Read I Samuel 17: 28-31
Eliab, David’s older brother gets wind of David asking about the reward. Out of his mouth comes words of accusations and judgment. It is apparent to all who witness this conversation that Eliab’s words are laced with anger towards his younger brother.
Was this just a sibling fight? Or was there more underlying in his words and delivery to understand? Why would the Lord want us to see this interchange between David and his oldest brother?
We know that Eliab was presented before Samuel and passed over along with his other brothers (in 1 Samuel 16). Then they had to wait for David to be gathered and brought to their occasion. On top of it all, Eliab had to witness Samuel anoint David as the future King of Israel. Do you think that a seed of jealousy was planted then, and now we are seeing how that seed has grown?
Have any of us been put in a situation where we watched someone advance over us when we thought we were more qualified than they? What about seeing someone of a lesser position in life being raised up by some popular person to put the spotlight on them?
This thought hits me hard as I reflect and think of instances in school and my workplace. Thankfully it is not 100% of the time. But here’s the contrast: when you know someone should be promoted and they are, you rejoice with them. But if you don’t believe they should be promoted, what happens to our initial thoughts about the matter? Do we know the full story behind the promotion? Can the enemy plant a seed in our minds that brings adversity and bondage instead of an opportunity to grow in faith for God’s will to be done?
David is the recipient of harsh words, laced with anger. How many times has he had to deal with this? How do we like his response? “Now what have I done?” That sounds like he has had to deal with this bombardment of hurtful words before.
Herein lies a lesson for all of us. How many times do we need to deal with someone who delivers a message to us in anger with hurtful words? What do we do? How do we react?
David was being trained by the Holy Spirit that was upon him. He said a couple of sentences and then turned away to someone else to move on with his errand. There was an errand that his father Jesse wanted him to complete, but there was a greater mission that the Lord was leading David to.
What would have happened if David got all wrapped up in the attitude of his oldest brother? Could the enemy have used a spirit of jealousy on and within Eliab to try to sabotage the mission David was on? Could the enemy see the Spirit upon David in power, and he was trying to discourage and take him off course any way he could?
Instead, David chose to ignore Eliab and move on. He didn’t dwell there. And as he went to confirm the information he was gathering from the men in Israel’s army, it was observed. It was overheard. And scripture lets us know that the right people overhead it, for they went to report it to the King.
There was a master plan in place by God. The Spirit was leading David in a way to fulfill that plan. The enemy was using his brother to dissuade him from following the path he was to travel.
A primary verse in my life was written by David in Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. For him to write this verse, I wonder if he reflected on this event in his life to see how the Lord directed his path. He could have chosen to be derailed by the opposition his brother presented. But in the moment of determining how to handle the situation, he followed the spirit within him.
This kind of choice generally is not learned overnight. For many of us, our human tendencies would be to react to that anger and harsh words in a way to strike back at the person. It can take some character building in order to be able to step back, even within those few seconds, to choose a higher road in how to handle the emotionally tense situation. Is it easy to walk away and keep our focus on the task ahead of us?
Did David previously experience some kind of suffering from his relationship with his brother that the Holy Spirit used to develop his character so that he could make the correct choice at that moment?
In Romans 5:3-5, Paul gives us insight into this type of situation. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Do we always understand the ways of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives? Do we see how God, the master planner uses situations around us, intertwining our lives with others around us, leading and guiding us in the direction we need to go? In the meantime He builds us up, developing us, and teaching us so that we can fulfill the calling He has placed on our lives.
Did this not happen to David? As he mingles with the other soldiers, gathering information, he is noticed by the men of the King. The word got to King Saul. And Saul called for David to come.
Where is God calling us to be today? Is there information we are to gather? Is there someone there that the enemy can use to distract us? Where do we need to put our focus?
Something was building up in David. He was gathering up intel about the battle situation and the reward. At the same time, a plan was being implemented by the Spirit of God. And now we are about to watch David prepare to fight a battle that was his specific spiritual assignment.
