Some Christians are probably tired of hearing about Biblical authority, which has been badly abused. People have been hurt and disillusioned. Serious abuse has occurred, along with dishonourable cover-ups. People have got high and mighty beyond what is real and beyond what they are able to perform to. This happens with politicians, business people and pastors alike. I'm sure I've done it when we pastored in Johannesburg. In the West, authority of any kind is not fashionable or much warmed to. We can learn from the real King of Kings because He is lowly and gentle of heart!
We can also learn a lot from the written Word of God, the Bible, and here I'm focussing on King David, as recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel. King David seems to have wielded his true authority effortlessly and without much self-consciousness or insecurity. For most of his long reign the people were happy to be under his leadership. Why is this? Some things are clear, others less obvious.
David was Israel's greatest earthly king. With his encounter with Goliath, he even made it through into popular culture. We'd probably say he had 'gravitas' and 'charisma' in spades. He had this spectacular early success and the Israelites were delivered. Indeed the Jews still look for a 'Messiah Son of David', a national deliverer. A mighty king. There are many people gifted in the persona of leadership. David was hardly unique in that.
There's reward in teasing out some of the wisdom embedded in God's Word here. Why is David so honoured? Some of that wisdom is straightforward and well-agreed. David was a man of clear and incisive faith. For this reason he faced Goliath, the giant Philistine man of war. We read about this in 1 Samuel 17. He did so with confidence and resolve, free from fear. His focus was not Goliath. It was not on himself. It was not on the Philistines or the Israelites themselves. It was the Glory and Honour of the God of Israel.
Saul was David's predecessor and the first king of Israel. Samuel the prophet anointed both of them as king. One area for study is how Saul and David handled their status and authority as Kings.
What shines through the books is how Saul tried to force his leadership and authority at various points in his reign. This despite God Himself having anointed him as King. That should've been enough. Saul is initially hesitant to be king, hiding away at his own 'coronation'. Later he repeatedly grows concerned when faced by the enemy. He seeks help and reassurance in places other than God Himself. He doesn't often seek God's will out, and when he attempts to, he disregards God's ordained people and methods. He also tries to shore up his reign by eliminating competition, and here he perceives David rightly as his main rival. When David is praised above him, he grows angry and unsettled. Although he has a God-ordained role, he is not rested and secure in it. He is not afraid to usurp the God-given roles of the priests. His relationship with God seems to be a series of hasty attempts to do what is expected of him by God and man. Having tasted high authority he seems to cling to it using manipulation and intimidation. Most people do. God is looking for those who do not, and who rest in God for their destiny. That doesn't mean they are lazy or passive; rather faithful in small and hidden things as well as visible things. Such people may never 'make it big' in this life, but if they walk sincerely with God in this life, they will have real and everlasting reward in the age to come. David of course 'made it big' in Israel. His status in the age to come we will see in due course! His reward will be great; where he fits in the eternal scheme we don't really know.
David seems to have made few attempts to shore up his authority. He didn't defend himself or his position. On occasion he almost invited his own removal from office. His authority derived from the choice, from the anointing, of God. God chose him, and God's mantle rested on him. It was not something he would ever be able to establish or maintain himself. He held it lightly. When someone mocked and stoned him, he felt he probably deserved it as from God. In the quiet hidden role of shepherd, he had learned to trust God to perform his responsibilities with him. He had learned in places of seeming insignificance to trust and delight in the Lord God of Israel. His perspective didn't alter as his status grew. He made huge mistakes and sinned terribly, but he came back consistently and usually quickly. He was indeed a man after God's heart!
While Saul fretted about his position and status, David held the honour and anointing of God higher than his own part in them. When Saul came after him, he did not strike back even when the outcome was guaranteed to be in his favour. He did not dare to interfere with the choices of God. When He cut Saul's garment to prove he had shown him mercy, his conscience troubled him almost immediately. Even this small act was touching on a man God had chosen, and it was God's job to remove him, based on God's criteria, not David's. It is hard to over-emphasise the importance of this. God decides our position, our role, our stature, the scope of our responsibilities, our authority. He decides when to give us office and when and if to take it away. The angels who decided to leave their ordained place were in due course eternally damned. The same applies to man. We cannot be who we want to be. The recent preoccupation with radically altered identity is actually indicative of a dangerous rebellion against God Himself and He will judge it ruthlessly unless there is repentance.
I see two take-home lessons in summary. One, take God's anointing on a person supremely seriously. This is supremely expressed in Christ, the very word means 'Anointed One'. In this dishonouring, over-familiar, presumptuous age, if someone has an anointing for spiritual office, honour the anointing and honour them. Don't treat them as infallible. Don't be intimidated by them. But do honour them.
Secondly, the person God has anointed and upon whom the anointing still stands, need not throw their weight around. Their authority and recognition is not upheld by intimidation and manipulation. The most they'll have to do is stand firm in their call and identity. Moses and Paul spring to mind as people who defended their stature and calling, but only verbally, without threats or aggression. It seems David didn't even do this.
David held the anointing and call of God, and His delegated authority, as more important than his own status, his own part in those things.
