David Anointed -- Yet Waiting

David: a Lesson in Preparation and Struggle

The Man of God's Choosing

David is anointed king in place of Saul in 1Samuel 16:13. He is chosen because God had rejected Saul as king and had chosen a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people (from 1Samuel 13:14). Saul had failed many tests of faithfulness to God, the failure in 1Samuel 13 is just one of many. The final straw comes in 1Samuel 15, when Samuel fails to carry out God's explicit instructions because (as he says) I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them (from 1Samuel 15:24). There's another lesson about there, but I'll pass that one by for now and return to David.

David is the man God chooses (1Samuel 16:1, 12), in fulfillment of Samuel's statement that God would choose a man after his own heart (1Sam 16:13, see also Acts 13:22). There's an interesting question here: what does it mean that David is a man after God's own heart? There are two possibilities:* 1) God chooses David because God is in David's heart. 2) God chooses David because David is in God's heart.

It is very, very difficult to decide on one interpretation to the exclusion of the other. There is a hint in 1Samuel 16:7, when God says to Samuel Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And certainly David exhibited over and over again, his devotion to the Lord the rest of his life. On the other hand David, at times, really, really messes up, even to the point of getting another man's wife pregnant and then killing him to cover it up (2Samuel 11).

Maybe the answer is both. David is in God's heart and God is in David's. God both knows David's character, and God, by the power of His Spirit shapes his character. It's the old Calvinist/Arminian debate all over again: Does God choose us because we choose Him, or do we choose Him because He first chose us? Why don't we answer the mystery by simply saying "Yes." (I better stop there, before I get in some real trouble with my Calvinist friends - and my Arminian friends!)

David is just a boy when Samuel anoints him and he is empowered by the Spirit - probably about 14 or 15 years old (a guess based on other chronologies in 1Samuel). Unlike Joshua, also empowered by the Spirit to lead following Moses (Deut. 34:9), David has no prior experience leading anything but sheep (as far as we know). David was not commander of the army, as Joshua was. He was not an aid to any leader, as Joshua was with Moses. As far as we know, unlike Joshua, he did not spend extended time at the tent of meeting (the Tabernacle). He's just a shepherd boy who really hasn't done anything to earn this. He is unqualified to lead.

Yet God tells Samuel to anoint him anyway, and when he does from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power (from 1Sam 16:13). This coming in power can mean that the Spirit came on David in a way that was powerful enough for others to notice. In fact, this would be a reasonable assumption, since someone would have had to have noticed that it was on this day that this all began for David. But it probably means something more like that the Spirit came and empowered David. Whenever the Spirit comes upon someone in power in the Old Testament, the result is always empowered action (for example: Judges 15:14; 1Samuel 10:10; 11:6).

Empowered to Worship

So what does David do, when the Spirit comes on him in power? We don't know. What we do know is that after some intervening period, David becomes known as a skilled musician (1Samuel 16:18). It's very likely that something happened after David, perhaps still dripping with the oil of his anointing, went back to tend the sheep.

At some point in David's life, he begins to write the Psalms we have in our Bible. Though I can't point to a specific Scripture reference that ties this together with the empowerment by the Spirit that happened when Samuel anointed him, the recognition of his musical gifting in the verses immediately following this event strongly suggest it.

David, who may have played the harp long before Samuel ever shows up on the scene, and perhaps even composed some songs of praise to the Lord, as he played and sang on the hillsides with the sheep, becomes known by at least one person living 8 to 9 miles away (the rough distance from Bethlehem to Gibeah) as a musician worthy to play in the king's court.

What I do know is this: anointed worshipers are recognized as gifted by others. Even if they are only or merely attracted to the music. There's something special that happens when the Spirit inspires someone as they compose and sing praise to God. I believe the human spirit recognizes something there that resonates inside - at least that's been my experience.

Regardless of that one of Saul's servants says this about David: the Lord is with him (1Sam 16:18). Besides knowing how to play the harp, being brave, tactful, and good-looking, the servant recognizes that the Lord is with him. Already, David is known for God's presence in his life. For now (at least) Saul likes him very much (1Sam 16:21).

The wonderful thing about what happens next is that we find out that David's music has spiritual power. Whenever Saul was tormented by an evil spirit David played his harp and the evil spirit would leave Saul (1Sam 16:23). This is remarkable! As far as I know, this is the only time an evil spirit is cast out in the Old Testament and it happens by David playing his harp (and singing?). Later (probably) David would write in Psalm 8:2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Praise is a powerful spiritual force!

Empowered to Rule

The most obvious and explicit result of David's anointing is that he is anointed to be king. This is why Samuel went to him in the first place.

So David receives his anointing by Samuel, the Spirit comes upon him in power and . . . And what? David isn't king. At least not yet. There is a long period of waiting between his anointing and being released into the purpose of his anointing. For David it's 14-15 years.

What he will not do is use his anointing as an reason to usurp the throne. He refuses to understand his own anointing apart from Saul's anointing. Saul was anointed king. And even though God had already said that he would take the kingdom of Israel from him, David did not understand that to mean it was David's job to make that happen.

Let me speak to my charismatic and Pentecostal friends here for a moment. When God gives His anointing and empowers by the Spirit, He may not be in the same breath releasing us into the ministry He anoints and empowers us for. It may take a long, long time for the purpose of our anointing to be realized. It is not our job to rush God, or rush circumstances, in order to help God's anointing along (I'm not talking about not doing something God clearly tells you to do, that is confirmed by other Spirit-filled believers.)  

Further (still speaking to my charismatic and Pentecostal friends), your anointing doesn't negate nor usurp anyone else's anointing - even if God has clearly said they have disqualified themselves! Honor the anointing, even if the person holding it isn't worthy of it. This is what David did, over and over again with Saul - even when Saul was actively trying to kill him. Don't usurp authority. Don't. Just don't.

David's anointing and empowerment here seems to be in large part preparatory. As I said before, as far as we know, unlike Joshua, David had no experience leading anything but sheep. God would not thrust him into a position he was unprepared for. His character would be shaped and strengthened through the next 14-15 years.

David, empowered by the Spirit becomes a not only a worshiper but also a warrior. He will soon accept Goliath's challenge to a duel - and defeat him. He will lead Saul's army until Saul becomes jealous of him. Then he will lead an army of no-accounts and social rejects and make them into a mighty force for Israel's good. He is going to have a life of struggle and hardship.

Even after he becomes king, he will struggle. During almost his entire reign he'll be in conflict with someone. If it's not the Philistines or other Canaanite people, it's other Israelites, or even his own son, God anointed him and empowered him to be king, but he had to fight his whole life to have what God gave him. 

Chosen to Be the Forebear of Jesus

Among the things God chose him for was probably the most important thing imaginable, and David probably had no idea what it meant.

David, now established in Jerusalem, with a palace of his own, is offended by the fact that he is living in a beautiful palace, while God's presence is still in a tent. He seems offended by the honor gap between what he has and what God has. He decides to do something about it: build a palace for the true king of Israel (the Hebrew word for palace is the same as the word used for temple).

God has another idea:

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2Sam. 7:11b–13)

David wasn't the man to build the temple. It wasn't his anointing. His offspring would to that. His immediate offspring was Solomon. But it's Jesus who is the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to him.

David's anointing went far beyond his imagination, far beyond his lifetime. His anointing was ultimately inherited by Jesus, the anointed one. And, by the way, the Hebrew word for anointed one is Messiah.

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* Though we could easily and rightly say that David was after God's heart, in the sense of pursuing or seeking God, this phrase, in the original language, can't be translated that way.