The Harp and the Hard Heart

1 Samuel chapter 16, that's where we're at this evening. We find ourselves looking at the very first incident in David's life after he is anointed by Samuel earlier in the chapter.

And you're going to find that through the next 10 to 15 years of David's life, we are going to look at different incidences that shape and mold his character, that make him the kind of man that he is.

Some of them not so good, others fairly good. But we're going to look at this man's life. This happens to be the very first incident recorded in scripture.

It's important to note because once he is anointed by Samuel, he doesn't go out and fit himself with a crown. He doesn't go down to the local men's warehouse and look for the royal garb the king would wear. He doesn't go down to the local BMW dealer and see if he can figure out what kind of chariot he's going to drive. He doesn't do that. He goes back to the shepherd fields. He goes back to doing what he always did, being a shepherd. Samuel went back to where his home was and David went back to the backside of Bethlehem.

That's what he did. And yet we find him in 1 Samuel chapter 16, he's called upon by the men of Saul to do something very unique. And so this becomes a very important part of David's life because it initiates for us the different snapshots we will get of this man through the next 15 years of his life before he ever ascends the throne. And so it's a long time before that actually happens. And that's good because he is tested so many different ways. And I'm reminded of what God told Jeremiah. And this is so important for all of us.

God said to Jeremiah, listen, if you can't run with footmen, how on earth will you ever be able to run with horses? If you can't handle a little disappointment in life, how are you going to handle a tragedy in life? You know, so many of us have a hard time handling little things that really don't make any difference whatsoever, but we get all frazzled. And God's like telling you, you know, if you can't handle little things, how are you going to handle the big things? And he told Jeremiah, look, if a little bit of criticism is going to hurt you, how are you going to handle it when a whole heap of criticism, a whole heap of problems come upon you?

You can't handle it. Learn to handle God in the little things and handle the little things with God and you'll be able to handle the bigger things as well. And David had to learn to handle the little things well. Sometimes he failed. Other times he succeeded. But we will learn so much about our lives as we look at King David's life and to realize more and more about what it is God has for us.

Let me read to you down from verse 14 down through verse number 23 at the end of the chapter. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. Saul's servants then said to him, Behold, now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Let our Lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp, and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.

So Saul said to his servants, Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Then one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. Who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man, and the Lord is with him. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the flock. And Jesse took a donkey loaded with the bread, and a jug of wine, and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son.

Then David came to Saul and attended him, and Saul loved him greatly, and he became the armor-bearer. And Saul said to Jesse, saying, Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. So it came about, whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand, and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him. There are several things you need to understand about the harp and the hard heart. The first one is the removal of the spirit, the removal of the spirit, because this poses many questions in our minds.

The text says, Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from who? From the Lord terrorized him. Now this opens up a whole bunch of questions. First of all, let's deal with the first part, that is the fact that the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.

We know that it came upon Saul. Turn back with me to 1 Samuel chapter 10. 1 Samuel chapter 10, the Bible says these words.

1 Samuel 10, verse number 9, That was Saul. When he was anointed king of Israel, the spirit of God came upon him in a mighty way. Now, the spirit of the Lord has departed from him. And we ended last week by saying that the spirit of God came upon David mightily. That's important. So how do we reconcile the fact that Saul lost the spirit of God? Well, what took place? Go back to 1 Samuel 15, verse number 1. Then Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel.

Now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. So I'm going to reiterate it one more time for you. Because the last three Sundays we covered it, and the last two Wednesdays we covered it. You don't listen to the Lord, you're in a heap of trouble. It's all about learning to listen to the Lord. That's the basic element of the Christian life. You need to listen to the Lord. That phrase is used so many times, over and over and over again. If you listen, you are blessed. If you don't, you are cursed.

Saul was supposed to listen to the words of the Lord from the prophet Samuel. And so, we know the story. We read it last week. He was told to kill all the Amalekites. He was told to kill all the livestock. He was told to kill the king. But he didn't do that. He spared the king. Spared the best of the livestock. Because he feared what the people would do. And the Bible says, verse 9, Saul and the people spared Agag.

