Week 8 - David is Anointed King

Monday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 1:11; Num. 6:2-4 Then she made a vow and said, O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head (1 Samuel 1:11) Serving with a Willing Heart In previous weeks we have seen that throughout the ages the Lord has distributed ministries to His servants. We have received much help from their experiences. From Adam s experience, for example, we learned that, despite his failure in the garden of Eden, he was later the first to call on the name of the Lord. Much time later, after Adam, at the time of the judges, whenever the people passed through tribulations they called on the Lord, and He sent judges to them to deliver them. Samuel was the last of the judges. Strictly speaking he should not have had any part in the priesthood because he was not of the house of Aaron. But according to the principle of the Nazarite his mother consecrated him to God before he was conceived (1 Sam. 1:11; cf. Num. 6:2-4). What we learn from this is that we can all serve the Lord. For this we only need to have a willing heart to serve Him. If we have this heart, we will be able to have a ministry. God gave Samuel a threefold ministry. The first was that of a judge; the second, that of a priest; and the third, of a prophet. However, it is important to stress that Samuel was only able to serve God because of his mother, who prayed insistently for him and consecrated him for all the days of his life. Because of Hannah s prayer, God gained the man He needed who would later anoint David as king. Samuel was taken to serve in the temple when he was still a child. While he was growing up, not even the terrible example of Eli s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, influenced his living. However, even though Samuel had been a good minister of God, he failed when he established his two sons, Joel and Abijah, as judges over Israel, because they were not righteous (1 Sam. 8:1-3). A righteous living is an indispensable requirement for any judge. Much dissatisfaction arose among the people because of the conduct of Samuel s sons, and they ended up asking him to establish a king for them that they might be like the other nations (v. 5). When Samuel consulted with the Lord regarding the people s request, He answered, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them...now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them (vv. 7, 9). Once God allowed Israel to have a king, Samuel s commission at that time was to find the man God wanted to make king over His people. Consecrating oneself voluntarily to the Lord. hat did Samuel s ministry consist of? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 1

Tuesday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 15:1-23 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry (1 Samuel 15:22b-23) To Obey is Better than Sacrifice Saul was the first one to be anointed king of Israel (1 Sam. 10:1). At first he was extremely humble and did not consider himself worthy of exercising this function, for he was from the smallest tribe of Israel and from the smallest family within this tribe (9:21). However, during his reign Saul did not obey the Lord s commandments (15:1-3). For example, once the Lord commanded him through Samuel to kill the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them, but Saul spared the king of the Amalekites and the best animals of their herds (15:9). Saul s attitude opposed God s will to the point that the Lord said that He repented for making him king (v. 11). This happened because, according to the history of the people of Israel, the Amalekites were their main enemies. Therefore Saul ought to have fully obeyed God s word and accomplished what the Lord commanded. After he disobeyed the divine guidance, Saul received a visit from Samuel. When he saw Samuel coming, the king greeted him with the following words: Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD (v. 13). But Samuel replied, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? (v. 14). To which Saul answered, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed (v. 15). Then Samuel said to Saul, Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night. And he continued, When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD? (vv. 16-19). Saul immediately justified himself, saying, But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal (vv. 20-21). Verse 22 continues: So Samuel said: Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? We need to know that God is pleased when we obey His word. It doesn t matter how good our argument is; the Lord is concerned that we obey Him. Samuel continued: Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry (v. 22b-23). We must hold onto these words, for they establish a very important principle for those who desire to be ministers of God. Keeping the Lord s words in our heart. What was Samuel referring to in 1 Samuel 15:22? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 2

Wednesday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 16:1-13 The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7b) The Lord Looks at the Heart After Saul s failures God repented that He had made him king and commanded Samuel to anoint someone else in his place. In 1 Samuel 16, the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons (v. 1). Unlike Saul, Samuel went out to fulfill what God had ordained. He went to Bethlehem, and when he came to the city, the elders trembled at his coming and went out to meet him and asked him if he came peaceably (v. 4). Samuel answered them, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice (v. 5). Then Samuel asked Jesse to bring all his sons. When the first appeared, he was tall and of a good appearance, and Samuel said to himself, Surely the LORD s anointed is before Him! (v. 6). But the Lord said to him, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (v. 7). Jesse s seven older sons passed before Samuel, but the Lord had not chosen any of them to be king. Then Samuel asked Jesse, Are all the young men here? Then he said, There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep (v. 11a). This narration makes it clear that to human eyes David was a young person who did not stand out among his brothers. Then Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him; for this is the one! (vv. 11b-12). After Samuel anointed David, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (v. 13). The Lord does not see as man sees. When Samuel saw Jesse s oldest son, he thought he was before the future king. What lesson do we learn from this? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 3

