- Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” 2 Samuel 16:20 – Be wise enough to consider the motives behind the people who you are seeking advice from. Here Absalom, David’s son who has successfully stolen the throne from his father, is seeking counsel on what to do first in “his” new kingdom to establish his reign. He inquires of Ahithophel, who was one of David’s most trust advisors when he was king, he was also the grandfather of Bathsheba, the lady David committed adultery with and murdered the husband of. We see that the moment a conspiracy to dethrone David began to arise, Ahithophel was ready to support it due to his distain for David for what he did. Absalom is now asking a man who seems to only want to shame David further what he should do first in his kingdom, and the advice is one that not only was disgusting and shameful, but would have made any future reconciliation between David and Absalom almost impossible. In seeking council, Absalom choose to listen to someone with sinful motives, and not surprising, it led Absalom to sinful actions. As we begin to seek council in life from the people around us, take time to consider whether their motives in life are to push you towards the Lord or towards sinfulness. If you’re asking someone for guidance that doesn’t know Jesus and clearly has no desire for you to live holy, do you truly believe they are going to give you godly advice? If this person is continually choosing sin and finding themselves on unholy paths, why would you choose to ask them what path to go down? If you want to pursue Jesus, seek council from those pursuing Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3035
- Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” (v.19) – It’s hard to understand why God would see someone so gifted and give them the label as king, and keep them in a sheep field. There is something thought we need to understand. God didn’t see David’s gifts or give him the label of king just to leave him in the fields watching sheep. It just wasn’t the right time yet for David to move into his throne room. Same for you, God sees your gifts and has given you the labels you need to move. He knows though when you should move and won’t direct you away from your current sheep field until that time arises. We can get ahead of God so easily and press forward into our throne room before the time is right. When that happens we miss two things. 1. The personal development that was designed for us in the sheep field to prepare us for the next. 2. The service for God in that sheep field that is missed when we move ahead before the appointed time. God has put that spirit of ambition in you to move forward and to grow, but wait to take those ambitious steps until God leads you. You might be feeling dissatisfied, unneeded, and held back where you are at. You see what you are capable of and see it over-qualifies you for the place that you are at. Just understand there is a reason why God has kept you in your sheep field and hasn’t opened the doors yet to your throne room. Rather than striving to reach that next step when God hasn’t opened the door for it yet, pour out that ambition into seeking what is God wanting you to accomplish where you are at now and completing it. – Daily DEVO 6
- 1 Samuel 16 Daily DEVO The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1 – God doesn’t dwell on issues that are in the past. We see here Samuel still so caught up with the mistake of making Saul king and the sin that Saul committed, yet at the same time God is saying He’s moved past all that and is ready to not let all that keep Him from moving forward. We need to be more like God in this if we too want to move forward. If we ever want to move forward in a relationship we have to move past the mistakes they made. If we want to move forward in our walk with God we have to move past our sinful life before we met God and the guilt we carry because of it. If we don’t we won’t move. God though is moving because He’s not held down by the past. Let go of what you need to let go of. Forward is the direction God is calling you to, if something is keeping you from moving forward after God then cut the ties you have to it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 416
- Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 1 Samuel 16:19 – David was with the sheep. Yet what just happened in David’s life? He was just anointed king of Israel! Where then did David go after being anointed king? Back to take care of his flocks! Yes he had the blessing, the talent, and even the title to take the throne, but God hadn’t brought him there yet so he gave his focus to what God had placed in his care. You, like David, may have the blessing and talents to move out of and away from the spot in life you’re in. My encouragement to you is follow David’s lead here. Until God moves you, pour deeply into where He has placed you. Handle well the responsibilities God has already given you and trust the next step will come when He’s ready to move you there. God will move you from the sheep field to the throne room when the time is right. Yet if we push it and neglect the sheep in our field, how likely will God move us into the throne room over a kingdom? Pour out where you are and trust the movement forward with God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1641
- Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. 1 Samuel 16:13 – After Samuel grieved the loss of Saul as king, God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to pick one of his sons as the new king of Israel. After seeing all of David’s brothers and not one of them receiving the blessing from the Lord, David is finally brought in from the fields to stand before Samuel. As we see in the verse, David is chosen as king. Samuel anoints David as king, pours oil over his head, the Holy Spirit rushes upon David…then Samuel leaves… David is left at his family’s house and likely goes right back to watching the family sheep, just now as king over all of Israel! God will sometime move in ways and move at times that don’t make sense. Why would God anoint David as king and then just leave him in the sheep field? Why would God lead Israel out of Egypt only to be trapped by the Rea Sea? Why would God have His Son die on a cross? These are ways of God moving in the past that likely didn’t make sense to those experiencing them, but we can look back and see why. Allow yourself then to trust God still knows what He is doing when He moves in ways that just makes no sense at all. For a God who knows all and is not held captive by time, it’s clear to Him why He is working the ways He is. Trust that when you are left in the sheep field, He knows what’s ahead and He is today preparing you just that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2893
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