David in the Doldrums (1 Samuel)

The eighth son of Jesse, David's prospects were small. When Samuel came in secret to anoint the next king of Israel from Jesse's family, David wasn’t even brought inside to meet the famous priest; he was left outdoors, tending to the sheep.

Jesse's oldest son, Eliab, was brought before Samuel, who thought for sure he was the king God had chosen. After all, he was the first-born, nice looking, and tall of stature. 

But God had other ideas. “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature," he said, "because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

One by one the sons were brought to Samuel, but the Lord rejected them all.  Asked if he had any additional sons, Jesse responded in tones which would have sounded like this: “Well, there’s the runt of the litter; he’s out doing chores.” Like Cinderella, he wasn’t invited to the party. 

But David was God’s man to lead Israel, and he showed it right away. In fact, as it turned out, his outdoor experience herding sheep served him well, both in his skill with a slingshot and his ability to live on the run (which he did for much of the rest of 1 Samuel). 

Life is often like that. The most mundane moments of our lives often turn out to be the most valuable to our future. We think we are wasting time, but it fact, we are being prepared for the future God has for us.

I experienced this in my own life. During the first several years of our church I was a bi-vocational pastor. To support our ministry, I spent most of my days cleaning pools. Sometimes, to be perfectly honest, I wondered if I’d have to do it the rest of my life! 

Certainly, cleaning pools is an honorable occupation. But in my case, having spent my entire adult life as a full-time pastor, it was often difficult to feel fulfilled while fishing mice from a skimmer basket. 

And yet, not only did pool cleaning give me the opportunity to do ministry while paying our bills, it also gave me the chance to know what it’s like to have a “normal” job – something I’d never done before. For a lifelong full-time pastor, this gave me a great appreciation for the manual work that many people do to make a living.

It also gave me the opportunity to listen to hundreds (literally) of books while I worked – books I’d always wanted to read, but never had the time. There is no doubt: I am a better preacher today for having spent so many hours cleaning pools. (Not that I’m eager to do it again, mind you!)

Back to David and his mundane job tending sheep: He certainly never expected anything extraordinary to come from his life. Shepherding was going to be his destiny.

But God had other plans: He was preparing him to be Israel's great King David. In particular, David was learning the most important thing in leadership: He was learning to be "a man after God's own heart." This is what God needed most in a leader. This is what God desires most for all his people -- including you and me.

Like my time tending pools, shepherding gave him a lot of “think-time.” I imagine him sitting on a hillside outside Bethlehem watching his sheep. He knew them by name. They were utterly dependent upon his care for their survival: He was their provider and their protector (remember that lion he killed?).

An idea struck him. He pulled out his lyre and began to strum, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

Yes, among other things, David was a gifted musician and poet. Nearly half the psalms are ascribed to David. And where did he learn his craft? While tending sheep.                

When we encounter David in 1 Samuel 22-24, David is on the run from King Saul. Although he was anointed secretly, Saul knows he will be the next king. He wants David dead. David already had one opportunity to kill Saul (he’ll get another), but he will not lift his hand against the king. 

It amazes me that despite his personal hardship (he’s living like a vagabond) and his awareness that God has chosen him to be the next king, David still refuses to take matters in his own hands. Unlike Abraham (remember Hagar?) and Moses (remember that Egyptian?), David will wait for God to accomplish what God has promised. He is, indeed, a man after God's own heart.

While David is on the run, God is working behind the scenes to make him into the king he wants him to be. It must seem to David that God has forgotten about him. But God knows what he doing. The legend surrounding David and his popularity is growing during his fugitive days. 

Many people are drawn to him, especially thise who are outsiders: “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them” (22:2).

In the midst of these difficult days, David continued to write poetry. Psalms 34, 52, 54, 57, 63, and 142 are all attributed to him during this time. In fact, this seems to have been his most the most poetically-productive time of his life. Again, we see the repeated theme that often it is during our most difficult days that God seems nearest to our consciousness.

Perhaps you identify with David. Like him, you find yourself in a prolonged waiting period, or unjustly accused, or trapped in a dead-end job. 

You may be tempted to violate your conscience and force the issue, as David was regarding King Saul. You may be inclined to be lackadaisical toward your mindless occupation, rather than to use it as a time to learn skills (like poetry and lion-killing) that may help you later in life. 

You may wonder if God has forgotten all about you. But that is far from the case. God is doing what he always does:  He is teaching us to become a man -- or woman -- after God's own heart.