dictionary that Samuel used to record this event.

3. It would be wrong for you to willy-nilly attach the idea of a large boat to the next time you hear a rancher ship cattle, and it would be wrong for us to attach the meaning of demons to this phrase in this verse.

4. This idea is behind the worship song that we sing, “It’s Your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you.” The breath in our lungs is not the Spirit in our souls that puts us in a frame of mind to pour out praise.

5. I believe this is not a description of demons, but of clinical depression., which is very different than just having a bad day.

6. If we forget that it is God who waters the earth, He may just send draught to focus our attention and direct our awareness. Similarly, God used depression to put Saul in a position where he needed outside help.

David played a Lyre (vv. 18,23)

The lyre was ancient Israel’s version of the acoustic guitar that cowboys may play around the campfire.

While David wrote songs with lyrics (many are recorded in our book of Psalms), this specifically mentions the Lord being with him as he played it with his hand.

I have seen enough westerns to be able to picture Native Americans using gestures to tell a story. I’ve even taken some classes in ASL and can order a glass of water from my deaf friend who works at Pizza Hut. I’ve seen enough war movies to know that a squad leader can silently describe a situation and communicate a plan of assoult. But having played the trumpet with my lips since I was 10 years old, I know that if my mouth is playing an instrument, then it can’t be singing lyrics. And if David is playing a lyre with his hands, he is not using those same hands to tell a story.

3. This is a long way of saying that even though lyrics are 80-90% of what makes a song today appropriate for worship, this story does not mention lyrics AT ALL in being used by David to counter Saul’s depression.

God’s power somehow worked through the very presence of David having a mind focused on God as he played his lyre. (v.23c)

Sometimes you can be used by God in a situation where it is not your words that are communicating, but your love.

Love is not a SUBSTITUTE for words, because love never communicates the full necessary story. But silent actions or presence can sometimes communicate more than a long speech!

I have experienced this very thing from many of you this very week. The presence of this plant is a silent reminder of all your prayers and concern for Ann during her recuperation from surgery. Additionally, gifts of soup, sandwiches, cookies, and casserole have silently reminded of the comfort that comes from a shared confidence in God’s power.

Transition: God’s power was demonstrated not only through oil and music, but also through conflict. In chapter 17...

God Displays Power that Prevails (17:50)

1 Samuel 17:50 ESV:2016

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

Power over fierce predators (17:36)

David did not suddenly discover confidence in God when Goliath taunted his brothers. He learned it serving his father.

Samuel doesn’t give us the details of the lion or bear incidents (I’m just glad there wasn’t a tiger, oh my). Because the details are not important.

The experiences had accomplished two of God’s purposes. 1) David was protected so that God could use Him in this and subsequent situations. And 2) David was prepared to rely upon God’s Power for whatever befell him.

While the lion and the bear were in search of prey, God was doing an act of preparation. No matter how big and strong Goliath was, I don’t think he presented any more of a threat to David than he had already faced in 34-37.

Notice the offensive posture of David’s conflicts. The beasts had already taken from the flock and gone off to eat when David hunted them down. The Philistines (and Goliath) had already declared dominance over the Israelites, when David responds in faith.

David isn’t spouting off from his recliner or his man cave, He pursues those who threaten the ones he has been appointed to protect.

David took the fight to those who thought they had already won. When Jesus was taken off that cross and laid in that borrowed tomb, Satan thought he had already won the battle. THEN on Easter morning, Jesus proclaimed liberty over the captives and reversed all of the presuppositions of history.

The enemy of your soul may already be taunting you will defeat, but remember, God’s power prevails even when the predators think they have won.

Power over godless Philistines (17:51)

David had been prepared for this moment, just as Esther will have a “stand or fall” moment some 500 years later.

This display is not of a great man with faith, nor of a man with great faith, BUT of a man with faith in a GREAT God!

One of the popular take-aways from this story is that you can conquer whatever challenges you may encounter in life. To some, this is a confidence builder to shrink the perception of your obstacles.

I believe this story is more about God’s purposes than your obstacles. Neither David’s size, Goliath’s size, nor the size of David’s confidence are the issue. The point to take away is that Saul ignored God and had the kingdom torn out of his hands; but David aligned with God and experience God’s fullest blessing.

Conclusion

Would you drink what is in this jar? The quality of the jar or the appearance of the liquid may not answer that question for you. If you saw me sitting under a shade tree drinking from a mason jar about 3:00 this afternoon, you might want a drink yourself. If I were a toothless hillbilly with my overall only stapped on one side and I were drinking from a mason jar in a darkened alley, you might have a very different opinion.

Neither the cleanliness of the jar or the clarity of the liquid provide you enough information to answer that question.

But if you had tasted cool water on several afternoons from my mason jar, you would have confidence to stop by on your way through town.

David had “tasted” God’s power when the oil poured, when the music played, and when the predators threatened, so he was not surprised in the least when God’s power felled a giant and routed the Philistines.

The power that you long for is not found in a labor union, a political party, or a self-help book. We need God’s power to participate in God’s purposes.

Song of Response #255 “Greater is He That Is in Me”

Benediction: