Anywho! How about that title? Are you wasting time in the pasture? Let me elaborate a little. This past Sunday we talked about David. His anointing to be king, his entrance into the kingdom, and his battle with Goliath. In first Samuel 16 we read about the Lord telling Samuel to cease mourning over Saul since He had rejected him as king. He tells him He has chosen a new king and Samuel is to go and anoint him. Evidently David's father Jesse must not have thought much about this whole thing because we find David in the same place he was before, in the pasture tending the sheep. But because he was in the pasture tending the sheep someone in Saul's service knew David could play the lyre. They had heard him play and knew he had a good reputation. So Saul sent for him. David would play for Saul when the harmful spirit would torment him and the spirit would leave.
At this point in our class a very good point was brought up. Why music? What about David playing the lyre made this harmful spirit depart? It's a picture of light versus dark. David was full of light. Ever since the day Samuel anointed him the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. Where there is the light the darkness cannot stay. David's presence and God's Spirit inside of him drove the darkness away.
This was something I had never thought much about. But it is a wonderful example to us. Light and darkness are both powerful things. Step too close to one and you will be consumed. Which would you rather be consumed by? Do your actions line up with your answer to that question?
The next part of David's story is about his battle with Goliath. But was it really a battle between a boy and a giant? The whole battle, as our teacher pointed out, is very anti-climactic. The whole battle between the two last two verses. Two verses! This wasn't a battle between a boy and a giant. It was a battle between gods. Goliath was cursing the name of the living God while promoting the gods of his people. And that sickened David. In his mind that gave him no choice but to face this enemy. If he truly believed in the God this Philistine was so blatantly blaspheming he had to do something about it.
An excellent point was brought up. We always try to relate to David in this story. We can do anything, conquer anything, be anything. But David is not the one we are supposed to relate to here. It's the people of Israel that were shaking in their boots on the sidelines. They were never meant to fight this battle. David was. David was the substitute deliverer. And just like the people of Israel were never called to fight that battle, we aren't called to fight ours. Jesus, our Deliverer has already won. Has already conquered. He has overcome our every sin and shortcoming. He tells us in John 16:33 "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have over the world."
All that time David was in the pasture tending the sheep, playing his lyre, defending his flock from a lion and a bear, God was preparing Him. God was the only One to see him there. David didn't waste his time in the pasture. David knew God delivered those wild beast into his hands, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the hand of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." David knew that his time in the pasture had served a purpose.
I've been wasting my time in the pasture lately. Looking for what's coming next. Wondering when this season I'm in is going to come to an end. But I don't want to waste any more time here. God has something to teach me here. I'm not done here in this pasture. He has something He wants me to learn. He wants me to grow. He is preparing me, shaping me, molding me. Now, all those things are not always pleasant. However, they are necessary for growth and preparation in the life of a christian.
So how are you spending your time in your own pasture? Are you wasting the days and training there by looking for what's ahead? Live in today. We aren't promised tomorrow. And what will tomorrow be worth if you didn't learn what He wanted you to learn yesterday?
Thank you for reading! I hope the Lord has used this to encourage you in some way. God bless!
