I Samuel 18 contrast those two types of authorities. One is a godless authority in which King Saul ruled. While Saul’s leadership did not start out being ungodly, it sadly deteriorated and ended up that way. David on the other hand ruled as a godly leader. While he too made mistakes during his time as King, for the most part he ruled his people with care and wisdom and he always repented when confronted by God for a wrong that he had committed. All authority originates with God according to Romans 13. The Bible also states in Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. That simply means that when a leader rules with godly discernment and wisdom, the people prosper and rejoice in good times. When a leader acts ungodly and unjust by the standards of God, the people will always suffer and live in despair. In the end, it will be God that judges those that take advantage of their power, for He judges the just and the unjust. Godly authority is to be reveared thereby in helping us to live right and protect our conscience, by not doing wrong, according to Romans 13.
David experienced firsthand how it was to serve and live under a godless authority and he became a remarkable teacher for us, in understanding our function in the context of both godless and godly authorities. Godless authority often times will suddenly reveal itself pretty quick. I Sam 18:6 tells us that after David’s victory over slaying the giant; the women led a precession through the city streets celebrating the great victory that David had won. They were singing and praising David for slaying more men than Saul. From that day on, Saul’s hatred only grew for David. The scriptures say that the next day, Saul was given over to an evil spirit…..David was being praise above Saul one day and on the very next day, (it was as if God had just stepped aside) Saul was given over mightily, to an evil spirit that pursued David’s death, from that point on. David had been loyal to Saul and never touched a hair on Saul’s head, yet because of Saul’s hatred and jealousy towards him, Saul pursued to kill his most loyal subject.
How does a man like Saul go from being a great King that led God’s people with promise, to reaching the point where he sought greatness a part from what God had already given him. His self indulgence of his own power and fame led him to have a perverted image of himself. Once instead of waiting on God to give His blessings through God’s priest, Saul took it upon himself the role of High Priest apart from God’s permission; and that was a huge mistake. A godly leader is not about being the final authority, but being able to submit to a higher authority. The same principle applies in understanding servitude. You must first learn to serve. There is a common factor in those two great abilities and it is humility. Without it, we are all empty Air Socks. We may look pretty on the outside, but we are hollow and empty inside, just blowing in the wind. The Centurion solider in the New Testament showed the kind of principle of authority that honors God. Upon reaching Jesus, he simply said to him, that Jesus only need to speak it and it would happen. He said “I too am a man under authority, I say to one go and he goes”….that solider understood his position. He understood the principle and power of authority.
Saul had to have his ego stroked and fed on a daily basis by those that were under him. He had even set up a monument to himself….as did David’s son Absalom. Godless leaders are driven by their ego. They do not understand the principle of mutual authority or community. They are driven by jealousy, which almost always turns to hatred. They seek praise and power for themselves and choose not share it with others. I read once where the A type leader that hires other A type leaders to work with them will accomplish and be more productive than those A type leaders who hires B and C type leaders to work with, because they do not want to share in the glory. Those leaders have a false sense of security in who they are and moreoften than not, have to have their ego's stroked. Any leader that wants to really be successful will do it on the shoulders of other people who will sharpen them and challenge them to be better. The ungodly leader will spend all their resources to secure their position than to build those that that around up. They are threatened by those that get equal praise and jealousy takes them over and in the end, they will loose the respect from others that they tried so hard to hold on to.
God allowed David through Saul’s persecution to learn the importance of genuine community and how by building up those that are around him makes for a better life for everyone; even those that wanted to stamp him out. In I Sam 21…David ended up in a cave with 400 people. Exiled from everyone that he loved. He ended up being a captain of a band of whacko’s, disgruntles and those that were mad at the world as well as those that society had rejected. It was though God had placed David at the Customer Service desk in the backcountry of nowhere to assist people by building them up and showing them that they had worth! He learned that by his own character he would draw men to himself, not by position or power but by being transparent and letting them see the real him.
Like David, God wants us to learn that we must be transparent with others wherever we are in whatever situation we may be in and who we really are. David had to learn that God was God in the wilderness just as He was in the palace, of Kings and kingdoms. The greatest teams are developed by those that are transparent ….When in Ziglag, those same dysfunctional men that lived in that cave with David became known as “David’s Mighty Men”. But they did not start out that way. For 10 years as those broken, dysfunctional men saw David’s humble and godly character, they learned that they could trust him… even unto death. They through David's wittness and love, were changed to forever become, might men!
You see, David was able to see beyond the moment…as he told Saul that the Lord would judge between the two of them and of course God did. David found great comfort in the wisdom of God as he searched his heart and the will of God as to what to do in his situations…..as he was hiding in the mountains among the goats and as an opportunity arose to kill Saul David refused, I Sam 24:5…his heart never faltered to what his task was about. Not to be the awesome leader that God allowed and helped him to become, but David understood the things of God on a level Saul never desired to know and understand; because Saul sought only to build himself up. In II Sam 1 David and his men wept as they heard the news of Saul’s death. They were broken because of what they saw in David as their leader. A great leader has to go ahead of the moment that they are in. They don’t do what seems best for the moment, but they think beyond the gratification of what they may want for that moment and seek the proper outcome for all. God built an incredible house through David and He desires to do that through us.
What is your circumstance this moment? Are you struggling with some type of authority right now? The Bible says that obedience is better than sacrifice. Do not allow your moments to cause you to be a victim but allow them to cause you to reach for victory over every circumstance. Through humility and love for others, you too can be the proper leader that the world needs more of!
Hold Fast,
Bren
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