David’s Calling

We’re starting with David, and David was anointed last week. Does anybody know what he was anointed to do? To be the king. Now, there is a connection that we can have between being anointed and being called that pulls together so many things in our lives that God will do with us.

Now, when I think of being called, I think of baseball. Not like calling strikes and balls, but they have several layers in baseball. It’s a unique system where they have like a rookie league, a lower level A, and a high A, and a double A, and a triple A, where you can work your way through, and then they say you get called up.

You get called up to the big leagues, and the Royals have had several guys called up throughout this season. One guy who was called up the most recently, his name is Cam Devaney. Does anybody know what Cam Devaney is known for in the minor league circles? His bat.

The Royals might need a little bit of help with hitting the ball. The announcers on the radio like to say, it’s easy, see ball, hit ball. I don’t know if I’d want to try to swing at a hundred mile per hour pitch, coming at my face, but then curving around to the middle of the plate.

Would you stay in there long enough for that one? Cam Devaney is one. John Rave. Has anybody, have you experienced or seen what John Rave is good at? One of the things is his speed.

He’s an outfielder, but he has speed to get on the base. And then there’s another name that you may have heard of called Jack Caglione. What is his specialty? Good looks.

That is exactly what I was NOT going to say. Good looks. He is a, he is very charismatic too.

So now you can’t take your, take your wives to the Royals games anymore. He’s very charismatic, but he is a big guy with great big hands. And he is known for his home runs.

He has hit some deep bombs. I wish in between some of those home runs, you could get known for his singles, doubles and triples too. But in baseball, when you get called up, it’s a big deal.

And I’ve seen videos, like the videos of Jack Caglione with his minor league coach. And he had been in AAA for only two weeks, I think. And his minor league coach was calling him in and he was talking to him.

And he was almost making it seem like he was going to get sent back down to AA. And then he surprised him and said, you’re being called up. Now, with all of us in Jesus Christ, everyone has a calling.

It’s not just like David, who was called to be king. Or someone who was called to be a full time pastor. Everyone has a calling.

And when we’re going to learn from David, that that anointing can help solidify the calling. But in there, it might not move exactly like we anticipate it’s going to. Last week, we got through where Samuel poured the oil over his head to anoint him.

Or consecrate him for what God was calling him to do. Now, we’re going to start in verse 14. As it continues to show us what happens to David.

Will you stand as you’re able? First Samuel 16, 14 through 18. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. And a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.

And Saul’s servants said to him, behold, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let your Lord now commend your servants who are before you. To seek out a man who is skillful in playing the liar.

And when a harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play. And you will be well. So God said to his servants, provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.

One of the young men answered, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. Who is skillful in playing. A man of valor.

A man of war. Prudent in speech. And a man of good presence.

And the Lord is with him. The word of God. Inspired by God.

For the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

You may be seated. Now if you’re David, you have to have some question about this. That’s me projecting into David and his situation.

But Samuel came and anointed David and he said, David, Saul has not been faithful. I’m taking the spirit away from him and I’m giving you the spirits. So David’s first opportunity to go to the palace is to serve Saul.

Serve one who may not be pleased with him. Serve someone who we know will eventually throw spears at him. Who will chase him.

Who will try to kill him. God’s call, whether it’s for David or it’s for us, may come in the form of an open door to a need. God’s call may come in the form of an open door to a need.

Saul had a need. I mean, he was in bad shape. And David came to play the liar, which is like a little harp kind of thing.

Is that right? You play that? Okay. You know the phrase, it’s something like, music can soothe the savage beast. I think all they were hoping for was to have some calming music playing to serve him.

But the other thing that came with it is that when David played the liar, what came through the liar? Besides notes and music. Anybody guess? The Holy Spirit came through. And they said, they listed out all this stuff about David.

He’s a Bethlehemite, skillful in playing. That was just one of the things. A man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.

So all the things that David was gifted for, who would have thought the first thing he would do for the kingdom, for the Jewish kingdom, for the Israelite kingdom, was to play the harp. That doesn’t sound very royal or very kingly. But God opened the door to David to a need.

