Scripture: 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.
Devotion: Sometimes those you serve the most can appreciate you the least. David certainly experienced this. In the message from Sunday, Lydia talked about how Samuel visited the family of Jesse to find who the Lord had appointed to be king of Israel. And though David had served his family faithfully, they completely forgot about him during this time. They left him out in the field with the sheep.
But this theme of unappreciation continued in the life of David. He was called to serve under Saul, as we see from our passage of Scripture today. He played the lyre and was his armor bearer. He also ended up leading Saul’s army in battle. But eventually, Saul recognized that David was the anointed one whom the Lord had chosen. And because of that, he wanted him dead. There are multiple chapters in the book of 1 Samuel devoted to telling the story about David running for his life from king Saul.
He spent much of his life serving Saul. He did so dutifully and without ill intent. Did Saul respond with appreciation? Initially, sure. But once jealousy set in, Saul wanted nothing more than to see David killed. As we talk about being taken for granted, this story is a pretty extreme example of it. But nevertheless, the sentiment remained throughout David’s life. He was constantly serving those around him, and yet he was not appreciated for it.
Do you ever feel like this in your own life? Perhaps you give time above and beyond to your job, and yet it feels as though your boss and coworkers still don’t notice. Maybe you are the one who does all of the housework, and your spouse never thanks you. It could be that you are the one who is always reaching out to your friends and checking in on them, but they are never putting forth any effort. Sometimes those you serve the most can appreciate you the least.
And this is when we come back to the truth that God sees you. Even when other people don’t, He does.
Reflect:
- Is there an area of your life where you are currently giving a lot and feel as though it is not appreciated?
- Give that over to God. Pray that He would reassure you and remind you that He alone is enough.
