WHO DOES GOD CALL INTO LEADERSHIP?

God had directly appointed Israel’s first three kings into leadership. What had He seen in them that made them kings?

Let’s start with King Saul. Even though he was a man great in stature, he had also been a humble man. However, this began to change after he had become king and the Israelites began to sing his praises. In his denunciation of King Saul, the Prophet Samuel stated that he had once been humble, “little in your own eyes.” However, the prouder he became the more he turned away from the Word of God to pursue his own desires, like building a monument to himself (1 Samuel 15:12).

Humility acknowledges our emptiness and neediness. Therefore, it is receptive to the influence of others, especially to God, and is teachable. Meanwhile, pride is full of itself. This leaves little room for anything apart from monuments and self-aggrandizement.

In place of King Saul, God appointed David. He had therefore sent His Prophet Samuel to Jesse’s household to appoint one of his sons to be the next king. However, Samuel was about to anoint the most impressive looking son, when the Lord reprimanded him for judging according to outward appearances and not the inner man.

What was it that God esteemed about David? Paul explained:

·       “And when God had removed [King Saul], He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’” (Acts 13:22 NKJV; 1 Samuel 13:14)

What does it mean to be a “man after My [God’s] own heart?” It meant that He saw in David a man who would place God’s Word above everything else. And, for the most part, David’s life followed this trajectory. Almost always, before making an important decision, he would consult with his God. David didn’t place his trust in himself but in the Lord and in His Word. This is how our Lord measures faithfulness.

A good leader must first be a good follower. How can any leader expect his subordinates to follow if he refuses to follow, especially the Word of God!

David’s son, King Solomon, started out in the footsteps of David. He too had been a humble man. Therefore, when God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told Solomon to request what he wanted, Solomon replied:

·       “And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:7-9)

God was pleased with Solomon’s request and answered:

·       “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. (1 Kings 3:11-12)

To ask for God’s wisdom is like asking for God Himself. Why? To abide in the knowledge of God is to abide in the Light. It is to see as God sees and to think to some extent as God thinks. Therefore, it is to commune with God. It is to value what is most highly valued by God, as God had revealed to the Prophet Jeremiah:

·       Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Solomon’s great wisdom should have enabled him to truly know God. However, Solomon allowed his wisdom to become tarnished by his chosen lifestyle:

·       For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 11:4)

As a result, Solomon’s great wisdom was compromised and corrupted. He built temples for the false gods of his many wives, incurring the wrath of his God. Although Solomon had retained much of his temporal wisdom, he had closed the door to further revelations. Solomon therefore became an object lesson for us as a man who had everything but was miserable. He wrote:

·       Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool [death] will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity… How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me. (Ecclesiastes 2:15-18)

Solomon hated his life because his wisdom was unable to take him where he needed to go, to a vision of the next life. Therefore, his life lacked meaning and the prospect of death mocked his wisdom.

This brings us back to our original question, “What does our Lord look for in His servants?” A humble and broken spirit, one which is always seeking more of his God!