The title of today’s message is “David: The Spirit-Anointed Leader.” In March, I began a new series on the Holy Spirit, with a review of what the Old Testament says about the One we know as the Third Person of the Trinity or Godhead. The understanding that the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person in our Triune God was not revealed clearly until the coming of Jesus of Nazareth. God progressively revealed Himself in the life of Israel until the coming of our Lord. After Jesus ascended and departed from us, God the Holy Spirit was imparted to us on the Day of Pentecost, beginning with His outpouring on 120 disciples in Jerusalem.

The purpose of this series is, first, to encourage you to get acquainted with and trust in the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, and second, to gain confidence as His anointed agent in the world. As you grow in Christ, the Holy Spirit’s anointing will increase within you.

To the ancient Israelites, the Spirit was an extension of God’s nature as the life-giving breath. The Hebrew and Greek words for spirit, ruach and pneuma, both mean breath. Wind is also a metaphor for the Spirit of God.

In the Old Testament, the human spirit and divine Spirit are both called ruach. The context of a sentence tells you whether the author was referring to a human spirit, the Holy Spirit, another spirit, or simply a breath.

In Genesis 1:1-2, the Spirit of God moves across the waters bringing form and order out of chaos. Genesis 1 tells how God’s Spirit helped bring order and life out of what was initially formless and disordered. The Spirit is the dynamic order-producer in our world: One who enables life on earth. God’s Spirit gave us everything we needed on earth to live.

We learn from Genesis 6:3 that God’s Spirit strives to lead us to righteous living; but He will not strive with us forever. God’s patience has its limits. Because God is slow to anger there is a danger in taking God for granted. When we do, we inevitably stumble again into sin.

We also learned that God’s Spirit imparts supernatural insight or wisdom, enabling Joseph to interpret dreams. Pharaoh discerned that Joseph had “a divine Spirit” and elevated him to be Grand Vizier of Egypt. From that position, Joseph saved all Egypt and his own family from famine during seven years of drought. God’s Spirit also imparted wisdom in craftsmanship to Bezalel, who decorated Israel’s Tabernacle.

God’s Spirit brought order, first into creation, then in shaping moral order in society, and imparting wisdom and excellence in craftsmanship and every other arena of life. But the most important role of the Spirit was inspiring and energizing leaders. In the Bible, we find four important leadership positions: the judge or governor, the warrior, the priest and the prophet. Moses was the greatest political leader, by whom Israel became a political nation. His successor, Joshua, led Israel morally and politically when it conquered Canaan. Joshua’s and Jesus’ name in Hebrew are identical, except that Yeshua is a contraction of Yehoshua. Joshua is a biblical type of the Messiah, Jesus.

When the rule of Judges ended in the 11^th century BC, Israel was led by a high priest, Samuel, who was anointed by God’s Spirit as both prophet and judge. 1^st and 2^nd Samuel bear his name, though these books were completed after his death. Samuel also is a type of Christ, who reigns as King, High Priest and Supreme Judge of the World.

In ancient Israel, the Spirit came upon a leader, but did not indwell them. Yet the Spirit remained upon God’s servant until they rebelled against Him.

Next to Moses, the most important leader in Israel’s history was King David. As the Psalmist of Israel, and model of heroic faith, perhaps only Jesus surpasses David as the most admired biblical figure. David is the Old Testament exemplar of a Spirit-anointed leader.

What I want you to believe today is that the same Spirit who anointed David to lead will also anoint you to serve in Christ’s kingdom. We will never rise to his level of fame, but we can learn from his triumphs and his failures how to live as good and godly men.

First, David became a leader through Holy Spirit impartation. When King Saul failed to wait for Samuel to make an appointed sacrifice, Samuel prophesied to him, “The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” Later, when Saul failed God’s command to destroy Amalek, God rejected him as king; and the Spirit of God left him. God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king. David was the youngest son, who was left watching his father’s sheep as the Samuel passed before his seven older brothers. God rejected all of them and told Samuel, “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

The Spirit-anointed man has a heart for God, and a character that reflects His own heart. In the Bible, the heart is not the organ that pumps blood, but the spiritual core of a person. Our “heart” is really the spirit-man within our physical body. Our soul, or consciousness, lies within the spirit-man, which continues after our natural body dies. But we need our brain to think and speak in the natural realm.

