David, the sweet singer of Israel, was anointed by God to serve as the head of the family through which the Son of God, Jesus Christ, would eventually be born into the world. The promise was spoken to David through Nathan the prophet about 1000 years before Christ was born (II Samuel 7). He was the man within the Nation of Israel whom God had specifically called to lead them as their first king. All during the history of Israel leading up to the time of our study, Israel had no king, but served under judges and prophets, with the intention that God would be their King. The nation failed and went astray many times, especially under the time of the judges. God's establishment of a theocratic king to lead Israel and His Will to begin it with David was for a unique purpose. He was to serve in this position as a type of the Heavenly David Who will one day reign from Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The name of David would forever become legend in Israel. Even blind Bartimaeus who sat by the highway side begging in Jesus day, when he was told that Jesus was coming his way, cried out with words that harken back to God's promise to David. Bartimaeus said, "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me" (Luke 18:38). Bartimaeus knew, as every other Jew in Israel knew, that the Messiah would come through the House of David. Even today the city of Jerusalem is referred to as the city of David.
The leaders of Israel told Samuel that they wanted a king over them like the other nations. Their desire and demand for a king was premature and improper in its motive. Samuel was grieved at their word, and God told Samuel, "Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me that I should not reign over them" (I Samuel 8:7). They thought that having a king like the other nations around them would bring them glory and honor and meet all their needs. They failed to recognize that what made them special and gave them glory was being totally unlike the other nations. What gave them strength was not imitating the ways of the surrounding countries, but rather becoming a peculiar people unto their God. Their desire and selection of a king was motivated by the flesh and not the Spirit. They should have upheld God in their hearts as their true King, and in due time He would have given them His choice - His anointed man.
No benefit would come from Israel's decision to demand a spiritually frail king in place of God Himself. Israel was religious but their thinking was not Spiritual. Little did they know that the king they chose would not fully obey the Lord and ultimately bring them defeat and weakness. Neither will we benefit from making choices not guided by the Spirit. If a Christian wants to find glory and strength for his life he must find it in the wisdom of God and not in what the contemporary religious culture teaches us today. He must find it only in the Word of God and not in false teachers who promote what Peter called "cunningly devised fables" (II Peter 1:16).
The people's choice was Saul. They saw in him someone who was tall in stature, powerful in presentation and excellent in their mind to lead and represent the nation. They were deceived into think that what they were getting in Saul was Spiritual. They mistook the inherent charisma and commanding presence of Saul for the Anointing, which it wasn't at all.
This generation had forgotten what the true anointing and power of God really was. The problem was they disregarded the word of the Lord given to them through Samuel warning them that the king they desired would only end up taking everything from them rather than faithfully leading them and serving God. The results sadly came to pass exactly as they were warned.
Without going into detail, suffice it to say that Saul's true spiritual character came out in several tests of obedience in which he failed miserably. Though he pursued and defeated some of the enemies of Israel during his reign, the very enemies which he fought ended up destroying him in the end. In his final battle against the Philistines, a wounded and defeated Saul ended his life by committing suicide on Mt. Gilboa, rather than being captured (I Samuel 31:4).
Israel could have advanced far sooner had they made the right choice to obey the warning of Samuel about what this king would do to them. Because of their choice they sat under Saul's flawed leadership for 40 years before David was finally brought to the throne. A major lesson to us is that the choice of self-will and not knowing what the Spirit of God wants will inevitably bring significant loss to our lives. Self-will makes its choice with a blind heart to the Spirit and the mind of God. It has little appreciation for what God knows - it thinks it knows best. It knows what it wants, demands what it wants and is unable to yield to the mind of the Lord.
Saul proved to be an unrighteous king who drained spiritual strength and potential from the people. God gave the people what they wanted and for a short period of time He even moved upon the heart of Saul, affecting his heart in such a way as to help him start out well at the very beginning. Saul even demonstrated humility at the outset of his reign. He portrayed every characteristic of a righteous king at the start. All the desire of Israel was upon him (I Samuel 9:20). From this we learn that God tries to help in many situations to bring about the best possible outcome, even though self-will has been involved on our part, - but ultimately bitter fruit will eventually reveal the misguided decisions of our heart. So God gave Saul a measure of success at the very beginning of His reign, but this lasted only a short time, because Saul's inward nature and heart were not right with God and manifested themselves in outward action and disobedience as the years of his reign continued.