The best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good. And were not willing to destroy them utterly. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Samuel comes. He hears the bleeding of the sheep. And rebukes Saul for his disobedience. Here's the problem. Saul partially obeyed. God looks for those who fully obey. We think that to partially obey the Lord is good enough. I don't have to obey the Lord in everything. Just if I do like, you know, eight out of ten, I'm pretty good.

No. The Lord wants all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. He says over and over again, you have to obey all the commandments of God. Not some of the commandments of God. And sometimes we get in this habit of thinking that we can obey just partial commandments. That we don't have to do everything God says.

But God says, you must do everything I tell you to do. Saul was the king. He didn't. And so, Samuel told him. For rebellion is a sin of divination, verse 23. And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king. Partial obedience is never good enough. It never is. You tell your kids to do something and they only do it, do half the job. Because they have something else they want to do. It's not good enough. They have to do the whole job.

They have to listen to everything you say. Same is true with us in the spiritual realm. We must obey everything that God says.

Saul did not do that. He was rejected as being king. He had rejected the word of the Lord. He rebelled against the word of the Lord. Now, the Lord rejects him as being king. So, in the Old Testament economy, the Spirit of God would come upon certain judges, certain prophets, certain kings, certain men, to perform certain tasks. Because they would have to be under the influence of God to perform those great and mighty tasks. Unlike the New Testament, in the book of Acts, when the Spirit of God came upon those there in Pentecost.

And now, the New Testament Christian is defined by the fact that Christ lives in him. The Spirit of God lives in him. He permanently indwells us. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God would come upon certain individuals. Like Samson. Remember Samson? He was a judge in Israel. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. And he was used in a mighty way as a mighty warrior of God. But he had this problem with Delilah. He couldn't get her out of his mind. And he couldn't get her out of his mind. And she couldn't get out of his hair.

And so, what happened is that he told her that his strength lied in his hair. She cut his hair. She said, the Philistines are upon you. He could not destroy them. They captured him, plucked out his eyes. The Bible says in Joshua, or excuse me, Judges 16 verse number 20.

He did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Saddest verse in the Old Testament. Judges 16, 20. He did not know. He was so enamored with this woman. He was so slain by her beauty that he was willing to give away that which he thought was the important thing. Now, his strength really wasn't in his hair. It was in his relationship with the Lord. Okay? He had taken a Nazarite vow. He wasn't supposed to cut his hair. All right? But his strength was in his relationship with the Lord, not his hair.

Okay, if that was the case, we'd all have long hair. Right? That's not the point. The point is the Lord departed from him. And he would pray, O Lord, remember me. And when he prayed, his relationship was restored. And along with that relationship came his strength when he repented. And you know the story. He pushed over the pillars. Everything came down. He died in the aftermath. That's what happened. But the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. But he didn't know it. And so we see this. That's why David prayed in Psalm 51, 11, Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Right? Why? Because as king, he knew that the Spirit of God had come upon him mightily. If he lived in sin, that Spirit would depart from him. And he would not be used in a mighty way for God. He knew the whole story of Saul. He knew what happened to Saul. And the Spirit of God left him and came upon David so that David could rule the people in a mighty way. And that's exactly what took place. Okay? So now you understand that because of Saul's rejection, God rejected him. Because of Saul's rebellion, this is divine retribution upon Saul.

Which leads us to the second part of verse 14. And that's this. That the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. And an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. Now this is good stuff. Right? Because people say, well, the Lord is not evil. He's good. So why would the Lord send an evil spirit to Saul to terrorize him? That's a good question, isn't it? How would you answer someone that said, wow, your God is so good He sends evil spirits on people to terrorize them? Well, this is not the only time it happens in Scripture.

It happens different times throughout the Scripture. In fact, let me read to you a portion of 1 Kings chapter 22.

That deals with King Ahab and a good prophet by the name of Micaiah. Micaiah said, Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by him, on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said to him, How? And he said, I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all the prophets.

