IT FEELS LIKE FOREVER!

Hello my sweet friend! I feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been able to sit and write a blog post. Can I just say, I’ve missed you?!

You may recall, early last summer my senior pastor asked me to write a Bible study on 1 & 2 Samuel to complement his fall sermon series on the life of David. (read about that here)

I knew when I accepted this project:

• It was going to be torrential. All consuming. Demanding.
• I wouldn’t have time for blogging—or anything else.
• It was going to require sacrifices— a lot of sacrifices.
• It was going to be challenging—in ways I couldn’t predict at that time.

Beloved, it was all of that. And so, so much more! Writing this study was (and continues to be) a life-changing experience. I knew it was going to be. But what I didn’t realize was how God was going to use the writing of this study to issue some kind of change in every area of my life. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. I will share some of these changes in the future. But let me start by saying God is so so so AMAZING!!!

Today however, I want to let you in on a secret…before I first started writing this Bible study, I’d never done an in-depth study on David or 1 & 2 Samuel.

Ok, I’d studied bits and pieces in correlation with other studies, but never David’s entire life—all at once. Never all of 1 & 2 Samuel—all at once. It’s not that it didn’t appeal to me. I just never felt a strong connection to Samuel, Saul, or David. Especially not with David. He intimidated me! I know now I was wrong. But before, his life had this super-human, legendary quality to it. Unattainable. Unrealistic. And that is just not my life at all! So, I focused my time and attention on other things.

Then a dear friend told me she was going to pray I would fall in love with David as I wrote this study. She was going to pray he would become dear to me, closer than a brother. I laughed and said, ok. So she prayed. And I wrote.

Can I just say, I didn’t expect anything to happen. David and I had nothing in common. I admired him. Liked him. But “get him?” Understand him? Love him? No.

I focused on Eli and his sons, Samuel, and Saul for the first few weeks. I learned a lot! God showed me things I’d never seen before. Taught me truths in those passages I’d never noticed before. It was incredible! Exciting! To be honest, I was so caught up in what I was learning, I’d forgotten about my friends prayers.

See, one of my most favorite things is when God expands my knowledge of Him and His Word because when He does, I can always feel my faith grow. And after struggling through the depressive darkness of seasonal affective disorder this past winter, there are no words to describe how vital this new growth was to me.

Then I came to David. His anointing. His serving Saul the current king as the newly anointed king. Here, quickly read this:

Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.

Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.”

“All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”

One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the LORD is with him.”

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.

So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.

Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”

And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

1 Samuel 16:14-23, emphasis mine

David was faithful in his service—to his king and his God. Not once telling Saul, “Hey, Dude—you’re in my chair.” Not once telling him how to run the country. Not once doing anything rude or impatient. Nope. He just played his harp to soothe Saul’s tormented mind, to chase away the demon who was afflicting him. David was humble. Loving. Sincere. Obedient. Disciplined.

David took great pleasure and honor in serving God by serving His anointed king. He respected the position Saul held—and the man. Even as the next anointed king, David selflessly submitted to Saul’s authority—and God’s. And even as a lad, he recognized Saul was in his position because God put him there. Oh, and did I mention he was about 15-years-old at this time? And it would be another 15 years before he was crowned king of Hebron? And another 7 1/2 years until he was crowned king over all Israel? That’s a long time to know your purpose and your calling. And until then—David was faithful wherever God had him.

Is it any wonder that even as a young teen, God called David a man after His own heart? (1 Samuel 13:13-14) I was undone. As I studies this passage, I wept. And wept. And wept. I fell in love with David. From that moment on God started to reveal how much of my story parallels David’s.

I had to text my friend because I didn’t have the composure to talk, “It happened. I fell in love with David. I am undone.”

She laughed.

Beloved, David knew what his purpose was—he was to be king over all Israel. As he played his harp, he could probably still smell the spices from the anointing oil embedded in his clothes. But he chose to submit, to be obedient, to be faithful where God had him until God chose to install him as king. Until then, he played his harp and served this broken man who occupied the throne. David did whatever gave him to do with excellence and to His glory now his own.

As should we.

And it all starts with obedience…

Man it feels good to be back!

Blessings, xoxo

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