Thursday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 17:1-40 The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (1 Samuel 17:37) Little David and His Confidence in the Lord to Fight Against the Giant Goliath The Lord had anointed Saul to be king over Israel, but because he disobeyed God s word, the Spirit of the Lord withdrew from Saul, and an evil spirit began to torment him. At this juncture Samuel had already anointed David as king, but since this had not been done publicly, many still did not know that David had been chosen to reign. The servants of Saul then suggested that he seek for a man who knew how to play the harp to come to the king s presence to help him feel better. Thus David was brought to Saul s presence and strummed his harp whenever the king was under the influence of the evil spirit. Right after this, at the beginning of chapter 17, there is a narration of a war between the Philistines and the people of Israel. A giant called Goliath went out of the camp of the Philistines, who defied the Israelites in the camp of battle (vv. 1-11). Goliath wore a bronze helmet and wore a heavy bronze coat of mail that ordinary weapons would not be able to pierce through. Besides this, he also wore bronze armour and had a bronze javelin between his shoulders (v. 6). The staff of his spear was like a weaver s beam and weighed the equivalent of seven kilos of iron. Every day the giant Goliath would go before the army of Israel and mock them, saying, Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me (v. 8). But no combatant among the Israelites had the courage to confront him (v. 11). However, David heard the words of Goliath and willingly presented himself to fight against him. Jesse s youngest son was led to King Saul and said to him, Let no man s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine (v. 32). Goliath was enormous, and David was only a youth. When he presented himself to Saul, Saul said to him, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth (v. 33). David then answered Saul, Your servant used to keep his father s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God (vv. 34-36). Moreover David continued, The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the LORD be with you! (v. 37). David was a shepherd of sheep and had never used weapons of war. Saul offered him his own armour for the purpose of protecting him, but after he put it on, he couldn t even walk. So he took it off, took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook (v. 40). These would be his weapons in the fight against the giant Goliath. Being simple in order to fight. What lesson can we learn for our life from David s experience before he fought against the giant Goliath? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 4

Friday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 17:41-51; 18:7-9 You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel (1 Samuel 17:45) Fighting in the Name of the Lord of Hosts David was not intimidated before the giant Philistine. Rather, he trusted in the Lord and went to the camp of battle: So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods (1 Sam. 17:41-43). Goliath had no fear of the Lord and said to young David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field! (v. 44). But young David was not intimidated and answered the giant, You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD s, and He will give you into our hands (vv. 45-47). When the two finally drew near to each other, David took out one of the stones he had selected and slung it with the sling. The stone sank into Goliath s forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. David then took the giant s sword and cut off his head. Thus David, whom God had chosen to be king of Israel, defeated the giant Goliath. As the army of Israel was coming home, many went out to welcome King Saul and young David. Going on in chapter 18, we read, The women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands (v. 7). From that moment on, Saul began to seek an opportunity to kill David, and David fled and hid himself from the king. Even so, Saul sought to know where David was, and when he found out, sent his army to kill him. First Samuel chapter 23 tells that David was in a city called Keilah, and Saul commanded his army to go after him there. After consulting with the Lord and learning His guidance, David managed to flee from Saul s hand. Verse 14 of the same chapter says, Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. Saul wanted to kill David because of the jealousy he felt toward him. The words the people had spoken on the return from battle had inflamed him and filled his heart with envy and jealousy. This reminds us of the story of Cain, who killed his brother for a similar reason. The fact that God accepted Abel s offering and was not pleased with Cain s caused him to be very jealous of his brother. The lesson we learn from these experiences is that we need to deny ourselves in order to not fall into the same situation. Envy comes from the flesh and needs to be dealt with by the cross (Gal. 5:21, 24). Overcoming envy by the cross. Why did Saul feel hatred toward David? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 5

