Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Vision (10/20/11): David's ministry of consolation to Saul

We returned to the book of 1 Samuel last Lord’s Day morning at CRBC. Over the next several weeks we will be working our way through the narrative of the life of David (1 Samuel 16-31).

In 1 Samuel 16 we read of David’s anointing by the prophet Samuel. The last scene in the chapter describes how Saul, troubled by an evil spirit, is comforted by the harp playing of David.

In his commentary on this chapter, theologian Dale Ralph Davis suggests that the followers of Christ have much to ponder in “David’s ministry of consolation to Saul” (1 Samuel: Loooking on the Heart, p. 176). For the time being, Saul loves David. Saul “loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer” (v. 21). Before long, however Saul will hate David, see him as a rival, and attempt to kill him.

Here’s the spiritual analogy Davis draws for Christians: “As Saul will hate David, and as he is rejected by God yet sustained by David’s service, so the world hates Christ’s people (John 15:18-21) yet, in its doomed state, is only benefited by them.” We are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. Christians in the society and culture around us keep it from “rotting into complete decay,” but we are hated (p. 176). As David played the harp for Saul, so we conduct a ministry of consolation to the world around us.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

No comments:

Post a Comment