"Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." (Psalm 27:10, NIV)
You know by now that I am a Psalmic kinda guy. And the above passage, which I read many times, I always thought it was just a metaphoric, figure of speech kinda thing.
But just a couple of days ago, I sat down to really think about what David's upbringing was like. The ideas were disturbing. How did his father, Jesse, see him? Was David treasured and valued by his father? Look at this incident.
[Samuel] asked "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." (1 Sam 16:11, NIV)
The great prophet of God, Samuel, came to the family out of the blue. Jesse and his sons, at least, those that were with him, were consecrated and invited to the sacrifice, the heart of Old Testament worship. What a great honor for the family!
But David was forgotten, excluded, not worth the hassle of sending a servant out to fetch him. Jesse didn't have any difficulty leaving David out of an important family event. How do you think David felt about it?
Was this an isolated incident? Could be.
Children tend to follow the example of their parents. Sons especially want to be more like their fathers. Could Eliab, David's eldest brother. give us an idea of what home life for David was like? Let's look at how Eliab spoke to David when David went to the military camp, heard the challenge of Goliath, and asked the rest of the men around him what were the rewards of successfully defeating Goliath.
When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." (1 Sam 17:28)
The other men took the time to answer David's legitimate questions. Eliab got angry, implied that he was neglecting his real job (taking care of sheep) and called him conceited and wicked.
Was this how Jesse also treated David? We can't say. But was this an isolated incident? Maybe not…
When you have a child growing up in a negative environment, the child will either behave very badly to get attention, or go the extra mile to get approval. Do we see any of this in the life of David?
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it." (1 Sam 17:34-35, NIV)
If I ever send off my sons to tend sheep, it will be with the standing orders that if a bear or lion came to steal a sheep, they are to get the rest of the sheep (and themselves) far away. If they ever try any fancy heroics like David did, I'll thrash them senseless myself, child abuse laws be damned. I'd rather lose all my material possessions than any one of my boys.
I'm sure Jesse would have given such instructions to David too. What kind of hunger for approval will get a boy to risk his life over a sheep? I used to read that above passage as a bold and powerful declaration of faith. Now I hear the voice of a heartbroken, neglected child, willingly taking his life into his hands for the sake of winning his father's approval.
Does that thought break your heart? It breaks mine.
If David really has been brought up to think that he HAS to perform to gain approval, he'll be extremely uncomfortable to have things handed to him easily. And that is what we see too. When Saul offered David his daughter's hand in marriage, the opportunity to become royalty through marriage, he turned it down. His words were very telling.
David said, "Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known." (1 Sam 18:23, NIV)
Remember, he said this AFTER he killed Goliath and prove himself very capable as a military leader and received the acclaim of the people of Israel. This was AFTER the women of Israel had sung of him 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.' (1 Sam 18:7, NIV) He still felt the need to prove himself to King Saul.
And so when Saul set the bride-price at one hundred Philistine foreskins, David went to get two hundred. Having met and exceeded Saul's requirements, he finally felt he was worthy to become the son-in-law of King Saul.
I suspect that David was searching, either consciously or subconsciously, for a father figure for his life. What better man to prepare him for the task of ruling the kingdom of Israel than Saul? And now that Saul was his father-in-law, there was a legitimate way for David to succeed Saul as king, without having to usurp the throne.
'See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand!' (1 Sam 24:11, NIV)
Was David sincere in his love for Saul? We can see from the times he spared Saul's life, as well as how he grieved over Saul's death, that he truly loved Saul as a father. But Saul still betrayed David.
When we betray our children, be they physical or spiritual children, they struggle with pain and bitterness and will be more likely to backslide and go into the ways of the world. That is how I interpret David's settling in the land of the Philistines (1 Sam 27). His heart was still for God's people, but yet he began a life of deception, lying to his new master Achish, King of Gath. Was he acting out what the anger he secretly harboured against Saul's actions? Pretty likely, in my opinion.
And that is why David wrote what he wrote in Psalm 27:10. It wasn't poetic license or a metaphoric, figure-of-speech thing. He lived most of his life without experiencing the love or the guidance of a father figure.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
If we truly accept our role to teach and admonish God's people, we have to expect that just as we look up to others to mentor us and guide us in our spiritual journey, we will have people looking up to us as well. And because we live in an emotionally hurt generation, some of those who look up to us will see us as father (or parent) figures.
So what are we to do about it?
Teach and lead. Don't just do the standard Church-ianity thing and foist them off with clichés like 'Don't look to man, look to God.' Even the Apostle Paul, who lived his life totally sold-out for Christ and made it his personal mission to point people to Jesus, said 'Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.' (1 Cor 11:1, NIV)
He knew that people need someone to lead and guide them by example. And he took it as a fatherly responsibility. Earlier in 1 Cor 4:15-17, he said '…for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. Therefore I am sending you Timothy, my son whom I love…'
And when you encounter those who go the extra mile to win your approval, like David did for Saul, please, recognize them for what they are, people who look up to you and want to please you. Don't feel threatened but celebrate their success as your own. By the way, that is one characteristic of good multi-level marketing programs, celebrating the success of those we disciple, even when they exceed ours. This is an excellent value for us as believers to embrace.
This is a long post, not directly related to the praise and worship training life. But it’s something God has placed on my heart recently, so I decided to share it with you all. Be blessed, everyone!
