1 Samuel 16:16,19

“Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp…he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well….So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, ’Send me your son David who is with the flock.’”

1 Samuel 16:16,19

God prepares us for His calling in our lives but we are often unaware of what He’s doing.

David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel. But as far as we know, he had never even seen a king, let alone have any idea what the job entailed. David was no polished courtier, no battle-scarred warrior; he was a shepherd, a country bumpkin. Yet, God’s call would eventually come to fruition and David would be required to take his place as king. How would he learn the ways (both positive and negative) of the king’s court? How was he supposed to gain battle experience? After all, being a warrior-king is definitely not something you want to learn on the job! Anyone taking up that task without experience would have a very short life-expectancy.

Obviously, God had anticipated this difficulty and had made provision for David’s training. But this provision came from a most unexpected direction – from Saul himself. As a result of his desertion by the Holy Spirit, King Saul was in a very agitated mental condition. The text says that “…an evil spirit from the Lord seized him.” (v. 14) Saul’s advisors counseled him that music would calm his mind, and suggested that he find someone to play the harp for him. Providentially, David’s name came up as one who was “…a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.” (Here again is evidence of the anointing of the Spirit on David’s life, for by the Spirit’s working, this shepherd boy had been transformed! The explanation is found in the last phrase, “the Lord is with him.”)

Yes, Saul’s affliction was the result of his disobedience, a punishment sent by God. (See 16:14) But God works on many levels simultaneously. What appeared to be a personal calamity for Saul was used by God to bring about good for David. (Rom. 8:28) So, while Saul’s torment may have been the primary event, his affliction also resulted in David’s initial training in the ways of both the court and the battlefield. Neither Saul nor David intended it to be so, but God did. (And we must not miss the rich irony of God using Saul to train his own successor.) It was inconceivable for God to issue the call and then fail to prepare and equip David.

But here is the key: David did not expect this opportunity to open for him. Nor, once it opened, did he know where it would lead. He was living his life one day at a time, as we do, and God unexpectedly opened this door of opportunity. Because of the anointing he had received, David did have the advantage of knowing what God intended for him to do in the future – an insight most of us do not have. Yet he did not know how it would come to pass. Understand: through David’s duties as a shepherd, his battles with lions (and, later, with a giant), his playing the harp for Saul and his service as the king’s armor bearer, God was quietly, unobtrusively, surprisingly at work, preparing David for His calling. And I believe that David intuitively grasped something of this. Because although he lived a double life for some time, alternating between the prominance of being the king's armor bearer and the humiliation of working as a lowly shepherd (See 1 Sam. 17:15), David continued to serve faithfully in both capacities.

This appears to be God’s standing rule: before anyone is placed by God in a position of responsibility or leadership, they are prepared and equipped for the task. This is especially true of those who are called to lead God’s people. The preparation is not always “formal,” it often takes the form of life experience – often lengthy and painful experience. This was true for Joseph, Moses, Joshua and David. It was true for Paul and the other Apostles and for Jesus Himself. And, since God has a calling for all of His people, it is true for you. Those who are being prepared often do not see their circumstances as preparative, and can tend to complain under the load of trials and sufferings and loneliness. But allow me encourage you to learn the principle from David’s life and apply it to your own: what may now appear as difficult, inconvenient or even painful is preparing you for greater usefulness in Christ’s Kingdom and for everlasting glory to come. (Rom. 8:18)