Then he said, that is the Lord, you are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so. Now, therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these, your prophets. And the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you. Isn't that good? Why would God do that? Ahab was a liar. He was a deceiver. And even by sending a deceiving spirit upon four of the prophets, he warned Ahab he was going to die in battle. And God was true to his word. He did die in battle. He wouldn't listen to the word of the Lord.

But you see, the point of this is this. Satan can't do anything without God's permission. Nothing. You need to understand that God's in charge of everything. There's nothing he's not in charge of. There's nothing he's not in control of. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe. So don't go around thinking, boy, all this breaking news surrounding me must be from the devil. Let me tell you something.

If it's from the devil, he got permission from who? You're right. Got it from God. Because he can't do anything without asking permission. That's why the Lord said to Peter, Peter, Satan is wanting to sift you like wheat. He wants to get you, Peter. He wants to destroy you. But don't worry, I prayed for you that your faith will not fail. He didn't say, I'm not going to let it happen. He says, I'm praying for you, Peter, that your faith will not fail. So when it's all said and done, you'll be able to come back and strengthen your brethren.

Job is another example, right? God allowed Satan to destroy his family, destroy his livestock, destroy everything that's there, and even afflict him after permission again. But it was all because of what the Lord allowed Satan to do. See, we have to understand that God is so sovereign. He is so in control of everything that nothing happens without him allowing or directly involved in making happen. That's our God. In this evil spirit that came upon him, let me tell you something.

How do you think it happens with Judas? It was a divine prophetic fulfillment that someone would betray the Lord Jesus. Do you think Jesus knew who he was in eternity past? Absolutely. Satan filled Judas' heart. He was the son of perdition. And yet he was completely responsible for all of his actions according to the gospel of Luke. How do you reconcile that? Folks, you can't reconcile it, so don't even try to reconcile it. Because our finite minds can't wrap ourselves around the truth of an infinite God who works all things after the counsel of his will.

This is important. Do you think that the messenger of Satan sent upon Paul had permission from God? You bet. You bet. And so Paul would ask for it to be removed. And God said, Nope, it's staying. Why? Because when you're weak, I'm strong. And when I'm strong through you, you now are strong. And Paul knew it was sent to him to humble him and to keep him on his knees following the Lord. Job, when it was all said and done, experienced the same kind of blessing. Hey, listen.

Matthew chapter 4. And the Spirit of the Lord drove the Son of God into the wilderness. Why? So that he could be tempted by the devil for 40 days. All this is about the sovereignty of Almighty God. He rules over all. And God allowed this Spirit to come upon him. In fact, it says it in verse number, I'll go back to verse 16. It says in verse number 15, Behold, now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Even the servants knew that. And then again, the evil spirit from God is on you. That's verse number 16.

Then down to verse number 23. The evil spirit from God came to Saul. I mean, it reiterates the fact that God's in charge of this. And God allowed this to happen. This man rejected God. He turned his back on God. He rebelled against God. He was against God. And God says, Okay, you know what?

This is what's going to happen. I'm going to deal with you according to your character. That's what God does. That's what he did with Ahab, who was a liar and deceiver. He sent 400 prophets to prophesy lies because he was a liar. Judas was the son of perdition. And God deals with people according to their character. And that's exactly what happened with Saul. And so this removal of the spirit is important because this is where it all begins to go down for him. God's going to remove him. It's going to take a while.

It's going to take about 15 years before this man finally dies. And David flees his presence continually. But this is one of the good stories because David is used in a mighty way. And so you have the whole story about the removal of the spirit. Now, why would God do this? Why would God send this evil spirit upon Saul that's going to inevitably cause Saul to pick up a spear and thrust it at David and try to kill him? And three times that happens, by the way. Three times. I don't know if David's a slow learner or what, but three times Saul picks up a through the midsection of David.

Why? Why would God do that? Because during those 15 years that he was fleeing in the wilderness, what did he do? He began to write all these different psalms about, Lord, where are you? Lord, do you hear my cry? And talk about the shielding of God in his life, the protection of God in his life, and how to cry out to God in his life. So that you and I today can go back and read all those psalms when we're discouraged, when we're defeated, when we are out in left field all alone. What do we do? We read about what King David did and begin to identify with his loneliness, his isolation, his pain, his discouragement, yes, even his sin, and begin to identify with those things.

