In the last blog, we discussed three main things that made David get ahead in his time, which were: His calling, character, and courage.
Today, we’ll be considering another important part of what gave him an advantage over everyone – Wisdom.
The bible clearly stated in Prov 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom…” The place of wisdom is indispensable to get ahead in life.
In 1 Sam 18:5:
So, David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved WISELY. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
Also, in verse 14 of the same chapter:
And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.
Look at the verses closely, you’ll observe that the emphasis on the word “wisely”. David consistently behaved wisely more than all other servants of King Saul. Every area of life’s dealing demands wisdom for us to gain prominence.
David portrayed wisdom in different aspects of his life dealings with Saul, and the people. We’ll be focusing on three major ones which are in his Work, his Walk and in the War he fought.
1. In His Work:
According to the bible verse we checked earlier (1 Sam 18:5), Wisdom earns you promotion and acceptance from people. We learnt that David handled all duties Saul assigned to him. He was not the sluggish or reluctant type.
He demonstrated readiness to work.
David was that young man who enjoyed a lot of privileges; he fought and killed Goliath, earned the people’s praises and love, anointed king by prophet Samuel, and so on. He could have easily become arrogant and complacent, instead he was always up and doing at the place of service.
It is a lack of wisdom to be a complainer when a task is assigned to you. There is wisdom in humility and that is where promotion and prominence is hidden. (Jam 4:6 – “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”)
He also developed capacity. After he conquered Goliath, David was made the Commander of the Army of Israel. He must have continually increased his skill development and competence. The Bible recorded that He and his men killed two hundred men of the Philistines.
He also built his reputation-capital. The common language in our world today is “I don’t care what people think of me.” God has not called us to please men, but we ought to care how the world perceives us. Because of David’s diligence and competence, he was loved, respected and accepted by the people, and that earned him national reputation.
2. In his walk:
1 Sam 18:4 shows us how David walked, and we can learn from it. There are three ways He walked that we can learn from.
a.) First is a walk of Integrity: He wasn’t hypocritical, behaving one way in public and another in private. Integrity is not measured by who we are in public, but who we are in private when no one else is around.
(Prov 11:3 says: The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them).
b.) Second is a walk of Intimacy: (1 Sam 18:14B – “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.”)
He did not walk alone. He lived a life that honored God and the Lord honored David with His presence. Intimate fellowship with God, and engaging His presence will fill you with wisdom to make better choices and decisions.
c.) The third is a walk of Influence: (1 Sam 18:15 – Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.)
Saul was the king of Israel and David was a youth and yet Saul feared David.
It wasn’t because of his stature or physical ability. Saul knew that David was different. He knew that God’s hand was upon David. If you walk wisely, behave wisely, and righteously consistently; people around you will be afraid to sin near you.
3. In the war he fought:
David has won the battle against Goliath, the captain of the Philistine army, but the war was still on-going. David behaved wisely by not allowing himself to get distracted with the victory of a battle over the need to win the war.
Remember the women sang his praise over Saul in 1 Sam 18:7. This wisdom would have reflected in the decisions David made that made him distinct from all the servants of Saul; and the bible says that his name became highly esteemed.
When you are faced with life’s difficulties, fighting various wars of life. You need wisdom to make good decisions.
Don’t discredit God or blame it on God. Instead, rejoice. Don’t be distracted. Sadly, the only time David did not show wisdom and got distracted with the pleasure of the palace by refusing to go to war. He stayed back and he spotted Bathsheba bathing, committed adultery with her, and eventually killed her husband Uriah (2 Sam 11: 1-27).
He paid a heavy price for his departure from wisdom. The cost and consequence of not being wise is huge. You don’t want to get yourself there.
Say this prayer:
O Lord, give me wisdom from above, in the name of Jesus.
