The very title of this lesson seems to be an oxymoron. How can a partnership be one-sided? The definition of a partnership is a relationship where both are committed to each other and to a common goal. ALL parties are ALL IN! In our partnering with God, He is all in, and hopefully we are as well. However, in this partnership, we may be asked to be ALL IN in a relationship with others that are not. It is a one-way flow of giving all rather than the mutual flow of a true partnership. In this act of obedience, partnering with God is definitely required. David found himself in this kind of obedience.
“Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.”(1 Samuel 16:14) We are not going to sugarcoat this. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul in a unique and powerful way when he was anointed as king. According to 1 Samuel 10, it radically changed Saul. Verse 6 says that when the Spirit came upon him, he would “be changed into another man.” Verse 10 says, “God changed his heart.” However, after 25 years of continually rejecting a partnership with God, and rebelling and resisting the Holy Spirit’s attempts to guide and enable, God gave him over to the stubbornness of his heart and withdrew that special anointing. The radical changes the Holy Spirit had enabled were no long divinely empowered. God also removed a divine protection around him and gave an evil spirit permission to “torment”NIV him.
This is serious! When, by faith, we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit. In John 14:23, Jesus tells us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” He fills and flows through our lives through His Spirit. “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4:13) God partners with us through His Spirit. He desires to bless us, enable us and work powerfully through us.
What are we told NOT to do according to Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19?
· Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
· Do not quench the Spirit; 1 Thessalonians 5:19
We grieve the Holy Spirit anytime we think, speak or act contrary to His nature. It breaks His heart. He wants best for us. He is best for us. We are rejecting Him and what He has for us. His fire within us is quenched when we smother His counsel and guidance with negative or willful thinking, as well as withhold the fuel of truth found in God’s word and fellowship with Him.
I personally believe that He will never leave or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5), and that even when I am faithless He remains faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13) However, I have personally experienced His pulling back at my persistence and giving me over to the stubbornness of my heart. I have also experienced the incredible grace and mercy of His immediately responding to my cries of contrition and need, and once again filling and flowing with abundance.
Having experienced the incredible blessing of the Spirit’s presence and power, the void of His withdrawal is excruciating. Saul was living in that void. Tormented within, he suffered from full-blown, out-of-control panic attacks and extreme paranoia. He was losing it! It was impacting everyone around him.
Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. “Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” Saul loved the idea. “So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.” (1 Samuel 16:15-17)
In a God-orchestrated “co-incident,” someone “just happened” to know the right young man for the job – David. “Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him.” (vs. 18)
Here is where David in his partnering with God, enters a one-sided “partnership” with Saul. One-sided means you give and the other receives. It may be with gratitude (at first), but often taken for granted. What you do or the extent of your doing may not even be noticed. Or worse, you might not even be noticed. One-sided can also be demanding and even abused. One-sided can come with crazy and unrealistic expectations and costs. One-sided usually means others benefit far more than you will. A high cost of obedience is a real test of partnering with God.
How was David described to Saul? How would these attributes appeal to Saul?
1) Skilled musicianIn ancient times, music was believed to heal mental illness. He knew he had a problem. Listening to music was a whole lot more soothing than taunting voices.
2) Mighty man of valor From the beginning Saul surrounded himself with the strongest and bravest - “… when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff." (1 Samuel 14:52) It was what he valued. In his current situation, he especially needed men who had the courage to handle “any” situation an imbalanced king might get them into.
3) Warrior Even though just a teen, David already manifested the characteristics of a warrior, which Saul also needed: confidence, discipline, inner strength, dependability, obedience, submission to authority, sacrificial attitude, a doer.
4) Prudent in speech He had to know how to keep confidences and his mouth shut, as he would hear many things while serving in the throne room, especially the throne room of an out-of-control king.
5) Handsome man He would be an asset to the court, even if only in appearance. A musician tended to be “wallpaper,” but it might as well be good-looking wallpaper.
6) The Lord was with him Finally what Saul needed more than anything. He knew it.
Quite the resume for a teenager! This recommendation appealed not only to Saul’s need, but also his pride and prejudices.
So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son. (1 Samuel 16:19,20)
It is here that I am overwhelmed by the incredible grace of God. Saul’s arrogance and rebellion had resulted in the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit. But God knew that Saul still needed Him, so He made Himself available through the filling of another! God sent David, filled with the presence and power of God – full of wonder and worship. Through David, God was there for Saul. As David sang of God’s grace and glory, the evil spirit departed. Verse 23 tells us, “Whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.” This isn’t the same as personally being filled and experiencing the joy, peace and power the inner presence of the Holy Spirit makes possible, however, it is still immeasurable grace!
Do you know someone who is being terrorized by life? It doesn’t matter if they brought it upon themselves or not. They desperately need the peace and power of the Holy Spirit. God may be sending you into their lives to bring the overflow of His Spirit that is within you to them. What does that person need most right now?– Wisdom? Truth? Love? Joy? Peace? Hope? All of these come from the Holy Spirit. You have what they need - HIM!
Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” (vs. 21,22) It says “Saul loved him greatly.” Saul loved what David did for him and what he got out of it. It also says that Saul made David one of his armor bearers. This teen was now enlisted in Saul’s army to serve at HIS beck and call. In addition to whatever armor he was asked to carry (a load of spears, arrows, extra swords or shield), David also had to have his harp or lyre to “calm the savage beast” when it reared its ugly head. 1 Samuel 16:23 says, ”Whenever.” Saul wasn’t always out of control, but “whenever” hit, David was called and expected to come running. 1 Samuel 17:15 says, “David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.” David selflessly juggled the demands of both.
What can you learn about partnership from this lopsided relationship? It isn’t always give and take, a balanced relationship, mutually beneficial. It is about wholehearted commitment and giving your all, even if you feel you are given nothing. I cringe to think how often I am the Saul in my relationship with God drawing from Him the resources and refreshing I need, but giving back nothing. I also cringe at how easy it is to resent those who take, take and take without giving back. My partnership is with God and I am to bring that partnership to all my relationships and interactions, especially if they are one-sided.
God called David to partner with Saul, not because of what David got from Saul, but because he had what Saul needed: God! God, in turn gave David something he didn’t even know he needed: an in-your-face lesson on what kind of king NOT to be. I love the way Gene Edwards in His book “Tale of Three Kings” puts it: God put Saul in David’s life to remove the Saul out of David’s life. For that to happen, David had to partner with God, and be willing to be a part of a one-sided partnership with Saul. It is “grace upon grace” (John 1:16) when God blesses us through our unselfishly willing to bless others.
Colossians 2:9 in The Message says, “You don’t need a telescope, a microscope or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ and the emptiness of the universe without Him.” As we partner with Him and He fills our lives with His Spirit, we get to overflow into that emptiness and bless others. Who do you know that needs that blessing right now?