David had a heart for God. He loved to compose songs, accompanied with the harp and lyre as he watched his father’s flocks. David turned the stories and wisdom he learned from Israel’s sacred history into psalms. David’s psalms were the fruit of his meditation upon God’s word. He took to heart God’s promise to Israel’s first great military leader, Joshua. Joshua 1:8 says: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your prosperous and then you will have good success.”

David’s unequalled success as a military and political leader of Israel began with his meditating and then acting boldly upon God’s word to become prosperous and successful. Because of this, he was able to prove the next promise God made to Joshua (ch. 1:9): “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

There is a direct connection between meditating upon the promises of God and having the inner strength and courage to carry out God’s will. Those who think often upon God and His ways become aware of His presence and have the deep assurance that He is with them wherever they go. Did not our Lord promise us in Matthew 28:20 before He ascended into heaven: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”?

Singing praises to God is perhaps the most powerful way to actively meditate upon God’s word. Singing involves the whole brain, unlike just speaking; so it opens the nerve center of our soul to interact with God and be in-filled by His Spirit. I believe when David sang his psalms, the men around him knew that he was singing under a divine anointing. The proof of that came before his battle with Goliath. Please turn with me in your Bible to 1 Samuel 16.

In 1 Samuel 16:14 forward we read: “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”

In Samuel, the evil spirit that afflicted Saul is twice attributed to God. Remember that revelation in Scripture is progressive. In ancient Hebrew writing, God was the initiator and sole actor in everything that happened to His covenant people. Today, theologians would say that Satan was the primary cause of that demonic attack upon King Saul. God was the secondary cause, because the attack served His purpose. It prepared the way for David to become His anointed king. God lifted His Spirit from Saul, knowing that an evil spirit would attack him.

There’s a lesson to be learned: Any time you defy an important command of God, you are permitting the enemy to exploit your disobedience and lure you into sin. As St. Augustine wrote, “The wages of sin are more sin.” When released Christian inmates land back in prison, it’s usually because they became careless in a lesser thing that led to a worse violation. Heed Paul’s warning in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry and yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

Proverbs 14:14 says, “The backslider in heart will have the fill of his ways, but a righteous man will be satisfied with his.” When you take God for granted, and take sin lightly, sin will bite you like a viper, with painful consequences. And God will use DOC and the law to hold you accountable.

When Saul’s servants perceived an evil spirit was terrorizing him, they recommended that a skillful musician be found who could sooth him. Continuing in v. 17: ‘So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.”

Let’s consider David’s attributes. First, he was a skillful musician. He had honed his craft for years, worshipping God while watching over Jesse’s flocks. He was a mighty man of valor and a warrior. God’s Spirit made David confident in battle.

David was also prudent in speech. When someone is truly anointed by the Spirit they are careful in their words. Jesus said, “The mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.” David’s speech was prudent, because God’s law was written in his heart through years of meditating upon God’s truth and singing truth back to God. Proverbs 13:3 says, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” So learn to be prudent in speech, like David.

He was a handsome man. David’s cheerful godliness made his countenance pleasant. He radiated confidence from walking in God’s presence. Above all, “The LORD [was] with him.” That is the proof of God’s anointing: a certain charisma that affirms God’s favor.

David cooperated with God’s Spirit to prepare himself for leadership. He employed the gifts that God gave him to his advantage. The young man accurately summarized what made David stand out. Proverbs 22:29 asks: “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings, he will not stand before obscure men.” What the Spirit did with David, He also wants to do with you in your own unique way. God wants to cultivate a spirit of excellence in all that you do.

Reading on from v. 19: “So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” ²⁰ Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son. ²¹ Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. ²² Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.”