God cannot and will not make the flesh work in our lives. It is impossible - only what is of the Spirit will be honored and receive His blessing. But determining what is of the Spirit is the most important issue for a Believer to see his way through obstacles and find God's intended path. Often we see what looks like the Spirit, when it is actually the flesh. Our minds must recognize what is of God, whether they be people, places or things. Israel was unable to see. Since they were blessed at the beginning of Saul's reign - their choice was right, so they thought - things were going well. They were enthralled with their king and were now like the other nations around them. But God knew the terrible spiritual flaw in their thinking. He would allow the people to have what they desired - but would also allow the terrible fruits of their choice to come to pass in totality. This tells us that the flesh even in God's people is short-sighted in its reasoning and often unknowingly trades real future blessings for fleeting and self-centered considerations.
At a point in time the Lord instructed Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites, sworn enemies of Israel since the days of Moses, and all of their possessions. In the ensuing battle, Saul responded with an incomplete obedience. He destroyed the people and everything that was vile and refuse, but saved the king alive and the best of the sheep, oxen, lambs, etc. Amalek has always been a symbol of the flesh and Saul refused to utterly destroy both the bad and good parts of it together. Likewise, even the good parts of the flesh about ourselves must be denied as part of our strength, and replaced by the Spirit's power and anointing alone. The Lord then told Samuel He had rejected Saul from being king over His people.
Samuel mourned over Saul, but the Lord told him, "How long will you mourn over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite,: for I have provided Me a king among his sons" (I Samuel 16:1). As Samuel was before Jesse and his sons, Eliab was the one that stood out to Samuel as being surely the Lord's anointed one. But God had to tell him to "look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" (I Samuel 16:7). Even a godly prophet like Samuel was not able to trust his own perception. All the other sons of Jesse who were present were made to pass by Samuel and all were refused. In fact, David, who was out keeping the sheep, was not even considered by his father to be a candidate. When David was fetched and brought in before Samuel, the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him: for this is he" (I Samuel 16:12).
David was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel when he was a young man of about 15 years old. When Samuel poured the horn of oil upon David, the Scripture says that "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (I Samuel 16:13). From that moment, in God's eyes, David was the king of Israel. But, in fact, it would be another 15 years before David was able to take the throne over Judah because of the ensuing years of pursuit and persecution by Saul. David was 30 years of age at that time, the same age when Jesus began His Ministry. And then it would be another 7 years before all of Israel would accept him and he would become king over all the tribes of Israel - the entire nation. Think of this time frame and compare it with your own life. God anointed him and recognized him as His choice when the Spirit of God came upon him, but the time of his ascent to the throne was greatly delayed.
Several questions must be asked. Why was David not easily recognized as God's choice by the people and the leadership of Israel? Why the long wait for the fulfillment of God's Will being done? Why the severe persecution of David? Why the many toils, dangers and snares that David suffered through to get to the throne? The reasons are many.
The opposition of Satan to the Call and Anointing upon David, all allowed by God, is one major reason. David, unlike Saul, was molded by God through fierce personal, family and national opposition so he could be made a channel of spiritual blessing to the world. One example of this blessing is the worship we have today. David would write at least half of the Psalms which are actually songs and from which have been produced other songs that we sing today in New Testament Worship, Praise and Singing. The pattern for all New Testament Music, Praise and Worship was begun under David with the musical instruments and great choirs. This was all made possible because of his anointing.
In light of all this, remember, dear Believer, you may be anointed for a particular task, and your time and opportunity may not have seemed to arrive yet to fully exercise your gift - Only have patience, for the Lord is preparing you and He will give you your position of authority and blessing in due time just as He did for David.
But another important answer for us to understand is that even men of God are often very slow to recognize that which God has long since ordained. Even those associated with the kingdom of God can fail to see the right course and direction that God has intended. And even when it is revealed, the unspiritual heart doesn't like God's choice. Though Saul was still physically king, and would be for many years, once David was anointed, in Heaven's mind, he was destined for the throne, though there remained many trials for David to pass through on his way there.
