Take Ten with Pastor Don

October 11, 2023

(The following is the script used for the October 11, 2023 Take Ten with Pastor Don Podcast. It is the first part of the Characteristics of Young Davids. The conclusion will be posted on October 18, 2023.)

Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey, pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.

I ran across an old set of notes that I had written nearly 25 years ago. To be honest, I spent quite a bit of time searching for these notes a few months back but to no avail. Then, just a few days ago, while I was searching for some other notes, I found them.

The notes were titled, “Characteristics of Young Davids.”

The “Young David” being talked about here is King David of the Bible. He is still considered to be the greatest king of Israel. He is still spoken of in highly revered tones in Israel. And he should be someone we look to for how to live our lives.

The word “young” here does not necessarily mean that he was a teenager, or in his early 20’s. While it does encompass that definition, it also could refer to someone who is chasing after God, listening for His Spirit to guide them and to use them in new ways, even though they have been around the block a couple of times.

There are a lot of folks in their 20’s and 30’s that gave up chasing God, and have bene stuck in a rut for many years already.

My prayer when I wrote these notes was for God to keep us “young in Him.” And to always be on the lookout for the next new thing God wanted us to do.

I wrote ten characteristics of David that I felt contributed to his state of being “young.”

I can’t spend a great deal of time on each one, and since I know there will be a lot of material to cover, I will post them to my blog, “In Pursuit.” (You can find “In Pursuit” by going to my web site, DonMcGarvey.com)

The first characteristic I wrote about was that David did whatever it was that came his way.

We are told that on a couple of occasions, while shepherding his father’s sheep, a lion and a bear came along to help themselves to a lamb dinner, David struck the beast and rescued the sheep. And then when the beast turned on David, he “seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”

The second characteristic was David didn’t try to be someone else. He stayed true to who God created him to be.

When King Saul found out David had volunteered to confront Goliath, he tried to convince David to wear his armor.

We were told earlier that King Saul was a full head taller than most of the Jews. So when David tried on Saul’s armor, he could hardly even walk in it let alone go to war against Goliath.

Along the same lines came the third characteristic.

David stayed true to his own gifting.

David didn’t even have a sword. But he had a sling shot. And he was a good shot with that thing. We get the idea that he practiced a lot while watching his father’s sheep.

So instead of stomping about in Saul’s armor, and trying to use a sword, spear, or javelin against the giant, he took his sling and picked up five smooth stones from the brook.

The next characteristic I wrote about was that David was patient…. most of the time.

If you read through the Scriptures, David was anointed to be the next king in 1 Samuel 16.

Right after that, King Saul recruits David to serve as a musician and armor bearer. All this happened before he defeated Goliath.

I’ve often wonder how difficult it was for David to know he had been anointed, called of God, to serve as the next king, yet he was patient, and he honored Saul as the anointed king (most of the time).

Along with this, David was respectful of King Saul. He knew Saul was the Lord’s anointed and until the Lord removed Saul, David would not be able to legitimately assume his place as the next king of Israel.

Another part of David being respectful is when he father kept him home from the battle to watch his sheep. But one day, Jesse, David’s father, asked David to be part of the behind lines supply detail.

I’m sure David jumped at the chance for two reasons. One, his father asked him to do it, second though was that by doing this, David would get closer to the front lines, where all the excitement.

And speaking of being respectful, when David got to the front lines with the supplies his father had sent, he ran into his big brother, Eliab.

We were told about Eliab when Saul was searching for the next king. He was tall and handsome just like Saul. But God has chosen him. There might have been a heart issue.

When David encounters Eliab, Eliab acts as though he at war with David. Scripture says that Eliab “burned with anger at David. Accused David of being conceited and having a wicked heart. (1 Samuel 17:28) But David didn’t lash out at Eliab. He respectfully went about his business searching for someone with a little kinder heart to answer his question.

Our time for this time is about gone. We’ve covered six of the ten characteristics of David that made David a “man after God’s own heart. We will complete the list next time we are together.

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Thanks again for joining us and God bless!