David’s playing quieted Saul’s soul when he was under demonic attack. Music is a powerful medium for spiritual activity – either good or bad. There is a spirit that attaches itself to music, especially through its lyrics; so be careful what you listen to. Christ-centered music creates a medium for the Holy Spirit to imprint His wisdom into your soul.

David’s preparation in the Spirit led to his greatest feat, his battle with Goliath. The Philistines were a coastal Mediterranean people who pushed their way east into ancient Israel. Because they forged iron they had stronger swords and tools than Israel, which lacked blacksmiths. By 1100 BC, the Philistines were an oppressor to ancient Israel.

King Saul was a warrior, who wanted to take the battle to the Philistines. Amongst them were descendants of Israel’s enemies, the Anakim, a race of giants. Goliath of Gath stood over nine feet tall, and his armor was impenetrable to the weapons of his day. In raw strength, no one was his equal; and Goliath was a seasoned warrior.

Goliath defied the armies of Israel and challenged one of their champions. While Saul’s army trembled at his sight, David saw an opportunity to win honor and vindicate God as Israel’s champion. Look at 1 Samuel 17:26. Notice how David framed his response to Goliath’s challenge, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

David rallied Israel’s soldiers by interpreting Goliath’s taunt as a challenge to God’s armies, that is God Himself. He asked what reward would be given to the man who killed an uncircumcised Philistine. David declared God’s intent to battle through him against Israel’s enemy. Eventually, David got King Saul’s support to take on the giant. Only then did David step onto the field as Israel’s champion.

David was opportunistic in a godly way. Leaders always seize good opportunities when they present themselves; and David saw the opportunity of a lifetime. Kill the giant and become the king’s son-in-law, and free his family from taxes to boot. David had great faith in that God’s covenant with Israel promised protection and riches for those He favored.

Acquiring honor and wealth are just rewards for those who serve God. Wisdom calls to us: “I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.” When you honor God as the source of your well-being, favor and success will come to you. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Opportunity awareness comes with Holy Spirit anointing. The Holy Spirit is the most creative Person of all, and gives great ideas to His children. But having great ideas and seizing an opportunity are different. It usually takes faith, courage and sustained effort to turn a great idea into a successful venture. Then one success leads to another, and so on.

How David exploited his opportunity is also worth noting. David used an unexpected approach to defeat his adversary. He refused to put on Saul’s armor, and didn’t fight the giant in close combat as Goliath wanted. Instead, David relied on his speed and quickness, and skill with a rock sling. Facing the giant alone in a large field allowed David to attack Goliath from a distance.

A skilled slinger, rushing at his opponent, could hurl a rock at over a hundred miles an hour with deadly effect. If David missed, he could run, reload, and rush again. Goliath, laden with armor, could never have run him down. David also had confidence in his accuracy as a rock slinger, which he’d perfected as a shepherd guarding his flock. And David also had confidence in God as his unseen ally in this battle.

As David approached the giant, Goliath taunted him, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”

What immediately set David apart from the others is that he perceived his battle as the LORD’s. So when David slung his rock, God guided it with deadly precision and speed into the giant’s forehead, killing him on the spot. David cut off and paraded the giant’s head in front of Israel’s army. God inspired them to attack the Philistines and put fear in the enemy’s hearts, so that they fled in terror. Saul’s first battle against the Philistines turned into a rout, and David became Saul’s leading military commander.

David’s success eventually led to a falling out with King Saul. After a series of battles, Saul heard the women in the streets singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” David was winning the affection of the people. The evil spirit that had tormented Saul now infused his mind with deadly jealousy. He feared the loss of his kingdom to a man after God’s heart as Samuel had prophesied. Saul knew that David was that man. Twice he attempted to impale David with his spear in a fit of rage.

David, by contrast, genuinely loved his father-in-law, and held him in high esteem as the Lord’s anointed. You may recall a verse in Psalm 105: “Do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm.” David understood that God had anointed Saul to be king; so only God could remove him from power.