God had a bigger plan than just King David. He's got a bigger plan because he wants this man to reach literally millions of people through the inspired Word of God. God has a bigger plan than just you. I know it's hard for some of you to grasp that, but he has a bigger plan than just you. And so things are going to happen to you that you're never going to understand. You're not going to get. You might not even know this side of eternity, but that's irrelevant. What's relevant is that through all that, God is going to shape and mold your character so that you'll have an impact in people's lives that you don't even meet or even know.

Because God is going to use you in a mighty way. And he will stop at nothing to make sure it happens, nothing. Even if he has to use an evil spirit to torment somebody else in your family to get you to depend upon him, he'll do it. That's the way God works, because he's in charge. And after all, if you're in charge, guess what? You can do whatever you want, right? That's the luxury of being in charge. And that's what God is. So there comes this removal of the spirit. That's how it all begins. From that, you have point number two.

And that is the recommendation of the servants. The recommendation of the servants. This is good. Listen to this. Saul's servants then said to him, Behold, now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Let our Lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp, and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you that he will play the harp with his hand, and you will be well. Now this is important. Why? Because their remedy to Saul's problem was insufficient.

Man is looking for better harps, and God is looking for better hearts. Big difference. Their counsel should have been, You know what, Saul? You better repent. You better get on your hands and knees and beg the forgiveness of God. You better get down on your face and ask the Lord to forgive you of your rebellion and your rejection of His Word. That's what you need to do. Those would have been wise counselors. Those would have been wise counselors. But the servants didn't do that. Theirs was one that was a superficial remedy.

They wanted Saul to be refreshed, but Saul needed to repent. Big difference. They needed to understand that they could divert Saul's mind, but they needed to deliver Saul's mind. Big difference. They could divert it from the turmoil, from the terrorizing effects of this evil spirit that would come upon him, but he needed deliverance from it. And that comes through repentance. That comes through crying out to God. And that's the remedy he needed. It wasn't music. Although music does soothe the soul.

I mean, music's always done that. But his soul needed more than just soothing. It needed saving. There's much that needed to happen in Saul's life. And these individuals would request something that would help him. The problem with it is that it would only cover his problem. It would not cure his problem. Because his problem was his heart, his soul, that was rebellious against the living God. And so Saul said to his servants, verse 17, Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.

He liked that. Why? Because in his rebellious state, it could pamper his flesh. And that was okay for him. It was okay. Something that would give him immediate relief, immediate results he'd take. And so you move from the removal of the spirit, to the recommendation by the servants, to number three, the requirements for selecting this individual.

This gets really good. Listen to this. Then one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man, and the Lord is with him. Let me tell you something about David.

Number one, David was a skilled musician. A skilled musician. Now listen carefully. If you're going to play before the king, you've got to be a skilled musician. You can't get somebody up there who's just going to pluck away and play the chopsticks and do it kind of, you know, okay. You know, you've got to be a skilled musician. And David was that. He was the man who knew how to play. Somewhere in the backside of Bethlehem, people heard him playing. He doesn't know people are watching, he doesn't know people are listening, but someone's listening.

There is a son of Jesse who is a skillful player on the harp. This guy can play like nobody's business. He knows what he's doing. We can get him to come in here because this man was a skilled musician. How do you become a skilled musician? You've got to practice. You've got to practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. And David would use his leisure time to do that. His leisure time. He had some leisure time there in the backside of Bethlehem, and so he would use that time to practice. And although he had never been asked to play anywhere else, and although no one that he knew of had ever heard him play, he kept practicing and practicing and practicing because you just never know when you're going to be called upon.

You know, in the church, the church of Jesus Christ, when you play, you play for the king. You don't play for us. If you're not skillful, you don't play. The church is not a charity organization. Well, you know, they've got a good heart. Let's let them sing. You know, a good heart doesn't qualify you to be a good singer. Practice does. Being able to carry a tune does. Singing well does. Because when you sing, you're singing for the king, and the king wants skillful musicians. Well, well, God looks upon the heart.

