The Monday Memo from John Stanko

Memo 1046: Prophetic Protection

As we continue with the story of David, which also involved the story of King Saul, we encounter a bizarre episode that makes us stop and ponder what in the world it could mean. Saul's attempts to kill David had failed, but that didn't stop him from trying. Finally, David took refuge with the prophet Samuel, and then we read this:

When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied. Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19:18-24).

Everything in me wants to skip over this and move on to something a bit easier to discuss, but I'm going to avoid that temptation and dive in. I invite you to make the dive with me.

OBSERVATIONS

Let me start by presenting a list of thoughts after reflecting on and doing some basic research on this story:

1. We can't help but impose our understanding of what it means to prophesy on this story and our interpretation. Some see prophets as people who can predict the future. Others see it as someone who has "personal words" of guidance and encouragement for others. Still others see those who stand and teach God's word as His mouthpieces or prophets.The truth is, we don't know much about who these prophets were and what exactly they were doing that was so irresistible, even to those who not members of their entourage.
2. This was not the first time Saul had exhibited this tendency to prophesy (see 1 Samuel 10:11). Samuel had told him he would prophesy as a sign of God's call on his life to be king, which Saul did. It was not an indication of Saul's spirituality or even his willingness to serve God, for keep in mind that signs are for the unbelieving, not those with faith. David needed no such sign to accept his call.
3. The author of this story makes sure we know Saul's murderous attempts as a backdrop for this prophetic encounter. It would seem that God used these prophetic manifestations among Saul and his men as a protective shield around David and his purpose. Even the people were surprised, for they asked a question that became a proverb: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" We can paraphrase it by asking, "Him? Him? A prophet? Ha!"
4. The result of Saul's prophetic frenzy was shocking: he lay naked all day and night. This was a humiliating posture, not consistent with the royal robes a king would normally wear. Saul's prophetic visitation was not to endorse his sinful ways but to manifest his shame. He had been laid bare before the Lord and found with nothing that would even resemble royalty—just the base motives of a depraved sinner.

CONCLUSIONS

So what conclusions can we reach from this story?

1. Our spiritual gifts or even our encounters with the Spirit when He uses us are not necessarily an endorsement of our spiritual maturity or worthiness.
2. We must be careful not to sanction bad behavior among those who seem to have God's anointing.
3. The Spirit sometimes uses those who are not qualified or even open to minister to others.

There are probably many more lessons to learn from this and I invite you to share any that you see on the site where this is posted. My ultimate conclusion, however, is that God will protect His own through His own means. Saul had the army on his side; David had God on his side. Saul saw the throne as his; David saw it as God's and he was holding it on His behalf. The difference in their attitude and perspective made all the difference as to whose side God was on.

What can we learn from all this? First, we don't own what God has given us; we are stewards and Kingdom representatives. We are not to build our own kingdom but rather to extend God's Kingdom. Second, when God uses us, it's no guarantee or indication of our favor or spirituality; it's a matter of God using us for His purpose to reach others. Third, no matter the opposition, God is able to preserve those who are His, just like He did David.

Finally, Paul said we should all be zealous to prophesy (see 1 Corinthians 14:1). That means we should want to spread the message of God's love far and wide, not as unknowing or unwilling prophets, but as willing partners in the work of expressing our purpose that represents the love of God for His creation. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1045: Training for Reigning

I ended last week by pointing out that Saul would torment David until his dying day—not Saul's death but David's—for Saul put things in orbit so that even his descendants could not break free from their gravitational pull. Through all of Saul's murderous intrigue and machinations, however, God protected David and also taught him one valuable lesson—He taught David how not to lead.

DIRTY WORK

Saul had already tried to kill David twice when he decided to pursue a different strategy to get the job done: "Saul said to David, 'Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord.' For Saul said to himself, 'I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!'” (1 Samuel 18:17). In other words, Saul assigned David to military campaigns during which he hoped David would be killed. He was hoping that his enemies would do his dirty work.

When that didn't work, he tried to manipulate David by enticing him to marry his daughter so he could control him through a family alliance, even enlisting his servants to persuade David to accept the offer: "Then Saul ordered his attendants: 'Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law''" (1 Samuel 18:22). Of course, David resisted their efforts and we read,

When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known (1 Samuel 18:28-30).

Saul's son, Jonathan, knew what his father was trying to do and tried to persuade him not to kill David. Saul lied to his son, saying "As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death” (1 Samuel 19:6). After all those broken promises and plots, we learn, "But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre,  Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape" (1 Samuel 19:9-10).

HARD LESSONS

God was teaching David an important lesson through all he endured at Saul's hand. He was teaching David how not to lead. He allowed David to experience firsthand the pain of betrayal and the effects of leadership power gone awry. Eventually when David would ascend to the throne, he would have to decide whether to replicate what he had experienced at Saul's hand or act in a different way. We will see in later lessons that David chose the latter and ended Saul's reign of terror. Saul had assumed the throne because the people demanded a leader but he had no preparation to rule. God then chose His man and put him through decades of training for reigning. That preparation made all the difference in the world.

You may be in a hard place right now as you seek to carry out your purpose. Nothing seems to be going right and instead of seeing your path bring you closer to a chance to fulfill your purpose, it seems you are moving in the opposite direction. If that's the case, take heart. God will give you chances during this season to lead as He did for David, but He will also hem you in and put you in situations that will teach you what not to do when you are released. Be faithful to the lessons you are learning, for now is the time to decide what you will be like and what you will do when you eventually have access to power. If you wait until you get the power to determine what kind of leader you will be, the power may intoxicate you as it did Saul. And then you will have wasted the days of training for reigning you find yourself in at the present time. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1044: You're Fired

Last week, we saw that the people's praise of David made Saul suspicious, causing him to believe that David and the people were conspiring against him to take over the kingdom. If that was the extent of his suspicions and subsequent actions, then things could have carried on with David being one of his military champions while Saul sat on the throne. Unfortunately, Saul was more and more consumed by his envy and he eventually acted to "fire" David from his position as royal musician. Let's see how he did it. We read,

The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul (1 Samuel 18:10-12).