There was a need, and Saul needed it desperately. Now one of the things that’s huge about it is David’s first role was humbling. That he went in there, he wasn’t in charge.

He kept calling Saul the Lord’s anointed and following him and never trying to get in his way. And never trying to overtake Saul. Well, kind of until the end where there was a war.

But he was always trying to do what he could to serve Saul, knowing that God called him into this role. Revelation 3-7 says, And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia write, The words of the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut. Who shuts and no one opens.

Now when God opens a door before you, is it better to say, well, I’ll see what door number two holds. Or just to step through it and see what God has in store. And then there might be another thing and another thing.

You see what God says, what they say, what Jesus says in Revelation is that David was given a door. The key of David is the key to the kingdom. And whoever opens it, no one can shut.

And Saul gave everything he could eventually to shutting the door on David. But when God opens a door, no one shuts it. Christie Wright says this, Using your gifts is not selfish.

When you use your gifts, people see God. You know, Jesus said, let your light shine. And when you let your light shine and that light is Christ and people see God, they don’t see you.

It’s not like David was the only one trying to build a kingdom here. He was building a kingdom for God and he was using his gifts for God. And people could see God in him.

And they even said here before he went to the palace to please the king that he was a man of good presence and the Lord was with him. That David had all that going for him. Whatever we do, whatever door we see that God opens and we step through, we know that it’s not about us.

It’s about who God calls us to. It’s about the kingdom of God. It’s about something bigger than we can do on our own.

Matthew 25, 23 says, His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master. Now that’s part of the parable of the talents. Some were given a little bit and some were given more.

But what we do is we do what we can with what God has given us for God’s glory. And then, like David, we may start out by playing the lyre. Or by singing on Sunday.

Whatever we do, we do for the kingdom of God. We do for God’s glory. And God sees that.

And then maybe another door is opened. And another door. Todd Duncan, who is, he’s actually a business speaker.

And he talks to a lot of groups around the world. He said, gaining trust is like filling a bucket one drop at a time. If all we have, if all we can do is add one drop to a bucket to the kingdom of God, then we add that in whatever door we go through.

However we are called, we add one drop. We add something to it for God’s glory. Psalm 89, 19 through 20 says, I have found David my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him, so that my hand shall be established with him, my arm also shall strengthen him. When it is an anointing that is blended with a calling of God, and pulling all that together, and remember this is for all of us, when that comes together, it doesn’t say that David was so powerful and so strong and such a great warrior, that it was all about him. Here the psalmist says, of God, my arm will also strengthen him.

And we’ll see that more next week when we talk about David and Goliath. But it’s by God’s strength. What we do when we step through the door, what we do when we hear God, or see a need, and go to do what we can do, I mean whether it’s feeding homeless, whether it’s building up the kingdom, whether it’s sharing with someone about Jesus, whatever that might be, when Jesus says, I will be with you, he’s talking about when you go out to make disciples, when you do all that.

And that’s where God has us. Frederick Buechner says, the place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness, and the world’s deep hunger meet. Meaning it’s not just about going and going and going, and wearing yourself out.

Or just doing something. But it’s about doing what you can see, how you can see God working through you, and it gives you deep gladness. And it builds up the kingdom.

And it meets a need or hunger for the world, whether that’s a hunger, a physical hunger, or a spiritual hunger, whatever that need is. That God will work through you, just like God was working with David, here in the beginning. So today, God may say, pick up your lyre and go.

And we just go. God may say, hey, there’s one person here, that needs to hear that they are valuable, for the kingdom. We just go.

You all have gifts, you all have skills, you all have abilities. The anointing brings those together in a calling, so they can be used for God’s glory. Oh my God, thank you so much for your grace, and for your mercy.

Thank you for the anointing we see in David, where his calling may not be like he dreamed of. Help us, God, to be humble in our calling. Help us, God, to fall before you, and do little things, and be faithful in the small things.

Help us, God, to know that anything we do, even may it seem like a drop of water in a bucket, or even in the ocean, anything we do for you, that we are doing kingdom things. Help us to trust in you, to follow you, and to know that you are our God, in Jesus’ name, amen.