You know by now that I am a Psalmic kinda guy. And the above passage, which I read many times, I always thought it was just a metaphoric, figure of speech kinda thing.
But just a couple of days ago, I sat down to really think about what David's upbringing was like. The ideas were disturbing. How did his father, Jesse, see him? Was David treasured and valued by his father? Look at this incident.
[Samuel] asked "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." (1 Sam 16:11, NIV)
The great prophet of God, Samuel, came to the family out of the blue. Jesse and his sons, at least, those that were with him, were consecrated and invited to the sacrifice, the heart of Old Testament worship. What a great honor for the family!
But David was forgotten, excluded, not worth the hassle of sending a servant out to fetch him. Jesse didn't have any difficulty leaving David out of an important family event. How do you think David felt about it?
Was this an isolated incident? Could be.
Children tend to follow the example of their parents. Sons especially want to be more like their fathers. Could Eliab, David's eldest brother. give us an idea of what home life for David was like? Let's look at how Eliab spoke to David when David went to the military camp, heard the challenge of Goliath, and asked the rest of the men around him what were the rewards of successfully defeating Goliath.
When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." (1 Sam 17:28)
The other men took the time to answer David's legitimate questions. Eliab got angry, implied that he was neglecting his real job (taking care of sheep) and called him conceited and wicked.
Was this how Jesse also treated David? We can't say. But was this an isolated incident? Maybe not…
When you have a child growing up in a negative environment, the child will either behave very badly to get attention, or go the extra mile to get approval. Do we see any of this in the life of David?
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it." (1 Sam 17:34-35, NIV)
If I ever send off my sons to tend sheep, it will be with the standing orders that if a bear or lion came to steal a sheep, they are to get the rest of the sheep (and themselves) far away. If they ever try any fancy heroics like David did, I'll thrash them senseless myself, child abuse laws be damned. I'd rather lose all my material possessions than any one of my boys.
I'm sure Jesse would have given such instructions to David too. What kind of hunger for approval will get a boy to risk his life over a sheep? I used to read that above passage as a bold and powerful declaration of faith. Now I hear the voice of a heartbroken, neglected child, willingly taking his life into his hands for the sake of winning his father's approval.
Does that thought break your heart? It breaks mine.
If David really has been brought up to think that he HAS to perform to gain approval, he'll be extremely uncomfortable to have things handed to him easily. And that is what we see too. When Saul offered David his daughter's hand in marriage, the opportunity to become royalty through marriage, he turned it down. His words were very telling.
David said, "Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known." (1 Sam 18:23, NIV)
Remember, he said this AFTER he killed Goliath and prove himself very capable as a military leader and received the acclaim of the people of Israel. This was AFTER the women of Israel had sung of him 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.' (1 Sam 18:7, NIV) He still felt the need to prove himself to King Saul.
And so when Saul set the bride-price at one hundred Philistine foreskins, David went to get two hundred. Having met and exceeded Saul's requirements, he finally felt he was worthy to become the son-in-law of King Saul.
I suspect that David was searching, either consciously or subconsciously, for a father figure for his life. What better man to prepare him for the task of ruling the kingdom of Israel than Saul? And now that Saul was his father-in-law, there was a legitimate way for David to succeed Saul as king, without having to usurp the throne.
'See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand!' (1 Sam 24:11, NIV)
Was David sincere in his love for Saul? We can see from the times he spared Saul's life, as well as how he grieved over Saul's death, that he truly loved Saul as a father. But Saul still betrayed David.
When we betray our children, be they physical or spiritual children, they struggle with pain and bitterness and will be more likely to backslide and go into the ways of the world. That is how I interpret David's settling in the land of the Philistines (1 Sam 27). His heart was still for God's people, but yet he began a life of deception, lying to his new master Achish, King of Gath. Was he acting out what the anger he secretly harboured against Saul's actions? Pretty likely, in my opinion.
And that is why David wrote what he wrote in Psalm 27:10. It wasn't poetic license or a metaphoric, figure-of-speech thing. He lived most of his life without experiencing the love or the guidance of a father figure.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
If we truly accept our role to teach and admonish God's people, we have to expect that just as we look up to others to mentor us and guide us in our spiritual journey, we will have people looking up to us as well. And because we live in an emotionally hurt generation, some of those who look up to us will see us as father (or parent) figures.
So what are we to do about it?
Teach and lead. Don't just do the standard Church-ianity thing and foist them off with clichés like 'Don't look to man, look to God.' Even the Apostle Paul, who lived his life totally sold-out for Christ and made it his personal mission to point people to Jesus, said 'Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.' (1 Cor 11:1, NIV)
He knew that people need someone to lead and guide them by example. And he took it as a fatherly responsibility. Earlier in 1 Cor 4:15-17, he said '…for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. Therefore I am sending you Timothy, my son whom I love…'
And when you encounter those who go the extra mile to win your approval, like David did for Saul, please, recognize them for what they are, people who look up to you and want to please you. Don't feel threatened but celebrate their success as your own. By the way, that is one characteristic of good multi-level marketing programs, celebrating the success of those we disciple, even when they exceed ours. This is an excellent value for us as believers to embrace.
This is a long post, not directly related to the praise and worship training life. But it’s something God has placed on my heart recently, so I decided to share it with you all. Be blessed, everyone!
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