By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Samuel 13:14
But now your kingdom
shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart,
and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you
have not kept what the LORD commanded you."
NKJV
Saul was selected as Israel’s first king. Saul was the most handsome and tallest man
among the children of Israel (1 Samuel 9:2).
On the surface, he definitely appeared to be the right man to lead
Israel. However, Saul did not have a
heart that wanted to follow God. This
became evident after Saul offered an unlawful sacrifice in Gilgal (1 Samuel
13:7b-10). God’s choice for king was
David.
As a shepherd boy, David was not the tallest or most
handsome of Jesse’s sons. In fact, when
Samuel came to anoint Israel’s new king, Jesse did not even bring David (1
Samuel 16:11). When David came in from
tending the sheep, he would have smelled like sheep, hardly one that we would
believe God would choose to be the king of Israel. However, what we choose is not important, it
is what God chooses that matters.
As I wrote on Wednesday, we face the lame duck legislative
session and the lame duck presidency of Obama.
We must remain diligent but we also must begin seeking the next
President of the United States. The
contrast between King Saul and King David provides a valuable lesson as we
approach the election in two years.
It is not important that we pick the best looking or most
educated man or woman to lead our nation but we must select the one God chooses
for our nation. God chose David, not for
his looks or physical strength but for his heart. This is not to say David was weak for David
did kill a lion and bear to protect his father’s sheep. David also slew the giant, Goliath that
threatened the armies of Israel.
However, David’s strength did not come from his physical
prowess but his heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
As the shepherd for his father’s sheep, David fearlessly slew a lion and
bear because his heart was with protecting the sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-36). David also had a patriotic heart towards his
nation and fearlessly slew Goliath even though all he had was a slingshot and five
stones. David also knew that even though
Goliath was a giant, he had a giant God backing him up that was more than able
to slay Goliath (1 Samuel 17:37).
Our nation currently faces many giants threatening the
citizens of the nation. We have had six
and soon to be eight years of a president that leads from behind. President Obama promised to transform our nation
so he is a transformational leader.
However, like Saul, President Obama does not lead from a heart desiring
to follow God and His will or a heart concerned about the wellbeing of the
citizens. On the contrary, his agenda is
all about propping up himself and his liberal, progressive agenda. If harm comes to the nation and its citizens in
the process of advancing this agenda, they are considered collateral
damage.
When President Reagan assumed office, the nation had
experienced four years of the feckless Carter Administration. The nation was in an economic funk, something
termed as stagflation. This coupled with
the protracted Iranian hostage crisis left the nation feeling weak. President Reagan ran promising to restore
both the military and economic strength of the nation and defeated the
incumbent president by a landslide. I
believe voters voted in droves for Ronald Reagan because like David, they
sensed he had a servant’s heart desiring to protect the citizens and the
nation.
When seeking the next President of the United States we must
find a leader that:
1)
Has internal motivation and self-management (1) – David found his motivation from God and
managed his life according to the Word of God.
When seeking our next president we must pay attention to what motivates
them, something ignored by the media and a majority of voters in 2008 and 2012
with Candidate Obama
2)
The ability to make difficult decisions (1) – When David had an opportunity to assassinate
King Saul he made the tough decision to allow him to live (1 Samuel 24:1-14). His motivation to obey God and not kill God’s
anointed motivated this decision.
President Obama had ample warning and could have sent help to
Benghazi. Instead, President Obama chose
to disappear and go to Vegas for a campaign fundraiser because his motivation
was his own reelection and not protecting the ambassador and those attempting
to save him.
3)
Check his or her ego (1)
– David checked his ego when given an
opportunity to kill King Saul. President
Obama however does not have the ability to check his ego and continues to try
to force his agenda on the citizens of the United States. The Democrat party just got skunked in the
last election but instead of listening to what the voters were saying in the
election, he chooses to go on vowing to go around Congress if they will not do
what he wants, which he just did by granting amnesty to 4,500 illegals.
4)
Has a willingness to take the right risks (1) – David took risks but also knew when it was
best to hide from danger. Instead of
confronting King Saul and letting him know he was now the one anointed King of
Israel, he chose to hide in the caves of the Judean desert so as not to have to
intentionally confront Saul in battle.
Obama on the other hand sees no problem with creating a constitutional
crisis that threatens to fundamentally change the constitutional separation of
powers outlined in the Constitution of the United States, a dangerous risk
threatening the liberties protected by the Constitution.
5)
Has organizational consciousness (1) – David was aware that he was the anointed
King of Israel but also knew he could not ascend to the throne until it was
God’s time for him to do so. David lived
his life in submission to the big picture of God’s plan for Israel. President Obama on the other hand chooses to
remain oblivious to what is going on around him and his constitutional duty to
uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Instead, President Obama chooses to force his unpopular agenda on a
public that soundly rejected it in the recent election.
6)
Demonstrates adaptability (1)
– When David committed adultery with
Bathsheba, he knew there would be consequences.
When confronted with his sin, David repented and threw himself on the
mercy of God (2 Samuel 12:1-15).
President Obama on the other hand continues to move forward with an
increasingly unpopular agenda and now when confronted with a Republican controlled
House and Senate, refuses to work with them, instead vowing to circumvent their
constitutional authority.
7)
Is willing to listen and entertain new ideas (1) – David was open to new ideas but lived a life
of obedience to his God. Even though he
was not perfect and disobeyed God by committing adultery with Bathsheba, his
motivation was to obey God. Because of
that motivation, if presented with an idea violating God’s Word, David would
soundly reject it. President Obama on
the other hand never deviates from his agenda and has no problem with
disobeying the Constitution he has twice swore to protect. With president Obama, it is my way or the
highway.
8)
Is inspirational (1)
– As a man of God and songwriter, David
was inspirational. Even his archenemy,
Saul, would have David come and play for him to ease his troubled heart (1
Samuel 16:23). The messianic aura of
Obama has subsided. Instead of thrills
going up their legs, people are beginning to experience a massive leg
cramp.
9)
Is proactive (1)
– As a young boy David’s father sent him
to see how his brothers were doing on the battlefield. When he arrived there, he saw that they were
cowering in fear with the rest of the army because of Goliath’s continual
taunts. David would not stand for
hearing this Philistine taunt the armies of God, proactively took action (1
Samuel 17:35), and with the help of God, defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45-51). President Obama on the other hand chooses to
ignore problems until they become a political liability. Only then does he take an appearance of
action claiming he has just become aware of the problem.
10)
Is visionary (1)
– David had a vision of building a
temple for God but was forbidden by God from completing it (2 Samuel 7:1-17). However, this did not stop his vision, which
he passed on to his son Solomon.
President Obama won election promising to fundamentally transform the
United States. Many believed the country
needed a transformation and elected him to office. However, they failed to ask Candidate Obama
what he wanted to transform the nation into and did not find out until he
became President. Voters must check out
what the candidate’s vision entails before just voting for someone promising
change.
My recommendation, when seeking a transformational leader
this next presidential election, seek a leader with the qualities of David and
not another leader like President Obama.
Next Saturday, we will look at the qualities of a servant leader.
1. Hogg, Bill. 10 Characteristics of
Transformational Leaders. www.billhogg.ca. [Online] Bill Hogg &
Associates, March 13, 2012. [Cited: November 19, 2014.]
http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/.
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