5 Smooth Stones

“Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” When it comes to ministry what is most important is what is after God's heart, not what is obvious or natural. We are fortunate if we can have those around us who see us according to God's eyes and not after the fl esh, or natural abilities only. David had the anointing for his purpose from that day forward, but not the position or commission for that purpose yet. One of the important aspects of David's success is not that he immediately stepped into the role of the king of Israel, but rather after he was anointed as king, he went back to his regular duties as a shepherd boy watching his father's fl ock, and there he learned to use the anointing of the Lord placed on his life. Watching over fl ocks of sheep in a wild area with predators such as lions, bears and wolves it is acceptable that a shepherd get help against such predators. We have the parable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” It was expected, and acceptable for the shepherd boy to get help from others when the wolf came to prey on the fl ock. What was not acceptable was for him to falsely “cry wolf” when there wasn't any danger. Of course we know in the parable eventually he came to regret his a tt ention-ge tt ing false starts. However, David did not run for help when the predators came even though it would have been acceptable. Rather he did what the average shepherd boy couldn't do, and that was to use a kingly anointing withstanding the threats against his father's fl ock. There is something to be said for David, who not immediately a tt empting to play the role as king of all God's people, but took the anointing of king back to his sheep. He began to use the anointing in the role in which he already was functioning. He found that he could do things with his anointing that he couldn't do without it. With the power anointing he was able to both subdue the lion and the bear, which prepared him for the giant. 1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the fl ock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant 19