He knows I have a servant's attitude. When you play for the king, you got to be the best. That's important. That's so important. And unfortunately, today in the church, sometimes we just get people up there and say, well, they look cute while they're doing it. Really? Is cute a standard for the king? I don't think so. Last time I checked, I didn't read it in here anywhere. Cutie is not a standard for the king. You got to be a skilled musician, a skilled player. You got to know what you're doing. That's why the king says, provide for me now a man who can play well.

I got to have somebody who can play well. Don't get somebody who's just going to pluck away and hope they make some good sounds. I got to have somebody who can really play. They know what they're doing. He was a skilled musician. He was skilled at what he did. But notice this.

It says, he was a mighty man. Not only was David skilled, he was strong. He was a mighty man. Not only was he a man of music, he was a man of muscle. He was not just a music man, he was a muscle man. This guy was a stud. He was a mighty man of valor. That tells us a lot about David. It tells us a lot about his character, his discipline in life, his personality in life. How did he build those muscles? Did he have a subscription to LA Fitness that he could use? Or maybe it was Jerusalem Fitness back in those days.

And he could go to the gym and work out and be really strong and build those muscles and have that six pack and be really ripped and go out there and say, man, look at those guns, man.

I'm a stud. No. No. Some way, somehow, this man was a muscle man. He was a strong man because he worked in the fields in Bethlehem. He had to work for his father, Jesse. He wasn't a flabby man. He was a strong man. He was industrious. He worked hard. Folks, that's important. He wasn't a couch potato, okay? He wasn't a video head. He went out and he did work that made him strong, okay? He wasn't a part of some physical fitness center. He was in the backside of Bethlehem. He did more than just tend to the sheep.

He had to build the pens for the sheep. He had to make sure that he would fight off the marauders who would come in and try to steal the sheep. He was a man of muscle. He was a strong man. He was a skilled man. Thirdly, look at this.

He was a warrior. He was a skilled man. He was a strong man. He also was a soldier. Now, wait a minute. He wasn't a part of Saul's army. In fact, when we get to the next chapter and the whole thing with Goliath, he's not a part of the army. So how does he become a mighty warrior? How does that happen? Well, the Bible says, and we read about it in 1 Samuel 23, that the Philistines who bordered there in and around Israel and Judah, they would come in and they would steal the flock, and they would steal the harvest, and they would steal the grain, and they would do all they could to provide for themselves, and they would steal from those in Israel.

So David became a soldier by fighting off all those people who'd want to come and steal his lambs, come and steal livestock from his field, come and steal grain that was produced in his field. He had to fight them off. He was a warrior. He wasn't going to sit back and let somebody steal what he had worked so hard to put together. And everybody knew this man was a warrior. Word got out, don't mess with David. You can't steal David's stuff. He's going to kick your tail. Stay away from the guy. He was a man of war.

He was a warrior. He was a soldier. He was skilled at his musical ability. He was strong. And then it says that he was one prudent in speech. His speech was discreet and wise. That is, he didn't run off with the mouth. He didn't say things at times he shouldn't say them. He was very discreet. And maybe he learned that because the only thing he talked to was the sheep out there, and he didn't have much to say. But the bottom line is that he was just very wise in the words that he used. He wasn't somebody who went around gossiping.

He didn't go around telling lies about other people. He didn't go around bad-mouthing other people. His speech was discreet. That is, he thought before he said anything. That's very important because if you're going to be the king, you've got to learn to think before you speak, right? And he had great speech. But notice this.

He was a handsome man. A handsome man. This speaks to you about his stature. It's a word that deals with the outline of an individual. We know that from earlier in 1 Samuel 16 that he had a handsome face. But now we know he has a handsome figure. There's something about this man. Not only was he a muscle man, he was a man of great stature. And he was one who was, when looked upon, people would see this man as one who was a physical specimen. Not because he was always working out and trying to get his body bigger and better.

