The Story, Chapter 11 "From Shepherd to King"

"From Shepherd to King"

Written by Pastor Tom Vandeberg

This lesson of The Story looks at the life of David … a common shepherd boy who became King of the nation of Israel.  We might think of him as some kind of spiritual Superman in a world without a trace of kryptonite, but David didn’t have any superhuman qualities. That’s not how God selects people. God’s method of choosing leaders runs contrary to human reason.
 
God told Samuel to go to the home of Jesse of Bethlehem because one of His sons would be chosen to be the new king. Jesse had many sons and God rejected them all. So, Samuel asked Jesse if there were any more, and Jesse sent for his youngest who was out with the sheep. As soon as Samuel saw David, God told Samuel, “Rise up and anoint him; this is the one."
 
So right off the bat, we learn this from David’s story: God looks at your heart. God must have been watching David even at this young age and knew the type of person he was - not just on the outside but also in the inside.  People might have looked at David’s brothers and picked them before picking David. But you see, There's a quote from George Herbert that says, "God sees hearts as we see faces." God knows our motives. He sees our actions, He hears our thoughts.  People think they can fool God.  That doesn’t work.  God sees right through our excuses and motives. God sees right through our hypocrisy and knows our heart.  We can’t hide from God. We cannot fool God.  That is a deadly game. So we must ask ourselves, "Is my heart the kind of heart that God is looking for?"
                       
The second thing we learn from David is to keep your eyes on God. When David stood up to the giant Philistine, Goliath, he said this, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel."
 
And that is exactly what he did. Who do you think was on the throne of David’s heart as he was approaching Goliath?  Was it David or God?  So often we are focused on OUR problems, OUR challenges and OUR situations. We forget that we serve a God who specializes in the impossible. God can use the challenges in our life. He wants us to draw closer to Him and overcome when those things happen.
 
Which leads us back into The Story. King Saul eventually became insanely jealous of David and threatened his life, so David had to flee into the wilderness. In the wilderness, God did some of His deepest work in David. It was in the wilderness that David was at his best. In the wilderness, God was on the throne of David’s life. In the wilderness, David met with God. In the wilderness, David wrote many of the Psalms, spoke to God, and learned. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we must look to God and ask, “What can I learn in this place?”  We need to avoid the natural reaction of running away.  We have to learn as David did, that God does some of His best work in us when we are in the desert.
 
The third thing we learn from David: Live for God with everything you’ve got. David got a group together to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. And when it was coming, he began to celebrate and was swept into worship. With all his might, he began to dance to express his praise and thanks to God.  Right in the middle of the celebration, the Bible mentions that he’s wearing a linen ephod ... really nothing more than his underwear. The Bible mentions this, I think, because it shows us that David was worshiping God with total abandon; with complete disregard about how he looked or what others might think. How freeing is that?  To be so lost in God’s glory that you could care less how your voice sounds or how the person next to you sounds or whether people point at you when you pray or read your Bible in public! Who do you think was on the throne of David’s heart as he was dancing before God?  Was it David or God?
 
Lastly, show others grace as God has showed grace to you. After he was made king, David asked if there were any members of Saul's family left that he could show grace to. There was one, a crippled grandson named Mephibosheth, and he was brought before David. What do you think was going through Mephibosheth’s mind?  He knew that his grandfather tried to kill David. And the words David spoke probably shocked him and many of those gathered.  David said, “Don’t be afraid.”  David extended grace and gave gifts to this man. David even went so far as to invite Mephibosheth to eat at the royal table for the rest of his life! He didn’t just spare Mephibosheth's life, he gave him life. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus does for you and me?  You and I are disabled because of sin, banished, deserving of death. And yet, Jesus comes to us and says,
"I extend to you my mercy and kindness. Come and share in my wealth. Come into my kingdom and sit at my table."
 
God was clearly on the throne and ruling David’s life. The heart of God can beat within us, too. When God is on the throne of our heart, we can extend compassion, grace and generous kindness. Who in your life does not deserve mercy but needs it?  What can you do to show that God is on the throne of your life?