As I’ve been reading in 1st and 2nd
Samuel, as part of our Daily Walk Bible readings, I’ve been challenged by the
actions of King Saul (1 Sam. 15) and King David (2 Sam. 6). On the one hand,
you’ve got King Saul who was all caught up in what people thought of him. For
example, when Saul didn’t fully obey the Lord’s commands via Samuel he made the
following excuse, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and
the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of
the people and did what they demanded” (1 Sam. 15:24, NLT, emphasis mine). For
Saul, his decisions and actions were governed by what he thought the people desired
and not what Samuel commanded or what the Lord required. A few verses later he was
worried about his appearance before Israel when Samuel announced that he would
not go with Saul to worship the Lord. Saul said, “but please, at least honor me
before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me…” (1
Sam. 15:30). For Saul, he was more concerned about what the people thought of
him then what God thought of him. Saul was the quintessential people-pleaser.
On the other hand you have David who, in 2 Samuel 6, because
of the return of the Ark of the Covenant, was dancing and leaping with joy
before the Lord and he didn’t care what others thought. Even when his own wife,
Michal, rebuked him for his supposed dancing to impress the ladies David
responded with this defense, “Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish
than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!” (NLT) Apparently, to Michal,
David’s worship was for show but David felt his dance was exclusively for God.
His audience was an audience of One, God. As the commentary in our DWB showed,
“in the eyes of the God who distinguishes motives, David’s worship was
accepted, and Michal was rejected for her judgment.”
In these passages we saw that there were two kings with two
different modes of operation. For David, his concern was God and his glory and
decisions were made based on what God would want. While Saul was concerned with
what the people thought and how it would bring him glory or shame.
In these challenging days I have been encouraged and
heartened to have the attitude of King David. I want to also be like Paul who
strove to live out Galatians 1:10, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men,
or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men,
I would not be a servant of Christ” (NIV).
People pleasing can lead to all kinds of negative
consequences, just ask any teenager who gave into peer-pressure at some point
and they will relay their regrets of their poor decisions. With our faith in
Christ, and the pull of our society against Christian faith and Biblical
values, this is even more the case. No matter what we face, I pray that we
would “cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some
people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith
has been shipwrecked” (1 Tim. 1:19, NLT).
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