No, he was disciplined. He had discipline of body and discipline of soul. This is important. Because he was able to portray outwardly what he was on the inside. Because what's the next characteristic say? The Lord was with him. Everybody knew the Lord was with them. How did they know that? How did they know that the Lord was with David? His testimony was excellent. His testimony was fabulous. People would know this man walked with God. He's just a teenage boy, somewhere between 16 and 18 years of age.

Somehow they know that the Lord is with this guy. Let me ask you a question. Do people know the Lord is with you? Do they know you're a spiritual man? A spiritual woman? Because you have the qualities of Christ that shine in and through your life. Do they know that? For David, people knew he fellowshiped with God. He didn't hide his faith. He was known because of his faith. The Lord was with him. Remember the Bible says that Joshua, the Lord was with him.

Remember Joseph, Genesis 35? The whole chapter about Potiphar's wife and her deception and her lying about Joseph was all marked by the fact that five times, I think it says in Genesis 35, the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him. He was marked by this one character quality that God was upon his life and everybody knew it. Same with Joshua. Same with David. The Lord was with him. Do people know that about you? These were the qualifications that made this man enter the presence of the King. This is what made him unique.

And everybody could see it about him. He was a music man. He was a muscle man. He was a strong man. He was a warrior type. He had a strong physique. But most importantly, the Lord was with him. This is the kind of guy you gotta know. That character quality alone made him appealing. But the same quality that made him appealing to Saul would be the same quality that would make Saul despise him. And that is the Lord was with him. It's that one quality that would make Saul such a bitter man because the Lord wasn't with Saul and he knew it.

He knew the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him and as great as David was and as wonderful as David was and as beautiful as David was, and we see in this story that he just fell in love with David. He appreciated David. He marveled at David. But it's that one quality that attracted him to Saul would be the one character quality that Saul would learn to despise more than any other quality because he knew that the Lord was with him and was with David. And his soul became so bitter. And you're gonna see in Saul, listen carefully, what bitterness does to a soul, how it defiles a whole nation.

Remember Hebrews 12? Careful about a root of bitterness welling up within you for it defiles many people. A whole nation becomes defiled because of one king's bitter spirit that he will not rectify. Even though he's confronted over and over again, he never rectifies it, and that bitterness just destroys his life and defiles a nation. It's sad, but that's what happens. It all began right here when the Spirit of the Lord departed from him and he looked for a superficial remedy instead of a spiritual remedy.

Looking for something to soothe the soul instead of something that would save a soul. And therefore, he just got further and further and further away from the Lord. This thing I want you to see is the reception of the shepherd, that is, the reception of David. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who was with the flock. And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son. And David came to Saul and attended him.

And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. And Saul said to Jesse, saying, Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. This is about as good as it gets with Saul and David. This is it, man. So David comes. They go and get him. He brings him in. And I'm going to read it to you because I've said it to you many times over again. The verse is Proverbs 18, verse number 16. A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.

Here is David, whose gift of music, his ability to play skillfully, that he learned the backside of Bethlehem, practicing, practicing, practicing, getting better and better and better, not knowing if anyone was watching or anyone was listening. Finally the time came, some 18 years later, there's a guy who can really play.

Let's get him. And boy, he's not only a player, that dude is a stud. Let's bring him in here. We'll use him. And they go and get him. And the Bible says this, that David came and attended Saul.

Do you understand what that means? Later it says, in verse 22, that David now stand before me. That phrase, to stand before me, is another way of saying that he attended Saul. In other words, he became Saul's servant. Now, he's been anointed king of Israel, and he's a servant of the king who rejected his God. That's a powerful statement. He attended to Saul. He was a servant of Saul. He did what Saul asked. What did Jesus say in Matthew 23? If you want to be great, you got to learn to be the servant of all.

Right? Got a lot of people looking for greatness, but don't want to serve anybody. He was a servant. He wasn't saying, hey, wait a minute, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I am the king. You should be playing for me. You should be attending me. You should be taking me out shopping so I can get fitted for my new royal garb. I'm not listed here to serve you, but that's what David did. He served Saul. And this is one of the aspects that would make David a great man. He learned to serve. He learned to follow.

