filled with the Spirit (pt. 2)
Before he became king, before he slaughtered thousands of Philistines, before he entered into King Saul’s service and before he beheaded Goliath, David was a shepherd. The Bible doesn’t have much to say about what happened during those years, but David tells King Saul that he killed a lion and a bear while defending his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-36). OK, stop right there. Teenage boys don’t just charge after a lion with a slingshot or grab a wild bear by the beard and club it to death. That just doesn’t happen unless you’re on a Hollywood set for a movie like 300. What we do know is that at some point while he was a shepherd, David was anointed by the prophet Samuel. 1 Samuel 16:13 says, “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.” The Bible doesn’t say how long David continued to shepherd his father’s sheep after being anointed, but it’s obvious that there was some undefined amount of time between his being anointed and being called into Saul’s service in the next few verses. I truly believe David killed the lion and the bear AFTER the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him in power.
I think that’s really important because of how the story unfolds. Immediately David’s life changes. He suddenly has favor with the king as if out of nowhere, he ignores the fear of an entire army and goes up against a well-trained soldier who happens to be HUGE, kills him with a slingshot and then cuts off his head. And it gets even better from there. But if you miss the significance of his anointing and the Spirit’s power coming upon him in chapter 16, then it just looks like he’s a really confident, smart, good-looking kid who gets his “big break”.
The Bible is very clear on this point. Story after story in the biblical record illustrates how it takes the Spirit of the Lord coming upon a person or a group with great power and anointing in order for things to change. In order for God’s will in the earth to be accomplished, people have to be filled with His Spirit.
Over the next couple weeks I want to dive into what it looks like when we’re filled with the Spirit. If you’ve got any feedback, perspective, stories or experiences to share, I’d love to hear where you’re coming from.
I was thinking about that this morning as I was reading:
John 20:19-23
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
NKJV
coffeecup
May 26, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Yep, it’s clear from John 7 that the “receiving” of the Spirit began at that point but was not realized in its full manifestation until Jesus was glorified with his Father according to the promise of John 16:7. These full manifestations are dotted throughout the book of Acts (2:4; 4:29-31; 8:17-19; 10:44-46; 19:6).
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-38
Ben Watts
May 29, 2009 at 1:14 pm