King James Version
The Book of 1 Samuel
Chapter 18
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Commentary
by G. Neil Armstrong
David was a common boy who looked after the sheep in his father's fields. David was alone much of the time then and was able to sing with his harp and communicate with God, uninterrupted. As for running a kingdom, who of the Israelites could have known such a thing as this? How did Saul know how to be king? It must be studied more closely if I am to be sure, but I do now know that the hand of God was with David, even from the very beginning.
As it happened, David was in a position to learn how Saul ran the kingdom. As David learned the ways of a king, along with his honest love for the Almighty God, David was growing in good favor with the People. The women rejoiced in song, singing that David slain ten thousand while Saul slain only thousands. This only could have caused Saul much jealous, but that was not all. Saul seen the success of David's exploits. David had so far known only victory in battle and Saul was jealous.
The People did notice David's success as well. His "low esteem" status was growing continually. The hand of the Lord was with David and this did not escape Saul's attention, either. Saul could well remember when his ways were in the will of God. Not so very long ago Saul was comforted and led by God, but not any more. Now, the only way that Saul can be comforted is to have David soothe his soul with the music of his harp; the very harp he likely learned to play for the Lord, all alone out on the range, while tending sheep.
David came into this scene as a man after God's own heart. I can begin to see some common factors in God's choice of people. Maybe it is good to be of low esteem, not highly exalted in the public eye. Maybe it is good to be alone often, as a time of uninterrupted communion with the Lord. Maybe it is good to not be tainted by the feedback of others when we face our first lion or bear, so that we won't doubt and fear because of all that we would have heard or learned about the dangers of each. Undoubtedly, God was with David even then, but what if David knew the dangers of these wilderness creatures? Would he have bravely slain them or would he have fled to safety? What about Goliath? Should David have been to all of the battles to see firsthand the vicious fighting, would he have been so bold to go before the giant champion of the Philistines?
A person can contemplate any scenario and still see the work of the Lord in all of it. The least likely becoming the most victorious. For that, I thank God. Now David is learning to be humble in a deeper sense. I don't know clearly how it was back then, but I do think that after someone tries to kill me enough times I would likely develop some resentment for that person. David had not. In fact, David still seen himself as a commoner who was not worthy to be a member of the royal family. Today a person would be haughty and puffed up after a mere promotion at work. That is the vanity of our hearts today. We can learn a lot from David as we continue to learn how he came to be king. Right now we see him in training. This training is being brought about in the deepest parts of David's heart and because God loves him so, this training will continue for the rest of David's life.