David fled from King Saul and spent seven years as a fugitive in his own country. Even people in his own tribe of Judah betrayed him, rather than risk Saul’s fury. But David’s renown gradually drew men who were distressed to him; and he formed a band of warriors. They were no match for Saul’s army, but God continually protected David from Saul. Instead, David twice had the opportunity to kill Saul, and twice he refused to hurt the Lord’s anointed.

Instead, David cultivated favor from Judean farmers, who gave his men food, and engaged in periodic raids on non-Israelites. David also continued reflecting on his dilemma in song, by encouraging himself in the Lord. Many, perhaps most, of David’s Psalms were written during his time of exile. 73 of the 150 psalms in the Bible were attributed to David, and Jewish rabbis traditionally attributed most of the unattributed psalms to David, too.

I believe his companions sensed the presence of God when David sang. The anointing of the Spirit was strong upon David, because David needed more grace to sustain him. Look at Psalm 18, whose introduction says, “A Psalm of David… who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

“I love You, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18 concludes this way: ⁴⁶ The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation, ⁴⁷ The God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me. ⁴⁸ He delivers me from my enemies; surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. ⁴⁹ Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to Your name. ⁵⁰He gives great deliverance to His king, and shows loving-kindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”

David wrote other psalms imploring God’s protection from his enemies or extolling God’s strengthening his hands for war. But other psalms touch on the character of the godly person, as in psalms 15 and 24. Psalm 15 asks, O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? ² He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. ³ He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; ⁴ In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; ⁵ He does not put out his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Others are pure psalms of praise toward God, such as the beloved Shepherd’s Psalm 23, psalm 34 and psalm 145. I recite these psalms regularly to encourage myself in the Lord; and I strongly encourage you to memorize at least one of David’s Psalms.

Other Psalms were clearly prophetic and had no direct reference to David’s life. Psalm 22 begins with the words Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It continues to give a graphic description of his suffering death by crucifixion, even though that form of execution wasn’t devised for another five centuries. Psalm 110 prophesies the coming of Messiah. Jesus quoted Psalm 110 to prove that Messiah is not just the Son of David, but also the Son of God: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” If the second Lord in this psalm was only David’s descendant, He asked, why did David call him Lord?

David not only led Israel in worship, but made his capital Jerusalem as the center of divine worship. His first act as King of a united Israel was to commission an order of Levites, the sons of Asaph and Korah, to conduct unceasing praise in the tabernacle. During David’s reign there was a renaissance of divine worship that moved God to affirm that David would always have a descendant of his on Israel’s throne. The prophet Nathan prophesied this in the Spirit in 2 Samuel 7.

At the end of his life, David composed his final song as a testimony to God’s faithfulness, “Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, the man who was raised on high declares, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, ² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. ³ “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, ⁴ is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.’ ⁵ “Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and secured; for all my salvation and all my desire, will He not indeed make it grow?

Jesus the Messiah, meaning the Anointed One, fulfilled God’s promise to make David’s kingdom everlasting. He is the eternal Son of David who is destined to reclaim the Earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the antitype, or greater King, of David, and a direct descendant on both Joseph’s and Mary’s side of his genealogy. Jesus was born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem, just as the prophet Micah prophesied. And Jesus is the only Jew who has ever lived who could possibly be the promised successor to King David.

It is Jesus who sends the Holy Spirit to anoint us the way He anointed David, or more poignantly the way He anointed Jesus after His baptism. Jesus wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit to anoint you for service in His kingdom. Like David, the Holy Spirit can make you a man after God’s own heart and train your heart to be a skilled and courageous man of God. Isn’t that the kind of man you want to be?

The adventure of living an anointed life under Christ begins when you invite Jesus to take His rightful place as Lord of your life, and then daily commit your way to Him. Psalm 37:4-5 promises, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it. And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.” Will you commit your way to the Lord Jesus Christ today? Will you trust Him as your Lord and Savior? Let us pray.

BENEDICTION: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.