TWO TIMES

What was Saul doing when this incident took place? The account says he was "prophesying in his house." It's difficult to understand what was going on and many commentators don't have much to say about the meaning. Keep in mind that it was reported about Saul that "the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them [God's prophets]" (1 Samuel 10:10). Since the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (see Romans 11:29), which means He doesn't take them back even when they are misused, it would seem that Saul had a manifestation of God's presence that was still active but was also affected by the evil spirit that God sent upon him. Those two mixed together caused Saul to act as prophet with ill intent, using his gift or prophetic bent to "get" David.

Either David had to dodge Saul's spear two times during the same staff meeting or Saul did this to him on two separate occasions. Either way, it's one more time than Saul would have done it to me, for I would have been out of there after the first spear-throwing incident. At any rate, Saul's idea of firing someone was killing him and, keep in mind, Saul was a military man, so he knew how to handle a spear. His target was no slouch, however, and was able to evade Saul's lethal attack. Saul certainly had an unusual way of letting one of his staff know his time was up, but this relationship was far from over as we shall see in the coming weeks.

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON?

While we can't fully explain the prophetic activity in Saul's life, the writer did report his motivation for his strange behavior:

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him (1 Samuel 18:12-15).

David's success in the Lord was a threat to Saul and remember, we saw in past lessons that he was ambivalent about being God's choice for king in the first place. His fear combined with his prophetic tendency that was in partnership with his spirit of depression left him a man in desperate need of a counselor and deliverance.

What's the lesson for us here? When you are in your purpose, God is with you and gives you success. You may think that everyone is delighted with your results, but sometimes people are a bit wary of you. If they are insecure or don't understand what God is doing in your life, they may criticize you or ultimately oppose you, and at times that opposition can be vocal and visible. What should you do if and when that happens?

In this story, we see that Saul gave David 1,000 men and sent him out, and David performed as usual. You should do the same—maintain your commitment to serve the Lord with a clean heart as you serve in your position. In coming weeks, we will see that Saul's increasing hostility caused David to leave. You should do the same if things get abusive and nasty.

In all of this story, God used Saul to work something into David that only persecution could produce, and God also used Saul to direct David to where God wanted him to be. The main lesson, however, is not to expect a parade when you have success in the Lord, but hopefully you'll never have to face the kind of exit interview that David had with Saul when he launched his handheld cruise missile aimed at the "letting go" of his anointed servant. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1043: Celebrated, Not Tolerated

It was 21 years ago this weekend that I decided to write a weekly teaching letter that would help people focus on their purpose and be creative. Today, I write number 1,043 in the series that I named The Monday Memo. More than 1,000 times, I've sat down at my computer, sometimes not knowing what I would write, and God met me at my keyboard every time. Late last year, I considered stopping the Memo but at the last minute changed my mind. After all, why would I stop doing something I love that has been the source for 12 books? So happy anniversary to The Monday Memo! And now, let's continue with our series on leadership and life lessons from the life of David.

WHO IS HE?

David had defeated Goliath and we are told, "When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent (1 Samuel 17:53-54)." Then Saul asked what seems like a strange question: "'Abner, whose son is that young man?' Abner replied, 'As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know'” (1 Samuel 17:55). Did Saul not recognize the young man who was his court musician and newest war hero? There are three options to choose from as an answer to this question.

First, Saul really hadn't paid much attention to the young man who had been hired to play music to calm Saul's foul moods. Second, Saul was simply inquiring into David's family heritage out of curiosity. Third and most probable in my mind is described in the first verses of 1 Samuel 18:

After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well. When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David (1 Samuel 18:1-9).

Saul's father was a military man and Saul was also trained to be a soldier. It was in his blood, but he and everyone else had cowered in fear when Goliath came forth to fight. Yet there was David who had no military pedigree or family name and he had captured the hearts of the people including Saul's own son because of his skill and courage. David had made Saul look bad before the people. Saul  asked who his father because he was jealous, resented David's success, and saw him as a threat. He was incredulous that someone who had not been trained as he had been could enjoy such success.

YOU, TOO?

When you flow in your purpose, God is with you and you will slay your own giants in whatever area God directs you to serve. You would think that people, especially leaders, would rejoice at your success and want to use you as often as possible. That is often not the case. In a sense, you become a threat to the insecure who have not stepped out either to face their Goliaths or to perfect their gifts. They may not celebrate you, but will instead see you as a threat to their position, their image, or their theology that no one should boldly step out and up to achieve something and draw attention to themselves—except them. They can't rejoice even when you do them good by helping to fight their battles.

You can't go home and hide from those who are threatened by your very presence. We will see in the next few weeks, however, that you often can't stay around as they become increasingly hostile or ambivalent toward your presence. Yet God will use them to help develop you and to direct you, for you will see that you must go where you are celebrated and not just tolerated, for there you will be able to be who God created you to be and do what He has equipped you to do. In the meantime, it can be a hard life lesson that not everyone appreciates your good intentions or godly purpose, something we will see again and again as the drama between Saul and David unfolds in the next few lessons. Have a blessed week.