And so, the Lord finally
relented to let Israel have a king to look up to, if they didn't want
to look up to Him. But He warned them that they might regret it
someday, because a human king wasn't always as easy to handle as a
divine Ruler. It was another matter of "flesh or spirit." The people
refused to adhere to a spiritual King and wanted one of flesh and blood
instead (1Sam.10:19).
And so the Lord led Samuel to
Saul, a fellow who at first didn't think very highly of himself. In
fact, when he heard that they were coming to make him king, he hid
himself (1Sam.10:21,22).
But as the years went by and
the battles were won, Saul slowly changed and became proud. Proud
enough to "know better" sometimes than to wait for the prophet, or do
all that he said the Lord wanted him to do. He listened to the voices
of popularity, as is so often the case in politics, rather than the
voice of God. And rejecting and disobeying God's Word was Saul's
mistake that finally caused God to look for another man to govern His
people.
Again He picks a shepherd boy,
maybe to hint that He Himself was and is the Good Shepherd. Once again
we find a boy endowed with courage and love for God way above the
average. This kid isn't afraid of lions nor bears nor giants, is such a
talented musician that he is summoned to play for the king, and they
lyrics to his songs are so powerfully anointed that they remain a
source of inspiration for millions of Jews and Christians alike, even
3000 years later.
He was almost too good to be
true. It's really no wonder that some folks have their doubts about the
veracity of the Bible. But then again we have similar people living in
our times who accomplish great feats for God: Gandhi, Mother Teresa,
Dorothy Day... It's just that they don't ascend to positions of
political leadership anymore in today's world.
But David's life wasn't
perfect, either; nor was he. What started out as a promising career
ended abruptly when Saul became insanely jealous of him. He had already
been told that the kingdom was going to be torn from him and given to
another (15:28),
and it was as if he knew that it was going to be given to David. After
all, Samuel had already anointed him as the next king of Israel when he
was just a boy (16:11-13).
And so, political competition
forced David to suffer the same fate as that of millions of men and
women of God throughout all ages: the fate of a refugee, one who was
persecuted, and outlaw. But apparently, there were other outlaws around
who banded with him, others who had seen the less favorable results of
the people's demand for a king.
David even had to flee to the
camp of an enemy nation to his own country for some time, and he
certainly must have felt forsaken sometimes, and he certainly must have
suffered from the injustice of it all. After all, he had meant no harm
to anyone, which he proved when he spared Saul's life repeatedly when
he could have killed him. He respected Saul as the rightful and
anointed king as a loyal subject until his death.
But even when all his dreams
finally came true and he finally became king over Israel, his troubles
were not over. First of all he found to be in trouble with his own
hormones when he fell in love with the wife of one of his soldiers and
was punished with the lost of their first child together for having
seen to it that Bathsheba's husband was killed in battle.
Later he had to flee from his
own son, Absalom, who wanted to be the king himself,and couldn't wait
for his father's death to become the rightful heir. Another classical
case of parenthood over a delinquent child.
All in all, David's life shows
that God's people are anything but perfect. There's lots of intrigue
happening there, brothers killing brothers, sons betraying fathers, and
people suffering the consequences for their sins. It's not what we
would expect from God's people. We'd expect them to behave in a more
civilized manner. After all, if God is perfect, why can't his people be
perfect, too?
But God never said that His people were a perfect people, only a "peculiar" people (Deut.14:2).
And is it any wonder? If you
were the Devil, where would you try to wreak the most havoc? You don't
have to worry about the folks you've already got in the bag! That's why
sadly find some of the saddest cases of dissension, rivalry and
intrigue right among God's people both of today and yesterday.
Some of the outstanding lessons
we can learn from the life of the prophet king David are that God does
not go by outward appearance (16:7)
when He chooses His anointed, and that He will even call a sinner "a
man after His own heart." We also learn that suffering seems to be
inevitable, even for the most glorious of His heroes; in fact, their
suffering brings forth the very sweetness that comforts generations to
come. It wasn't the great works and feats of David that have inspired
and strengthened us most, but something he himself and his
contemporaries may have considered a relatively insignificant
"by-product" of his life: the Psalms. There are hundreds of songs
re-telling the inspired words this musician, poet and prophet
originally authored thousands of years ago, making the Psalms one of
our oldest cultural heritage which is still being put to use in today's
forms of artistic and cultural expression.
