Serving in Hiddenness

Mar 8

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We tend to think the most important moments of our lives are the ones that everybody else witnesses. When we stand on the stage and the crowd is cheering and all that. But really, the moments that shape us the most in life are almost never public. They happen in the daily moments nobody else notices. The hours of practice nobody else sees. Almost all of life happens off the court and out of the spotlight.

Think about a professional athlete. We just got done watching the winter Olympics. America won more gold medals at this winter Olympics than ever before, with 12![1] In those moments when the national anthem is playing and the crowd is cheering, that’s got to be the most significant moment, right? But if you understand what it takes to get there, you recognize that standing on the platform is really the culmination of thousands of moments that nobody witnessed. In a recent interview, the gold medalist figure skater Alysa Liu just told Teen Vogue, “I love pushing myself. I love doing stuff that I really don't want to do, really hard things. I get a kick out of it, and that's where I'm happy.”[2] That’s either crazy or what it takes to be a gold medalist, or a little bit of both.

What you see on the platform is the outcome of a thousand moments that happened out of the spotlight. And we see this same principle throughout the Bible and in our lives. God seems to do much of His most profound work in the hidden moments of life. Long before we see the outcome, God works on our heart, grows our character, and prepares us for what He calls us to. God almost always first prepares people in obscurity before He stands them on a platform. And that’s exactly what we see happening in the life of David beginning in 1 Samuel 16.

Only a few verses before this, Samuel anointed David, and God chose him to become the next king of Israel. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David in power. If I was writing this story, the very next scene would be David beginning to rise to power. He would start to gain a following or assume a position of authority. But that’s not what happens. Instead, the text takes us back to Saul, who is still on the throne.

1 Samuel 16:14-23

God is sovereign over all things to fulfill his purposes. (14-15)

Verse 14 is one of the most serious and sobering statements in the book of 1 Samuel. It, “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.” Earlier in Saul’s reign, the Spirit of God had come upon him with power. When Saul was first anointed as king, God empowered him to lead His people. But twice Saul turned from God openly rejected Him. In chapter 13 he refused to wait for Samuel and performed a sacrifice he had no authority to offer.[3] Instead of trusting God’s timing, he took matters into his own hands. Then in chapter 15 he directly disobeyed God’s command regarding the Amalekites. Saul spared what God had commanded to be destroyed and then attempted to justify his disobedience. By the time we reach chapter 16, God has rejected him as king. Now we begin to see the spiritual consequences of that rejection unfold. The Spirit of the Lord has departed from Saul.

And verse 15 points out the extra disturbing detail we saw in verse 14, as if the removal of the Spirit of God wasn’t enough: “And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.” A harmful spirit…from God. This can be hard for us to process, but it shows us something important for us to grasp about God’s sovereignty. The Bible isn’t presenting God as evil here. It’s reminding us that there is nothing in this universe that exists outside the Lordship of our sovereign God. Even forces of darkness remain under His Lordship. The demons themselves are under His authority. We see this clearly in Job chapter 1 where Satan can’t act without God’s permission. Even the powers of darkness must operate within boundaries God establishes.

For Saul, God had likely restrained these evil forces for years. It’s the same for us. Y’all, we have NO CLUE what all God has saved us from. And what he continually saves us from. But Saul keeps disobeying. He keeps rejecting God’s rule and reign, and it’s brought serious consequences on him, as it does for us! In a lot of ways this is similar to what happened when Israel demanded a king in the first place. God warned them about the consequences, yet they insisted. Eventually God allowed them to experience what they had chosen in having Saul. The New Testament shows a similar thing when it speaks about God handing people over to the consequences of their sin.[4]

Saul may wear the crown, but he’s not the one truly ruling. Sovereign is a kingly word. It describes the one who ultimately governs everything. Saul is not the one in charge. God is. And even in this moment of judgment, God is accomplishing His purposes. Saul’s torment will eventually lead to David being brought into the royal court. What looks like evil and chaos on the outside is actually part of God’s good and sovereign plan. God works all things for good.[5] You can only have that truth with God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness. Even amidst evil things happening.

God advances His kingdom through ordinary gifts faithfully offered to Him. (15–18)

Saul’s torment continues, and his servants start looking for a way to help him. They propose something you might not think of. They suggest finding someone who can play some good music. Music, they think, might calm the king when the harmful spirit comes upon him. You know you do it too! You have that one band or that one artist that just soothes your soul. (Mine is a band called Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. I can put them on, and my soul can breathe a sigh of relief no matter what’s happening.) Notice what they don’t suggest, though. They don’t recommend bringing in a prophet or talking to a priest. They suggest a musician. They’re not going to God about this. Do you see a pattern here with Saul’s reign?

One of the servants then mentions who? David. The description he gives is remarkable. I love it. I would love to be described like that—put that on my business card! David is, as verse 18 says, “skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence.” But the most important description comes at the end of the sentence, I believe. “The LORD is with him.” That final phrase is his real qualification.

But notice how David actually enters the palace. It’s not through political influence. Not through military achievement or public recognition. He enters through playing music. The lyre, which was a stringed instrument. Let’s think of it like the guitar, which it was more similar to a harp-like guitar. Where do you think he learned to play it? He likely learned while sitting in the fields watching sheep. What else are you going to do out there, right? So, David is anointed king, and he’s called to be king, now, right?

