David's Harp

The events recorded in the first part of I Samuel 16 are familiar to most people who have spent time in church. Even though Saul was the king of Israel, this chapter explains how God used the prophet Samuel to anoint the future king. Samuel was told he would find the next king in the house of Jesse in Bethlehem, but he wasn’t given a name. Jesse proudly paraded his firstborn son Eliab by the prophet, but God made it clear that Eliab had not been chosen. Jesse continued with his second son, down to his sixth son, but each time the prophet rejected the candidate.

Samuel asked if there were any other sons, and Jesse told him about his youngest son who was tending to the sheep. That seventh son, David, would go on to become Israel’s greatest king. An important lesson is demonstrated here, that “the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (v.7).”

But that is not the end of the story. Before the chapter ends we read that God sent a “troubling spirit” to Saul so that the only thing that could soothe him was music. The king wanted the best harpist in the kingdom to be brought to him, and someone in the court knew that a young shepherd in Bethlehem happened to play a pretty mean harp. David, the future king, was brought to the palace to play, but he would no doubt get a good education on the life of a king while he was there. Saul couldn’t know David was his replacement or he would have killed him, and David couldn’t be trained otherwise. God used a harp to put David in the place where he needed to be.

I can imagine young David trying to learn his instrument; I’m sure he got frustrated over wrong chords, or had to push through with painful callouses on his fingers. Because he stuck it out he allowed himself to be in position for God to use him. God took something as mundane as a harp and used it to change David’s life. Maybe there is something in your life that God is going to use to bring about something good; you won’t know if you don’t stick it out even when it gets hard. Be faithful in all the small things, and God just might use them to do something great.