By Chris Clarke
One of the most storied days in the history of Israel and her future king began simply with these events:
“David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded.”
When, as recounted in 1 Samuel 17, Jesse asked David to bring down lunch to his brothers and bring back news of the battle, David had no comprehension of what he was about to walk into. I love how God, having prepared His servant, propelled him into his destiny in the most mundane of circumstances, a lunch break.
Recall that when Samuel first laid eyes on David’s oldest brother Eliab, he immediately thought that he was looking upon the future king. Those thoughts elicited a swift, and I think, dramatic response from Yahweh. God said,
“Samuel, don’t think Eliab is the one just because he’s tall and handsome. He isn’t the one I’ve chosen. People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts.” 1 Samuel 16:7 CEV.
Later that day when David arrived at the camp of the army of Israel, what God had seen in Eliab’s heart was put on display for all to see. Eliab exposed the carnality in his heart as he hurled invectives at his little brother.
Eliab falsely accused David of being irresponsible with the “few sheep” in his care. He even questioned David’s motives for being on the battlefield. How tragic and shortsighted. In the hour of Israel’s triumph, big brother allowed his flesh to get the better of him. Sometimes we’re unable to see God’s provision for deliverance even when He gift wraps it and places it right in front of us. This day was about the deliverance of Israel. But, in Eliab’s anger, all he saw was the imminent “exaltation” of David.
You see, Eliab knew David was destined to be king and he resented him for it. Eliab believed the lie that he was overlooked. Overlooked? Not at all! Eliab was the first son Jesse presented to Samuel. He was not overlooked; he just was not chosen. Eliab was unable to distinguish between overlooked and chosen. And he was not chosen to be king because he wasn’t created to be king. He was chosen for something else, but he could not see it. After all, it’s not as if David chose himself to be king.
Today, God is shaking everything that can be shaken so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. In this time of God-ordained shaking, many of us, like Eliab, are experiencing eruptions from the uncultivated patches in our hearts. Why the eruptions? God, in His mercy and love, wants us to see the places we need to allow Him to touch. He knows that if left to flourish, the weeds will smother and choke out the fruit He longs to bring forth from our lives. He knows the things in us that would prevent His glory from flowing to us and through us to a lost and dying world. When He begins to bring forth the Davids, the Josephs, and those bearing the mantle of Melchizedek, He doesn’t want us to act like Eliab. He wants us to rejoice to see the many He has been sheltering in obscurity where they have been prepared to bring down the very giants who have been taunting the people of God for so long.
There is a fight we must all win to get into the battle for which we were created. In the case of David, the skirmish with his brother was the first fight he won on that momentous day in the Valley of Elah. David won the brother battle by not engaging in it. He avoided the fight in front of him to get into the battle ahead of him. He was too busy preparing to introduce a giant named Goliath to the only true Giant, whose name Goliath would soon know and whose wrath he would soon endure. This was the battle he was created to fight and win. David somehow understood that he was prepared by God for this special moment, and he was not going to let the petty jealousies of an insecure, offended, and bitter brother keep him from the other fight, the other victory, and the glory that it would bring to Yahweh.
We are approaching an epochal moment in the unfolding of God’s eternal purposes. Everything inside of us as believers knows that this is no ordinary day we live in. We who are alive were chosen to be a part of a grand display of the Father’s goodness to His creation. Every molecule and every fiber within us should be straining to come into alignment with the Spirit of God as we approach the appointed hour. Can you feel it?
Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Who knows? It could be the beginning of a destiny defining moment, like that experienced by David during the lunch break.