1 Samuel 16
Leaders Prep Section
Watch this video, read these notes, and send the pre-written email (below) to your group 2-3 days before you meet.
Notes
Leaders are not what we think. They are not better men, they are just men in a particular position. What makes a man into a good leader is what, or specifically who, drives him. It could be as fundamental as that.
Group Guide Starts Here
Context of scripture
Now we encounter King David. David is a cultural icon who has been famously characterized in art, poetry, and tradition over centuries. But forget about all that…it’s romanticism and speculation by artists painting hero images. Instead, consider this: Saul and David are among the first men to be placed in an impossible leadership role between God and his people. They are the first to be called Kings, a new title that mere men were never supposed to have in the first place, no matter how great they were.
Read 1 Samuel 16: 1-5
Until this very moment, the whole idea of treason against a man had never existed before in Israel; there was only treason against God (which everyone just called sin). Everything has now changed. Saul has authority and power that can work independently of God and everyone has to just deal with it. Samuel’s fear is justified.
However, despite the situation, Samuel would have recognized something important based on similar situations like Samson and even his own life when God sets someone apart for his own purposes: V1 says, “I have provided for myself a king.” (ESV). Now Samuel knows God’s plan.
What impact does a plan have on the fear that can paralyze a man? Does the mere existence of a plan remove fear; distract you from it, or something else?
Read 1 Samuel 16: 6-13
God’s choice of a new king is interesting because of it’s timing. The first time Samuel says God has chosen a new king was during Saul’s battle with the Philistines (Samuel 13: 14), which historians place at 1041 BC. Now it is 17 years later (historians place the anointing of David at 1024 BC). It’s clear that David is a young man at this point, which means at the time God chose David, David was either an infant or perhaps not even born yet.
Commonly, Saul is characterized as “bad” and David is characterized as “good.” However, if David had any characteristic that made him God’s choice, it wasn’t that he was a good man – it’s that he was empty and impressionable.
If you could shed one aspect of your character that you think distracts you from hearing God, which would you pick?
David was a nobody, even to his own father. (Note that the elders of Bethlehem were scared of Samuel when he came to see Jesse. So it’s logical that Jesse would have felt the same or, at the very least, taken seriously and wanted to honor Samuel’s request to bring all his sons. But he didn’t even think of David; he simply forgot or ignored him.)
It is easier to harder for you to know that God does not care about your accomplishments at all, no matter how great they are?
Read 1 Samuel 16: 14-23
David’s first God-directed act as king is to serve, specifically to calm and soothe another person’s pain.
Have you heard of servant leadership (a popular concept around some professional circles)? What’s your take on it?
When were you a servant to someone else in the past 3 months? What did the experience do for you?