I’ve been so inspired by one character in Bible and that is David. By no means is he a perfect man, by no means is he sinless- he is a man filled with sins and flaws and problems but there was something unique and distinct about him. The biggest distinction about David from every other person who ever lived is that he was called a man after God’s own heart, which means he felt the things which God felt, and he obeyed the things God wanted. But in essence what made him different was that he loved God.

How do you measure success in life? Everyone has a measuring stick- high school kids measure their success in life by how popular they are, seniors in high school and seniors in college they measure their success by what colleges they get into, some people measure their success by their bank account, some people measure their success by their prestige, their name and their money. But David he measured success by how closely he was walking with God. What separated David from every other person who ever lived in Old Testament was that he said I love you God. In Old Testament David was the only person who ever said I love you God. “I love you Lord, my strength.” (Psalms 18:1). Though he was imperfect, he had the longing for the heart of God and for the things of God and when God saw that He found someone special. God found someone so special that He called His Messianic title- the Son of David. So, do not measure your life’s success by what our society say. Do not measure your life’s success by what your parents say, do not measure your success by what you see on Facebook or Instagram because half of that is fake anyway. Measure success by how closely and how intimately and how lovingly you are walking with God in the very moment you are in. That’s what David longed for- not perfectly but earnestly and because of that God anointed him as king. God anointed him king through Samuel and later God appointed him as king of Israel.

We are going to see how God begins to prepare and train David to walk into the anointing that God has given him to fulfill. 1 Samuel 16:14-23- Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” So, Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.” One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.” Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” So, Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. What we see here is that the Spirit of Lord had departed from Saul and a harmful spirit from Lord had tormented him. Verse 13 of the same chapter says, “So, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.” This is fascinating passage because while Spirit of God leaves Saul it simultaneously falls upon David. But it’s weird because David is not yet king, but he has the anointing. Saul is king, but he doesn’t have the anointing. In another words, you can be appointed and not have the anointing, you can have the position and not have the presence of God. You can have materialistic blessings and you could be financially blessed, and you could be prestigious and powerful in the eyes of men but behind the scenes the anointing had departed from you. This is a generation I feel more than ever caging and looking towards those things. We want a promotion, we want the position, we want the glory and we want the appointment, but we don’t have the anointment. And that is a dangerous thing- to have the appointment and the office but not have the presence of God. But in the same way, David is anointed but he has yet not appointed. What this means is that the anointing of the Spirit fell upon David to become king but there was a gap between the time he was anointed, and the time that God wants to appoint him. Why? Because there were certain things that had to take place before he was launched to become king. There were certain experiences that he had to grow through, there were certain character things that he had to go through, there were certain rejections that he had to go through. Though you have passion from God, though you have the gifts from God, though you have the anointing from God, there is a difference between God’s will and God’s timing. There is a difference between having the things of God in you and God allowing it to execute upon you, so that you can walk in the things that He has in store for you.

We all are anointed to do things for God, we all have these things in our hearts that our hearts burn for. When you look at someone, when you look at something and you feel things and your hearts long for those things and you have moments when God has confirmed- I have called you to do that, I have called you to serve, I have called you to preach, I have called you for missions, I have called you to be a teacher, I have called you and anointed you but your timing is not yet ready because there are things which need to happen before I launch you. One of the biggest differences between Saul and David- Saul became king immediately, David went through 15 years of suffering and training. Saul became king immediately; he was anointed by Samuel and he was pushed into kingship right away. But David, he was anointed and for 15 years he goes through all this inner brokenness so that the inside will be Godly enough, the inside will be humble enough, and he will have character enough that when God raise him up, he will not become like Saul. The reason why God let Saul try kill David for years so that when David become to a place of position, he will not be arrogant king, but he will be a humble king, so that the things of God could come alive. Many of you are in that gap; you been anointed, and you been called but God has not given you a position because He knows when and He knows where. That’s why David said, “Tears have been my food” (Psalms 42:3). Why? Because during that gap time God is doing some deep internal work in you, so that when he launches you there will be roots inside of you that you won’t forget what you been through, you won’t forget what God had brought you through. So, do not despise the days of small beginnings, for God is doing something great right now in your life. David did not understand that then, but he began to understand later. Why? David says over and over in the Psalms- wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord. Why he could say that because he went through it. There is a difference between someone who says they know and someone who say they had gone through. There is a difference between someone who preaches from theory and someone who preaches from experience. David could say wait upon the Lord because he waited for years, David could say tears have been my food because he been through some suffering. He had no idea why he was going through all these suffering, but God said before I use you, I got to break you. Before I use you, you got to go through some stuff.

Bible says, Spirit of God departed from Saul and the anointing of God came upon David. 1 Samuel chapter 16 says that Saul was tormented by an evil spirit and David was called to Saul’s palace to play music for Saul. You do not need to fight for yourself, God will do it according to his time. Because if you make the way for yourself, you have to sustain the way yourself and if God makes the way for you, He will sustain the way. Too many of us are just trying to make things happen instead of just saying that God I will do whatever you tell me. David was minding his own business, he was not promoting himself, he was not talking about himself, he was doing the things of God and maybe that’s why he was anointed. Chapter 10 says that Saul made a monument for himself, that’s what we also try to do so many times. We try to do things by ourselves thinking people will respect me. If you promote yourself, God will stop moving on your behalf. When Saul began to promote himself, make a monument for himself, started to make sacrifices apart from Samuel’s leading, it was then when God said- fine, you want to lead your life, you take care of it.

But for David while God was making the way, David is not doing nothing. There were three things he was doing; he was stewarding his responsibilities, his gifts and the presence of God. Why David was stewarding his responsibilities because what he was going through right now was preparing him for tomorrow. In verse 18, we can see that David was still with the sheep. When you steward the things faithfully which God has given you, God begins to multiply those things to things to come. David learned how to lead Israel because he first learned how to lead sheep. David learned how to kill Goliath because God taught him how to kill lions and bears, it was as he was stewarding the present responsibilities, and as he was being faithful with present things which he had been given, God was expanding him in ways he never imagine could be possible. He was also responsible for the talents which God had given him to sharpen so he could use it for the things of God. He was a musician, naturally talented. He was continuously working on this gift of music, which he received from God. He knew deep down in his heart that one day this gift will be used for the things of God. He was anointed that’s why he knew that God has a plan with his gift. We all have gifts, that music is a gift, that administration is a gift, that leadership that people listen to you is a gift, the ability to bring people together is a gift, your ability to write is a gift, your ability to understand is a gift and instead of being shy and instead of being afraid, steward that gift, train and prepare that gift, so when you are ready you go out there with your sword sharpen up, so you can move forward. Everyone of us gifted by God for glory of God and for His purposes.

And, the last thing David stewarded was the presence of God. 1 Samuel 16:18 says, the Lord was with Him. Where did this anointing come from? It came from the hills of Bethlehem, in the mountains where he was by himself, singing to God, praising God, loving God, worshipping God, and as God saw that, the anointing and power increased and increased and increased. In another words, David was driven and motivated to please one person and it was in that intimate, secluded, alone place that the favor and the presence and the anointing of God increased and increased.

Your faith is not a religion, it is an intimate relationship with your Creator. Your faith is not about doing things right or wrong, it is about having a relationship with Jesus who died for you so that He can have relationship with you.