Saturday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 26:1-25 The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD (1 Samuel 24:6) Not Stretching Out Our Hand Against the Lord s Anointed Because of the evil spirit that came upon Saul, he wanted to kill David any way he could. But one day, when he was fleeing from Saul, David had an opportunity to kill the king. When Saul was pursuing David, he camped in a place called Hachilah. He, the commander of his army, Abner, and the people stopped to spend the night there. However, David had discovered Saul s camp and came to him at night when they were all sleeping (1 Sam. 26:1-5). Then Abishai, one of David s generals, said to him, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time! (v. 8). Abishai was a great soldier and could have killed Saul with one stroke. Verse 9 describes David s attitude: Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD s anointed, and be guiltless? We see that in this instance David had the chance to kill Saul, but because he feared the Lord, he did not do it; for it was touching the matter of God s anointed one. Thank the Lord! This was God s test to David. The Lord wanted to see what was in his heart. David continued, As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go (vv. 10-11). David then left the camp, climbed a nearby hill and called out to the people and to Abner, to which Abner answered, Who are you, calling out to the king? David told Abner that he should have taken care of the king with more security. He also told him that he had the king s belongings, his spear and water jug, but he had not laid his hand on Saul. Saul recognized David s voice and said to him, Is that your voice, my son David? David answered, It is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said, Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering (vv. 17-19a). In other words, David was telling Saul to kill him, if his death were the Lord s will. David truly loved the Lord and therefore also loved the one whom the Lord had anointed. We see Saul s reaction in verse 21: I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly. Saul eventually said to David, May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still prevail (v. 25). Then David continued on his way, and Saul returned to his place. The Lord forbid that we should stretch out our hand against His anointed. Why did David not take advantage of the opportunity to kill Saul? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 6

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Week 8 - David is Anointed King Sunday Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 24:3-18 For who can stretch out his hand against the LORD s anointed, and be guiltless? (1 Samuel 26:9) Respecting and Honouring Those Anointed by the Lord The message this week has covered a good part of the book of First Samuel, which tells about David being anointed king of Israel. This was a very important event. When God poured the anointing oil on David, this gave him a commission as well as a ministry. The most important thing is that the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon him. Because of this he became the Lord s anointed, filled with the Spirit. David s story shows us that when God wants to commission someone, He firstly fills him with the Spirit and immediately anoints him with the anointing oil, for the purpose of that person carrying out His will. If anyone goes against the Lord s anointed one, he will be going against the Lord Himself. Saul was in David s hands at least twice. One of these times, when Saul was pursuing David, Saul went into a cave to attend to his needs but did not know that David and his general were hidden there (1 Sam. 24:3-7). In this situation Saul was vulnerable to David s attack, and David could have easily killed him. David took his spear and drew near to the king, but he did not kill him. He only cut off a piece of Saul s robe, and Saul left the cave and went his way. After Saul went out of the cave, David spoke to him from a distance and asked him why he wanted to kill him. He told Saul that the Lord had delivered him into his hands but that he had spared his life, for Saul was the Lord s anointed (vv. 8-9). He also told him to see that his robe had been cut and showed him the piece that was missing (v. 10). Then Saul answered him You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil (v. 17). In all this we see that, in spite of having been anointed by the Lord, David knew he could not do evil to one anointed by God. His attitudes show that he respected and honoured those who had also been anointed by the Lord. This is a lesson that everyone who wants to be a minister of God needs to learn. If God has a ministry for us, He will also anoint us and give us the Spirit. Just like David, today we realize that the one who has the Lord s anointing oil has the Spirit upon him, and we cannot do evil to him. For example, we respect our brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee very much because they were anointed by God and had their ministries. We need to learn from one another and respect the portion the Lord has given each one. May we not open our mouth to criticize the brothers. You may even think that there will be no consequence if you speak about someone, but one day we are all going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and everything will be judged. So we need to learn the lesson of respecting and honouring those who have been anointed by the Lord. Hallelujah! Being anointed of the Lord is to have God upon you. What important lesson did you learn today? THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS MATURITY - Lessons Learned from the First Ministers of the Past 7