Becoming An Armor-Bearer

I. An Armorbearer Must Have a Servant’s Heart – (1 Sam. 16:21)

·         “And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.”

 A. David served Saul as an Armorbearer    

  1. An armorbearer serves out of  “relationship”. (v. 21b)

   a. Note: David “loved” Saul. 

   a. He could have been content to stay with his sheep, but his anointing wouldn’t allow it. It had to have a proper avenue in which to flow. (Aaron to Moses, Elisha to Elijah)

·         “Rogue elephants ….doing their own thing; not standing in relationship that is “natural” to them.

·         Tony Miller – “Anointing flows out of relationship.”   Journey to Significance

·         Tony Miller excerpt. – p. 61

   b. As a “servant”, it doesn’t mean that you’ll always agree with everything the one above you does (whether it’s the methods or means).

    1. But it does speak of the attitude in which one serves another.

  2. An armorbearer stands ready for service. (v. 21a)

·         This is the posture of the hosts of heaven: standing ready for service!

   a. If we would busy ourselves with service as armorbearers, we wouldn’t be so caught up in our own problems.

   b. The armorbearer’s attention is not upon “SELF”. His gaze is always upon another.

II. Sometimes Precedes the King - 1 Sam. 17:7, 41

 A. Goliath’s precedes him     

·         And the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. (v.17)

·         And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield [went] before him. (v.41)

  1. Note: John the Baptist – He was one that was “preparing the way for the Lord”

·         Mal. 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall  prepare   the   way before me:…”

·         Daily Bible reading - Matt 3:1-3 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, (2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (3) For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

  2. New appointees for the Women’s Ministries – encircled them and became a hedge about them; going before them (spiritually).

III. An Armorbearer Must Be a Man of Courage  - 1 Sam. 14:7, 12

 A. Jonathan’s Armorbearer

·         (7) So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” (no backups, Israel had no weapons, there were no blacksmiths in the land that day [13:19])

·         (11) So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” (12) Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.”
Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”                                                                                     NKJV

IV. An Armorbearer Must Be Willing to Pay the Price - 1 Sam. 31:3–6

 A. Saul’s Dies with Him     

·         3-4 The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly. Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me."

·         4-6 But his weapon bearer wouldn't do it. He was terrified. So Saul took the sword himself and fell on it. When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer—the men closest to him—died together that day.                      The Message