Being Sent

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

BEING SENT

1 Samuel 18:1-9

18:1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 5 Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well. 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. 7 As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" 9 And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

NIV

We are now introduced to Jonathan, the eldest son of Saul. According to their culture and customs, Jonathan would inherit everything from his father. As seen in the royal families of England, the crown is passed down through the generations within one family. We wonder if that was to be Saul's plan, to pass his crown to Jonathan, before God took the crown from him and gave it to David. However, here, Jonathan makes a covenant with David and becomes his friend and ally. The LORD was with David, as whatever Saul asked David to do, he did it successfully, and was awarded a high rank in the army. Here is one lesson about being sent out to do something by the king, although we are sent by the King of kings, and because He is with us, dwelling within us, we can be assured that whatever he sends us to do, we will succeed. We would think, because of the song of the people that Saul had killed thousands and David tens of thousands, that Saul waged war on other nations, or peoples who occupied land in Israel, and  David became a great warrior. This is another lesson, but first let us focus on being sent by the Lord. We wonder how he decides who to send to do what, and if he needs people with certain skills, talents, education, personality type, or some other qualifications, before he sends them. Perhaps none of those qualities matter as long as we have faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. David was selected by God, yet David was the youngest and just a shepherd, with no qualifications to be a king over all Israel, except for one. God saw his heart and testified that He had found a man after his own heart and would do whatever he asked him to do. That is the only qualification we need to be successful at whatever we are sent to do: have a heart for God, and do whatever he sends us to do. The second lesson is about the jealousy of Saul, and we know that it will drive him against David, to the point of wanting to kill David. Jealousy is a killer, but it does not kill the one who they are jealous of; it destroys the jealous one from within. It eats them up, killing their faith, their relationship with the Lord, and their own peace of mind. Saul almost went crazy because of his jealousy of David and we cannot afford to let that happen in our lives, as the Lord is with all of us, dwelling in each of us, blessing each of us and sending us within his kingdom to do what he has decided for us to do, whatever that is, he will empower us to be successful. Our part in all this is to be the person who has a heart for him, who wants to do whatever he has sent us to do.