The Rise of David: Part 2
Killing Goliath made David famous in Israel. Songs were sang and he was made commander of armies. He had success wherever he went and in every battle he fought. Anointed by God at a young age for the very purpose of leading the people. He was doing it. He was doing what he was called to do before he ascended the throne.
Then, he was exiled.
The music stopped. Instead of winning battles, he began to be hunted. He began to live in a cave.
What do you do when it seems that the path laid out for you has been stolen? What do you do when it seems as if God has taken you out? And what if the unchosen path gets worse with every step?
You are reading the series The Rise of King David.
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No Return Path
Modern man prefers and expects up and to the left. Resilience is easy as long as the path is clear. We can optimize, reset, continue on, success is bound to happen. Right? Unless God needs to instill something in us only suffering can bring. Success brings a certain level of authority to a man, but not the same level of authority as suffering if a man is resilient through it.
As far as he knew, it was over. Unless he could get to Samuel.
David goes see Samuel. And then he goes to see Jonathan. Him and Jonathan come up with a plan to see what Saul’s intentions might be. It’s not stated explicitly in the Scripture but we can read this as David’s final attempt to reestablish the path that seemed to be going so well. Maybe Samuel could have sway over Saul or maybe the king’s own son could convince Saul to stay his madness. Any man in exile and wandering would make an attempt to reestablish himself and right his name. He must get back on the path to the throne.
But once again, after Saul tried to kill his own son, David was on the run again.
There was no clear path to the throne for David. There was not a clear path out of exile, back to home, back to leader of armies. There was nothing David could do to secure his future or right his name. It was completely out of his control to establish himself as King.
David decides that all he can do is hide in the one place Saul will never look for him: amongst the Philistines.
Turning Point
If there is one moment in David’s life that alters everything about who he would become, it is from a decision he makes while in the presence of Israel’s enemies.
And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”And David took these words to heart.1
It is right at this moment that David makes a choice to start acting like the anointed King of Israel.
From the mouth of the enemy he hears the words, “is this not David the king of the land?”
Exiled, hunted, the weight of guilt and confusion upon him and he hears the words that remind him of who God has called him to be: David the King.
The very next story is about the Cave of Adullum.
David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 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. And there were with him about four hundred men.2
David took these bitter, distressed, and indebted men into the cave and turned them into warriors. Some of these men would become his Mighty Men. Some of them would serve him in the wilderness and upon the throne. David gave them a place, he gave them hope, he protected them, and led them. He became their Shepherd King.
Shepherd King
It did not matter if God ever gave David the throne. It did not matter if God established him in the eyes of the people or of Saul. God had anointed David to be King. He had given David as assignment. God placed an obligation upon David for His people. David chooses to fulfill that obligation even if God never gave him the throne.
The role of a Shepherd and the role of a King are the same. A shepherd is among the sheep, leading, protecting, caring, and providing for their needs. He has an obligation to the sheep. A shepherd remains above them but he is always with them. A King is more noble but his duties to the people are the same as the shepherd to the sheep: to lead, to protect, to care, to provide. And to be with them. It does not take a throne for a man to be the King God obliges him to be.
David would continue to suffer as we shall see in this series. He also would continue to fulfill his obligations to the people of Israel. He would fight battles on their behalf, but in secret. He would protect lands and subjects who did not know who he was. He would continue to do all that a king should do without a throne. This combination of suffering and fulfilling obligation gave David an authority among the people that would not be matched until the time of Christ.
The question of everyone reading this article is could you do the same? Could you fulfill obligations of charity in suffering? Could you continue to do your duty even when the path you were on seems to have been taken away?
There is no promise that life will go the way you thought it would. It may not be up and to the right. It may be one slam against you again, and again, and again. David teaches us the proper response when life has gone astray. We accept our sufferings and fulfill our obligations, and God instills in us something we could never get by mere success.
“we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
1 Samuel 21:10-12
1 Samuel 22:1-2
Very insightful and convicting! Thank you!