After David has been anointed as king, the first story about him doesn’t take place in a palace or on a battlefield, though. Eugene Peterson writes, “After David has been presented to us as chosen and anointed, the first story about him is set in the workplace. David’s earthy spirituality begins with his first job.”[6] That pushes back against how many people think about calling. We often assume that when God calls someone, He immediately removes them from ordinary life and places them into visible leadership. But Peterson explains that Scripture presents a different pattern:

“In our biblical texts being anointed means being given a job by God. It means employment. We’re told, in effect, that there’s a job to be done and that we’re assigned to do it—and that we can do it. Anointing connects our work with God’s work.”[7]

David’s anointing as king didn’t remove him from ordinary, everyday work. It gave extra meaning to his ordinary everyday work. Hear me: Your work matters to God. Your faithfulness in ordinary responsibilities matters to God. The kingdom of God doesn’t advance only through pastors and missionaries. It advances through godly mechanics who lead people to Christ while they’re changing brake pads and giving a discount to a widow. It advances through teachers who bring true truth (as Schaeffer would say) into their classrooms, not afraid of what the culture at large has to say. It advances through Christ-centered lawyers who practice true justice, and stand firm for the unchanging morality of our unchanging God. It advances through coaches who shape young athletes with discipline and genuine care when they might not get it anywhere else. When your work—whatever it is—is offered to God, it becomes worship. And this world needs it. It needs you. Where you are. Living your life for God.

Servants of God serve in humility because they serve God, not man. (19–21)

Once David’s name is mentioned, the process moves quickly. Verses 19-20 show, “19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.”

Then David arrives in the royal court. And verse 21 reveals David’s God-ordained position with Saul: “And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.” There’s a lot here. First, simply put, David came to serve Saul. He “entered his service.” He didn’t really know what he was coming for. He came to serve. He came to play music, but he found favor and ended up becoming Saul’s armor-bearer. That’s huge, y’all. In the ancient world the armor bearer wasn’t just a servant who carried equipment. The armor bearer was a super trusted helper who stood close to the king. He carried the king’s weapons, was near him in battle, and functioned as part of his personal guard. To become the king’s armor bearer meant access to the king himself. That was a big deal that only God could orchestrate.

But when you step back and really look at the moment, the irony of the scene is almost overwhelming. The future king of Israel is now carrying the armor of the current king. And David knows something Saul doesn’t know. Samuel has already poured oil on David’s head. God has already chosen him as the king.[8] The Spirit of the Lord has already rushed upon him. God has already declared that the kingdom will be given to him. Yet what does David do? He says nothing. He doesn’t announce his anointing. He doesn’t try to correct the situation. He doesn’t attempt to hurry God’s plan. He serves Saul. Even as Saul is literally going crazy. David is willing to live faithfully in a role that seems small, even though he knows God has promised something far greater. It’s as Eugene Peterson writes, “His first job as king was serving a bad king.”[9]

And the way David serves Saul reveals something profound about his heart. David isn’t serving Saul because Saul deserves it. Saul is already proving himself to be unstable and disobedient to God. Saul’s leadership will soon become dangerous to David himself. Yet David continues to serve him faithfully. Why? Because He serves God, not Saul. So that means he can serve Saul even if Saul doesn’t deserve it.

If we grasp that—with our lives, not just our heads—it can literally change everything for us. If David’s service depended on Saul’s character, there’s no way he would faithfully serve him. He could serve him, yes, but with bitterness. With some side eye. With a lot of cold shoulders and negative comments behind his back and under his breath. If David’s obedience depended on the worthiness of the leader above him, his humility would collapse the moment Saul’s flaws became obvious, because it would prove he didn’t actually have any actual humility after all. But David isn’t that way. He serves Saul because he ultimately serves the Lord. And that’s the only way you can keep faithfully serving no matter where you are. It's as the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:23-24: 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

We experience God’s presence through mundane faithfulness to Him. (22–23)

Think about it. What is causing Saul’s turmoil? God’s presence has departed him, and a harmful spirit is tormenting him. What is causing him to feel better? Is it David’s sweet tunes? It’s like that song from the 70s, “Drift Away,” right? “Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul; I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away.” Now that’s going to be stuck in your head. But at least you won’t be going crazy. No, it’s not David’s skills. It’s his persistence in offering his gift to God.

David does this again and again and again and again. Every time the distress returns, David serves again. This becomes David’s role in the palace. The man who has been anointed as the future king of Israel spends his days playing mundane music for a crazy, troubled king. There are no crowds. There’s no throne for him. He’s commanding no army. There’s just faithful service in an unseen room. But y’all, that’s worship. That is where you truly experience God. It’s in the everyday and in the mundane.

David experiences God’s presence through mundane faithfulness. He experiences God through simply showing up. Through serving. Through using the gifts God has given him faithfully. And that is exactly how God wants to work in your life as well. There are seasons when faithfulness feels ordinary. There are seasons when obedience feels unnoticed. There are seasons when it seems like nothing is happening. But those seasons are often the very places where God is doing His most important work.

Do you want to truly experience God? You open up your Bible daily and read it, even when it feels dry. You keep serving your husband and keep loving your wife even when they don’t reciprocate. You keep folding laundry to the glory of God. You keep going to that 9-5 with a smile on your face and the love of Jesus in your heart. You don’t go to to church to experience God, you come to church having already experienced God every second of every day of your week of your mundane reality because it was lived in worship to God. And let me tell you something, that will make your mundane reality come alive. Because Jesus came to redeem your mundane reality.

Jesus is the Suffering Servant who served us in sacrificial humility.

David’s life ultimately points forward to someone greater. Jesus also lived most of His life in hiddenness. Before His public ministry began, He spent nearly thirty years in ordinary life. He worked with His hands. He lived quietly in Nazareth. The King of kings began in humility, born in Bethlehem in a manger. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness with the kingdoms of the world, Jesus refused the shortcut.

In Matthew 4:8-11 we see this final temptation:

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

What did Jesus choose? He chose service, to give His life for you. He was prophesied to be the Suffering Servant, which would lead to the cross, for you and for me.[10] To give us life. The life we are to live in service for Him.