Want to be a great leader? You better learn to follow. If you can't follow, you can't lead. And by the way, by the way, if you're a leader and people aren't following, guess what? You never learned to follow because they're not going to follow somebody who doesn't know how to serve. Great leaders know how to serve. And because they know how to serve, people who now follow them, follow them with a willing spirit. They love to do it. And David was a man who learned to serve. He learned to attend to the needs of Saul.

Also, it says they loved him greatly. Wow, why not, right? The guy could play. He was handsome. He was strong. The Lord was with him. He came willingly. He didn't come kicking and screaming. Jesse didn't go to the backside of Bethlehem and say, hey, hey, hey, David, I got a job for you. I'm not going over there. No, no, you're going. No, Dad, I'm not. You're going, son. He didn't go kicking and screaming to the palace. No, he went willingly to the palace. He went to do the will of the Lord. He served.

Well, maybe we all learned that lesson. And he went to do what God had asked him to do and be used in a great and mighty way. And Saul's affection for David didn't last long, did it? Because we'll hear a song that's going to be sung pretty soon in a couple of weeks by our standards and a couple of days by theirs. And Saul has slayed his thousands, but David has ten thousands. And all of a sudden, the affection for David began to wane. Wait a minute. He's getting more credit than me. I'm the king.

I'm the older guy. He's the younger guy. He hasn't done anything yet. He just killed a giant. No big deal. He killed one giant. I've won many battles. And he becomes now unaffectionate toward David, becoming angry and bitter toward David, even more so as time goes on. And the text says that not only did he stand before him and attend to him, but he became Saul's armor bearer. I want you to know something about this. To be faithful in much, you better learn to be faithful with the little. He served and attended the needs of Saul.

And Saul would give him a promotion because to be the armor bearer, to carry the lance, the shield, the spear, you had to be a trustworthy, loyal follower of the king because he's not going to entrust those valuable warrior possessions to somebody who doesn't know how to take care of them. Keep them sharp. Keep them shiny. Keep them just pristine. So he was promoted because he was faithful in the little. He now becomes faithful in much. There are people, you know, in the church today who want to have a big responsibility in the church, but they haven't been faithful in the little things.

The little things. You know, don't you tell your kids, you know, you got to pick up your room. Why? That's the little thing. Before you get to the whole house, do your room, okay? Do your room. Make sure you can obey at home because if you can't obey at home, how are you going to obey at work when some guy's there telling you what to do and you don't want to do what he says? You've got to learn to submit to authority at home before you submit to authority outside the home, right? You've got to learn to be faithful in the little bit of things.

You're faithful with the little bit of money, guess what? God's going to give you a whole bunch more money. If you're not faithful with the little you got, guess what? He's not going to give you any more. He's not going to do that because you can't be trusted with it. If you don't give to the Lord what's due His, honoring the Lord with the first fruits of your increase and making sure you manage your money and budget it wisely, you think He's going to give you more money to blow that away?

No, not in your life. Faithful with the little, you'll be entrusted with much more down the road. Here was King David attending to the needs of Saul. Saul says, You know what? I need somebody to be my armor bearer. You're the man. I want you, David, to do that. And all of a sudden he gets promoted to the armor bearer, the king. Man, what a beautiful, beautiful story about what God wants to do in the life of an individual. So he advances him. And then it says, Saul said to Jesse, saying, Let David now stand before me for he has found favor in my sight.

David pleased Saul. David honored Saul. David served Saul. And the report card back to Father Jesse was, Your boy's good. He's sharp. He's done well. Gotta be proud of your boy. He's done a good work for me. I want to keep him. He's the man. Which leads us to our last point, and that's a refreshment from the songs. So it came about, Whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand, and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

Wow. It's a phrase. This phrase, refreshed, means to breathe easily. Whatever this evil spirit was that came upon Saul, it terrified him such that he could hardly breathe. But somehow, when David would come into his presence, I'm not so sure it was the music as it was the man playing the music. You see, sometimes we forget that we want to perform properly. We want to perform musically instead of please the master, instead of portray that master. David was a man who loved the Lord and followed the Lord.