The fact that there is a natural animosity in the human heart against those who are truly anointed by God has been proven true over and over again throughout the centuries. Rather than celebrated, the anointing of God upon someone often antagonizes the heart that is not properly after God's Heart. Saul was a king after the people's heart. David was a man after God's Own Heart, and yet hated by many in Israel. The Church of his day did not easily accept him. This hatred and animosity delayed his complete ascension to the throne of Israel for 22 years.
May we as Christians never fail to recognize the Anointing of the Holy Spirit. For, the Anointing is the only thing that truly makes the difference in anything that is said or done for God. Otherwise we will miss the measure of blessings, enrichment, discernment and participation that the Holy Spirit wants to impart to us. Without this recognition we will fail the tests of life and easily fall prey for that which is not sent from God. The Anointing is given to us so that we may personally discern Truth from lies. The Apostle John said, "These things have I written unto you concerning them who seduce you. But the Anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teaches you of all things, and is Truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him" (I John 2:26-27).
Israel entered into the most glorious period of her history under king David. She was taken to greater heights, nationally, spiritually and materially, than ever before due to their acceptance of God's anointed man as their king. Under David, the Kingdom of Israel was extended to the physical Covenant boundaries promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18). A lesson to us - If we want the blessing, we must connect and associate ourselves with what is truly Anointed by Him.
Though David had several failures which were devastating during his reign, the Holy Spirit described him with the title of "a man after God's Own Heart". And his name is honored in Scripture as the first and the last human name mentioned in the New Testament (Mat 1:1; Rev 22:16). A renowned Greek scholar has so pointedly written the following of David and his life - "Though more guilty than all, he had a knowledge of God that others did not possess". David's heart was more attuned with God and His Ways than few, if any in history. God gave us so many details of his life for a reason. We would do ourselves good to study his life carefully.
What made David particularly special is that he understood the meaning of the sacrifices and Who they pointed to as no one else. This is reflected in his life experiences and in the Psalms he wrote. More deeply learning and believing in the triumphant victory of the Cross is the only key that will open the door to Life and the Holy Spirit's Anointing and Wisdom in our lives (Mark 9:23). There is no other place to look to for help. Whenever you and I fail, it's because we lose focus and knowledge of this wonderful fact and instead focus on ourselves.
Making decisions in life is an important privilege and freedom which God has given to each of us to exercise wisely. Knowing that our life is dead in Christ and a new life has risen with Him - our union with Him should motivate us to deny ourselves as far as trusting our own wisdom is concerned. The mind of Christ reflects a level of thinking, valuation and consideration far above what ordinary men understand.
David was a warrior king and conquered the enemies of Israel through the anointing of God upon his life. If we want to be victorious in taking the spiritual land of our possession and following the Will of God we must understand the Anointing, recognize the Anointing, seek the Anointing and allow the Sweet Anointing of the Holy Spirit to cover our lives. As Christians, there is little else that is more important. Receiving this, we can then proclaim the same words as Jesus spoke of Himself some 2000 years ago, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me …" (Luke 4:18).
May this song reflect a prayer from our hearts for God's Anointing:
Sweet, sweet anointing
Flowing down to make me clean,
Like a mighty rushing stream.
Sweet, so sweet anointing
Pouring out the oil and wine all over me
Just the touch of the hand of the precious Jesus
Dipped into the oil of the Holy Ghost
It will soothe all my fears
Wipe away all my tears
It's the anointing of God I need the most
Sweet, sweet anointing
Flowing down to make me clean
Like a mighty rushing stream
Sweet, so sweet anointing
Pouring out the oil and wine all over me
Now we lift our hands unto the Heavenly Father
Send forth rain, upon this dry, this thirsty, this barren land.
All our sins, please forgive
Give us life, that we may start to live
Let us feel the touch of your anointed Hand!
Sweet Anointing
Flowing down to make me clean
Like a mighty rushing stream
Sweet, Sweet, Oh so Sweet, Anointing
Pouring out the oil and wine, all over me!
His Grace and Blessings to you,
Chris
