Lessons Learned from a David under Saul Moment by Tony Steward
I believe that there are some of us who have the profound opportunity to follow under great leaders, and learn from their wisdom and experience, be inspired by their profound faith and grace with others, and submit to being refined by their sharp and watchful eyes. I believe most of us would leap at the chance to be under a great leader, to learn from them and grow under their mentorship and encouragement.
But, for most of us that is not the case. For many of us our most profound lessons in leadership come from seeing what one shouldn’t do vs. what one should do. We see selfish motivation spoken with spiritual language, we see manipulation and control where freedom should be encouraged, and we see insecurity and intimidation where we should see encouragement and confidence.
I have recently had a glaring example of that kind of experience that I would equate to 1 Samuel 18:9-11. “And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.…” while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
Now, before I go any further, this is not the bitter whining of a rightly whipped boy. All of us have weaknesses, and areas that we can drastically improve in – and it would always behoove us to be open to appropriate criticism and accountability. Needless to say, my recent experience falls on both sides of that fence and my hope is that I can share with you some of the lessons I have learned that have helped me to wade out to a positive and constructive resolution.
David had this same conflict of interest, in which he. He was called to a position that placed him under a leader who was doing it all wrong, and yet he still had much to learn. Event though his leader personally attacked him many times, all with the intent of killing him, David was still able to maintain an attitude of respect, honor and grace with his leader and king.
There have been three specific principles that I have pulled from David’s ability to function under Saul that I have found invaluable in my own experience:
1. Respect and Accept the Authority of the person called in Leadership over you, even if you don’t believe they deserve it. David had several opportunities to kill Saul, and if he had wanted to he could have defeated Saul and dis-honored him. And even though Saul had forsaken his commitment to God years ago; with respect and honor David still recognized the position that in which God had placed Saul in with respect and honor.
For many of us, it is really hard to look past the person to the called position. But as you serve in your call to minister, you have also been called to serve under the leadership that is present there. It was hard, but extremely helpful for me to understand my “Saul’s” authority came from God, and by respecting him I was respecting God and God’s call on my life.
2. You can only be responsible for you! David never spoke out against Saul, he never pointed out his faults, he never griped to someone else about his leadership style, he never tried to undermine him. And even though those things often put David at risk, they always pointed to a strong sense of self-awareness and humility, and the character of a true leader.
It is so hard to stay focused on yourself in a situation where someone is behaving so inappropriately. But I/you are not responsible for my/your “Saul’s” actions, he is. The same is true of me. I needed to take some of his spears and examine them for the truth that was there, and I needed to act on those things. I needed to look for opportunities to learn and grow in my profession through this that experience, because I am responsible for my actions. And if nothing else, David’s humble and incorrigible appropriateness towards Saul showed Saul’s faults and selfish behavior all the more to the people around him. The same must be true of us!
3. Be confident in your calling! No matter how Saul treated David, no matter the hardship that David faced, he never waned in his confidence in of who God had called him to be. David leaned upon God for strength and confidence in his call, especially during hardship. What started with a profound act of faith in defeating Goliath was just one of many steps that defined the life long call that God had set before him.
The same is true for us. It is so easy to question your call when you are personally attacked in ministry. It is so easy to feel like “I am no good at this whole ministry thing” and to want to just leave your ministry and your call. But just like David, we must find our identity and strength in God. We must be confident in our calling, especially in the face of people who would question and discourage us.
If I would end with anything, I would hope that those of you who are dealing with a situation similar to this wouldn’t take these lessons as a trite “how-to guide in making a hard situation fun!” Any time a leader lets us down, and especially when there is a personal attack – it hurts. These kinds of things cut us deep and wide, and stay with us a long time. But when we encounter situations like this we mustn’t must not fall into the trap of being more concerned about “being right” than “doing the right thing.” when we encounter situations like these. We must look for the positive, and ultimately be responsible for ourselves and ….
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4
