Conforming to God's Image - I Samuel 24:1 - 31:13

I started teaching school in 1948 and through necessity I obtained a vital interest in the local school board race each year. I learned early that a vast majority of the candidates run for a position on the School Board simply because they have a personal agenda and for no other reason. When I say this is true a vast majority of the time, I really mean that it must be as high as ninety percent of the time.

Only honest, God fearing people that live by the golden rule should ever run for the board and surely they are the only ones that should ever win a seat on the board. There is only one acceptable agenda and it could be labeled God’s Agenda. A personal agenda is never acceptable. Here are just a few examples of personal agendas. 1. My taxes are too high and I will work hard to get them lowered; and guarantee there will be no new taxes. 2. I do not trust the Superintendent, the board had a much better applicant and they failed to hire the right man. [ There can be many reasons listed why they will see that the present man is fired. 3. The foot ball coach should be replaced and I will see that it happens—because: a. He has no game plan…passes when he has no competent receiver…runs the ball when the team is far behind and even when the best ball carrier is injured…b. he does not know a good player when he sees one, c. my son would be excellent at…d. and he has only played in three downs this whole season. In this list b, c, and d is the heart of the personal agenda. The number one agenda is: I will get rid of what or whom I don’t like.

There is only one acceptable agenda. You could word it better than I, but the meaning would be the same, and would look something like this. We have an excellent school system; I am truly proud of it and I willingly offer my abilities, knowledge and expertise to help it grow even stronger. Then list your knowledge and experience that would be helpful to a successful school operation. You must be able to truthfully say: “My only agenda is a growing desire to help provide an educational system that will be best suited for each and every student enrolled.” On behalf of the students attending your district I pray that you will not run for the board because of your personal agenda. But, please do run if you are willing and able to help make things better for students and teachers. I believe this same philosophy would apply at any level; from city council to Mayor, from state representative to Governor and on to President of the USA.

There are some life experiences that seem to make lasting impressions simply because many of these experiences cut across the grain. I was a free spirited teenager in December of 1942, facing a sure draft into the army after graduation from high school in May of 1943. I volunteered for the Air Corps and was turned down for medical reasons in January 1943. While I was in classification 4-F, Juanita and I got married, and just a four months later I passed the medical exam and was inducted into the Army as an Infantryman. I wanted the Air Corps and got the infantry instead and was never really a happy camper. This must have been God’s agenda, because it surely was not mine. This is only one of several incidents in my life where I truly believe that God has a plan for each one of us. Finding our purpose in life is probably the most important discovery we will ever make.

It is imperative that we not lose our train of thought, so I will pause here for a moment and let you know that this lesson today gives an excellent comparison to two men with different agendas. Saul represents the one with a personal agenda, while David was willing to be guided by God’s agenda and had refused to harm anyone else in order to promote his own agenda. David waited for God’s time and intent to be in force and in full charge.

There is a bit of a problem here that is hard for me to understand and it seems that it might be impossible for these two kings to understand. However it is easy to see which one was willing to allow God to have his will and way in making the change. First—Saul was a man sought out by Samuel and anointed king at God’s command. When Saul fell into disfavor because of his disobedience, God chose the same man, Samuel who found Saul, to seek, find and anoint a new king. Samuel chose David, through God’s guidance when he went to the house of Jessie and picked his last and youngest son who was out on the farm tending his sheep.

David was anointed, king and put into service soon as a member of the army that killed the Philistine giant and ended that war. Now we have two kings. Nothing has been said as to the exact time that Saul will step down and David will take over. David is willing to let God’s agenda guide this change of command. Saul became angry, vengeful, and even lost his mind thinking about this young, inexperienced sheep herder moving in over his head.

There are about twelve chapters beginning with chapter 20 and extending on to chapter thirty-two that covers a series of wars waged against the Israelites by several different countries. When David was first introduced to Saul, he was accepted and even became Saul’s private musician. Saul was known for his ability to protect his country but on several occasions when he got into trouble David and his army successfully defended against the enemy. One would think that David had proven himself as a patriot and even a supporter of Saul—but Saul never accepted him—and spent much of his time hunting for David with his explicit intention to kill him.

By having the friendship of his faithful buddy, Jonathan, David was always able to dodge the close encounters. On one occasion these two enemies were in a cave together and Saul did not know it. David was able to cut and keep a piece of Saul’s robe as proof that he was close enough to him to have killed him if he had desired. On another occasion David took Saul’s sword to taunt him and to prove again that he was not trying to kill Saul.

It seems that there was a lot of unnecessary feuding between these two kings. However God always has a reason…he had an agenda in this situation. Saul was being let out because of his repeated disobedience to the Lord. But David was young, and needed experience. He did not take over as king until he was thirty years old, so there were several years here where he had his own army and was getting experience in the offensive field, while at the same time he had to stay on the move to avoid being killed by his own king. David was being tried, and proven to be the man that God could depend upon when times were hard.