He was all about the Lord. That was evident in his life. We'll see it in the next story with Goliath. He feared the Lord, and he wanted to serve God. I'm not so sure it's the music as much as it is the man who played the music. It was the man behind the harp. It was the heart behind the harp. Put it that way. The heart of a man behind the harp that played. You know, you get people who can play, you know, are really good musicians, but it's all about them, how well they sing, how well they play. It's all about them.

They come to perform and to get applause, but the man of God, the woman of God who was skilled musically, they do it to please the master. They do it not for applause, not for money, not for money. They do it because they want to please their master, the king, because they play for the king. David played for the king, not Saul, but the great Lord God Jehovah. That's who he played for. Let me close with this.

I got a few minutes left yet. David was a man that was available to be used by God. He was available to be used by God. Sometimes people are not available to be used, and David was willing to be used. He was available. In fact, if you go all the way back to the book of Exodus, remember Moses? And God came to Moses, spoke to him, and said, I want to use you. You're the man. I've seen the affliction of my people. I'm coming down to deliver them. I'm using you as the one who is my spokesperson. And Moses began to give all these excuses.

One was his inability. One was his insecurity. One was his inadequacy, right? One was his inferiority. He gave all these excuses to the Lord, and the Lord always answered, you know what? You have my presence. I'm going to go with you. You've got my power. I'm going to speak through you. You have me to take care of you. And God had an answer for every excuse that Moses gave. But all that led to the ultimate excuse, which was, you know what, Lord? Here am I, but send somebody else. And the Bible says in Exodus chapter 4 that the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, not because of his inferiority, complex, not because of his inability to do what God asked him to do, because God was going to give him the ability to do it, not because of his insecurity, not because of his immaturity, because of his unavailability.

Send somebody else. And God became so angry because he was not willing to be used. How many of us sit here this evening and have marked ourselves unavailable for God to be used? You want the anger of the Lord to burn against you? Just say, you know what? Send somebody else. Have somebody else do it. I don't want to do that. That's not my thing. Really? Just tell the Lord you're just unavailable. And watch how the anger of the Lord burns against you. That's what he did with Moses. And once Moses became available, boy, he became the greatest leader in Israel's history.

David was available. He was always available. On the backside of Bethlehem, he was just waiting. Didn't know what he was waiting for, but he was just waiting. And one day came the call from the king. I need someone to play. Would you be willing to play for the king? How much does it pay? Do I get free housing? Do I get gas money from Bethlehem to Jerusalem? He just was willing to go. And so it's important to realize that availability coupled with ability provides for a great ministry. Availability coupled with ability produces a great and wonderful ministry.

There are some of you out there that have the ability but are unavailable. Others of you are available but don't have the ability. And the two together provide for a powerful ministry. But note this, availability when coupled with humility leads to notoriety. Availability when coupled with humility leads to notoriety. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up in due time. David was a humble man. And God lifted him up in due time, his time, the right time. And everything from here on out leads to greater notoriety for David because of his humility.

But he was available to be used by God. The story of the harp and the hard heart is a great story. It has many valuable lessons for all of us. And you will see in each snapshot we have of David the valuable lessons you're going to learn that will transform the way you live your life if you listen to what the Word of the Lord says and follow his commandments. Let me pray with you.

Lord God, we thank you for tonight and a chance to be in your Word. What a story. What a beautiful portrayal of a young man devoted to his God. What a story of tragedy, great tragedy of somebody who rejected the Word of the Lord and rebelled against him. And yet, in spite of that tragedy, you would lift one to great notoriety, the King of Israel, David, son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. We learn so much from this man's lifestyle, his words. We'll learn more as time goes on about how it is you mold and shape this young man.

Our prayer, Father, is that we'd be willing listeners, wanting to learn all that we can about our response to you and your Word. Lead us and guide us, Father, that we might be available to be used by you. The abilities you've given to us, the gifts you've given to us have been given that we might learn to perfect them for your glory and honor. And that as your Word says, that a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. What a beautiful promise. Use us for your glory and for your honor.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.