Last week we saw how God looks
totally different than us. He looks at the heart, a willingness to
serve Him and to follow Him wholeheartedly!
Samuel anointed David in front of
his brothers and the Word clearly states that:
"…the Spirit of the Lord came
upon David from that day forward." 1 Samuel 16:13
And the very next verse the
opposite was displayed:
"But the Spirit of the Lord
departed from Saul and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled
him." 1 Samuel 16:14
God came upon David and left Saul.
Fortunately this cannot happen to us today, as His Holy Spirit has
come mightily to this earth and into our hearts to stay. But here
in the Old Testament, God placed His Spirit upon His leaders, and
in His eyes David was the leader now.
This happened instantaneously as
David was anointed. Then Saul's servants (I believe by the hand of
the Lord) suggested that Saul get someone to play harp for him in
order to calm him down and have the distressing spirit depart. And
of course they suggested that he gets David to play the harp for
him. David came and the Bible tells us that Saul loved him greatly
and that when David played the harp:
"And so it was, whenever the
spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and
play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well,
and the distressing spirit would depart from him." 1 Samuel
16:23
God used David to help Saul, even
though Saul didn't truly have a heart for God. And how wonderful
that God brought David right into the throne room of the King. And
from there he could learn all the ways of a king. He could learn
how the household works, how the army functioned, how the king
conducts himself, how to run a kingdom. He could learn all of that
whilst he was still too young to be king himself. God opened the
way for him.
Today also God prepares us for what
lies ahead. Sometimes we wonder how on earth is what I am doing now
going to help me later? But when we walk on the pathway God
ordained for us, everything will work out for our good. All the
experience that we obtain will help us later in our lives. It will
assist us to be better than what we would have been if we had
rushed into things.
I can't help but wonder what went
on inside of David's head. He was anointed to be king and yet he
didn't know when or how that was going to happen. And suddenly he
is summoned to play harp for the king. I really wonder what he must
have thought. But what I can gather from the Word, his actions were
exemplary. Even though he was not yet king as he was anointed to
be, he did his work, playing the harp, to the best of his ability.
He didn't question God, but performed the task at hand to his
utmost best.
We can learn from that. We don't
know the future and what lies ahead, but we can do the best we can
right there where we are now, trusting that God knows best. We must
trust His timing. He will lead and guide us to where we need to be.
And then we can use the experience we obtained whilst in the
'waiting room'. Do your best where you are, do not be grumpy,
complaining to God. Rather accept your circumstances, with your
hope focused on God, doing your best and listening to Him for
guidance. Then you cannot go wrong and your experience gained will
stand you in good stead in the end.
Father we love Your plan for our
lives. We want to hear Your voice loud and clear as to the way
forward. Please lead us with Your divine guidance. We know that You
know best. Thank you for the opportunity to gain experience, we
will do our best. Amen