We're now diving into the story of David. A story of the guy that was a winner in everything he did because the Lord's hand was with him. And the story of a jealous leader. It's no surprise, king's in these times were always a jealous, nervous bunch. People that could take over their jobs were often found "missing" shall we say.
This story witnesses the madness of jealousy. Saul sends David out to do important business, David wins, Saul gets more jealous. Round and round it goes. The modern day story of this is the Chicago Bulls/Phil Jackson and Dallas Cowboys/the lame duck coach Jerry Jones hires because there is only so much room for ego in one place.
If Saul was smart he would have realized that since David can accomplish anything, I should set him loose. But ego and jealousy produces something vastly different. May we learn our lessons well.
The other lesson for the day is our response to crazy!! Crazy is being ordained by God to be the next king and having to have spears thrown at you. There are certain things that develop in your mind as people throw spears at you. There are choices that have to be made to survive.
The first choice one can make is learning the fine art of spear throwing. If someone throws a spear at me, I'm gonna pick it up and chuck it back and become like the very person who threw it at me in the first place. Probably the most common choice. Not's David's choice. David is a skilled warrior, David is next in line for the throne. David's popularity is so high, not many would care. After all, "Saul's killed his thousands, David his tens of thousands." Learning the art of spear throwing is how the madness gets passed from one generation to the next.
The second choice is David's choice...walk away. Recognize crazy for what it is and not partake in it. For most of us it seems like the weak, passive choice. And sometimes it could be that because sometimes one has to stand up, but sometimes walking away and not becoming like them is the better option. Like the saying "Be careful getting into an argument with a fool. Someone may be watching and not know who the fool is."
David charts some new territory for us to consider. His thought process in all of this has been to "not touch the Lord's anointed." There are some lessons in that for us about how we follow leadership that sometimes looks completely evil. David knows his time will come and that murdering the king isn't the way to make it happen.
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