In our women’s Bible study this week, we discussed the story of David’s introduction to Saul in 1 Samuel 16 following the kingship being removed from Saul by God and Saul being tormented by an evil spirit. Before David ever knew he would be king, he was sent to minister to Saul through song.  Saul would have unbearable moments of torture by this evil spirit, and because the Lord was no longer with Saul, he could only find temporary mental relief through David’s music. Our study asked about the idea of God using this time of ministry in David’s life for intentional equipping before his kingship several years later.

David was not in a dark place personally, but he was sent to minister to Saul while he was in the dark.  David’s ministry stands out to me as the symbol of the start of God’s renewing work for the people of Israel. And as Justin discussed on Sunday, renewal begins in the dark.

Israel had long begged Samuel for a king to rule over them, partially because Samuel’s sons had wronged the people of Israel, using their positions of spiritual leadership to manipulate and abuse. But the people also begged Samuel for a king because they looked around and saw that so many other peoples had chosen this government setup. God granted their pleas and Saul came into the picture.

For many years, Saul made the Israelites believe in the favor of God again. Saul was winning battle after battle and strengthened the nation of Israel. It would have been exciting to see this new era, but the people were quickly disappointed. Saul disobeyed the Lord and trusted in his own strength and pride over the one, true God. So God punished him, and all seemed lost.

But in 1 Samuel 16, the Israelites are sitting in the dark, renewal is coming, and the Lord is working through the tiny music ministry of David who we will see God raise up to be a king after His own heart.

Justin pointed out the context for renewal in our lives, and I think that same context is evident in God’s renewing work for the Israelites in this portion of the Bible:

1. Renewal begins in the dark. Being at the end of yourself makes you ripe for renewal.
2. Being renewed is wholly contingent upon the mercy of God.
3. There is a posture for renewal.  Because of God’s mercy, we reach.
4. There is a mood for renewal.

I’m a culprit of looking for renewal from God without recognition of the right mood or posture, without praise offered because of the previous mercies extended by my renewing God, or without attempting to sacrifice my pride and reach the end of myself with full recognition that renewal is not at all from my own works. I like to look at my life in the dark places as a boat run aground in the low tide like Justin described about the shores of Alaska.  But my perspective of sitting in my darkness, claiming that the tide has passed, and complaining of the dry and sticky ground doesn’t typically move me to a reaching posture, asking God to lift me. And I especially don’t often get to the point, like the words from David we read in Psalm 143, of demanding that God rescue me because of who He is.

If it’s renewal I’m longing for, and I know my Father is one who loves to renew me, then my words should echo David: “I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6

~Emily Spare