I was reminded of David the other day, as I was pondering on God. I can’t say I was in the quiet of a field with a harp and a sling, smelly from a days work…well maybe I did smell. Not important. I was pondering on Acts 13:22…
“After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.
My heart’s desire is to have that spoken about my life, to be a man after God’s own heart. So as I was meditating about the life of David, there are so many attributes we can attribute to his success. David was a man of…
Worship – The heart expression to God
Courage – The faith expression in the midst of trials
War – the righteous expression to sin and indifference
All these things could be a teaching of themselves. Yet the attribute I am most moved by and rarely hear about regarding the life of David, is his revelation of inheritance. David was the youngest of eight sons. His daily chores were to tend to the family sheep. A simple and rather unnoticeable job that to most would be tedious and probably boring. It’s within those times that he wrote many of the psalms we read about today, especially Psalm 23 (of which I will be posting a teaching on). The time came for Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel as Saul had willingly disobeyed the Lord. We see the account of this in 1 Samuel 16:1-13…
1 Now 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 selected a king for Myself among his sons.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, ” Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 “You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, ” Do you come in peace?” 5 He said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse , “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse , “Are these all the children?” And he said, ” There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse , “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, ” Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
Now we leap ahead to the story of Goliath. David was instructed by his father Jesse to go and deliver food and supplies to his brothers on the battle field. Upon arriving, David hears the taunts of Goliath, the champion of the Philistines. So David begins to inquire about the rewards that would be gained to the one that defeats Goliath. The word of that inquiry reaches King Saul’s ears and soon David finds himself before Saul. We see this account in 1 Samuel 17:31-37…
31 When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Then Saul said to David, ” You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, ” The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
How can David be so bold? Many would say that it is because he spent so much time in worship and communion with God. Others would say that the rewards sounded good. I think that those claims definitely played a part. Yet I submit to you that what gave David the courage and boldness to act was his revelation of inheritance. Let me explain this out. David was the youngest boy, given the boring job. Yet he lived with the revelation of inheritance. It says in John 10:11-14…
11 ”I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
David had the courage and boldness to attack the lion and the bear because they came to challenge his inheritance! David was faithful and alert doing the tedious, boring job because he saw that flock as his inheritance. He knew that someday that flock would be handed down to him, and in his eyes, nothing would steal that from him. Now leaping back to the story of Goliath, David once again arose in boldness and courage because he saw someone challenging the existence of the nation of Israel. The Philistines wanted to destroy the Israelites and that triggered the prophetic word that has been deposited in David. David knew that he was going to be king someday, and he was not about to let anything step in the way of his inheritance! I submit that the average Christian today does not have a revelation of their God-given inheritance. Paul knew of this back in his day. He penned the prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23…
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul prayed that our eyes of understanding would be enlightened to know…
The hope of our calling
The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
The surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe
Every believer must gain revelation in the calling of God on their lives as each person has one. We must gain revelation in how marvelous and mind-blowing our inheritance is as saints. We must gain revelation in how much power is available to the believer with Christ living in them! Ephesians 3:20 says…
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.
So all of this being said, I would like to encourage you to dig up all the prophetic words spoken over your life. Recall them and continue to get them deep within your spirit. Allow your creativity to help you imagine what it would be like when those prophetic words come to pass. Begin to imagine what it feels like to be released into that prophetic word. As you do that, that prophetic word will begin to energize you, and bubble up within you to begin to “call those things that be not as though they are” Romans 4:17. Paul instructed Timothy regarding this very issue. He said in 1 Timothy 1:18 and 1 Timothy 4:14-15
This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight.
Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.
I pray that this teaching encourages your heart to keep the press and finish the race. It’s to the glory of God that we re-discover who we are and what we are to do. Be blessed and grow in the grace and favor of almighty God. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25