A Word about a Father's Legacy from 1 Samuel 16 and 17

Today I want to share a word about a father’s legacy as I comment passages from 1st Samuel 16 and 17

Being a male and also a father, I am well aware of our flaws and our foibles, but I also know that there are many great examples of fathers in the world. We know that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, but we also need to remember that children need a father figure as well. Fathers also mold and make their children, maybe in different ways than mothers do, but they help prepare them for the future as much as their mothers do.

Children often follow in their father’s footsteps and this morning I am thinking particularly of a couple of famous families where the sons followed in their father’s footsteps but excelled beyond their fathers. There may be many examples of this, but the one of them is Archie Manning and his sons. 

Archie Manning was a great college quarterback, but since he played professional football in New Orleans when the Saints were not very good, he did not achieve as much at that level, but His sons did! Payton Manning and Eli Manning both won two Super Bowls each, and they certainly owe a lot of their football skills and success to their father.

In the public service arena, George Herbert Walker Bush, was president of the USA, but only for one term, while his son, George W Bush served for two terms. Other Bush children also served their nation in other ways, including his son Jeb who was governor of Florida.

For our model today, I want us to look at a man who was not father of football greats or even a president of the United States, but who was father of a king but that was probably not his greatest legacy.

Let’s begin by reading 1 Samuel 16:1-5:

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

Jesse Walked With God:

Our God is an intentional God; He does not do things haphazardly. God does things decently and in order, and He is a God that plans. God has a plan for His creation, and He pursues it with vigor.

When we consider the creation story, we see how the world was without form, and void. God soon brought order to the world and the world began to work by the rules set for it by God. Our sin has affected how the world works, but the same basic rules still apply. Again, our God is an intentional God.

We often use the term “Plan of Salvation” to describe the Gospel and for good reason. God knew people could not save themselves, and so He made a way, He made a plan by which we could be saved. Our God is an intentional God who plans.

Our God intentionally chose Jesse. Since we know our God is an intentional God, we know that His choice of Jesse was not haphazard. Jesse was chosen for a special purpose, and so he could not have been a stranger to God. Jesse was someone God knew, and someone who knew God.

People often say, cynically, that in our society, it is not what you know, but who you know. In a healthier sense, this is also true spiritually. Jesse knew God, and God knew Jesse, and that made all the difference!

Our God chooses to walk with us. The words to the hymn Trust and Obey illustrate the relationship that Jesse had with God and which we also should pursue for ourselves and our families:

When we walk with the Lord In the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way; while we do His good will He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey.

Jesse put himself and His family in a place to be chosen and blessed by God because he walked with Him. This is available to us today also as we walk with God!

Let’s continue by reading 1 Samuel 16:10-23:

And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Jesse Taught His Sons To Walk With God:

A key role of leaders is to multiply themselves.

We all have known people who were very good at what they did. They were so good at their work, or their talent, or their sport that they did not have the time or the patience to teach others. They would rather do a job themselves, than to bother working alongside or training another person. This is one reason why the best athletes make the worst coaches.

A true leader, however, knows that they can’t do it all themselves. They know that to have the maximum impact they must get people involved in the work. This is what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

Jesse did not keep God to himself. It takes Godly fathers to raise Godly children and we know that God was with David, because even his peers saw the truth: what is inside of us with come out.

One of my favorite memories of my dad was the time he stopped at a roadside BBQ stand and bought is all greasy, sloppy pork BBQ sandwiches. By the time we got home every one of the brown paper bags holding a sandwich was stained from the inside with grease and BBQ sauce. What was inside of the bags came out, and what was inside David came out as well.

Another favorite memory of my father involved my first call to a full-time church in Crawford, Alabama. The chairman of deacons was also the chairman of the pulpit committee and he had worked with my dad in a different branch of the same company. He didn’t know me, but he knew my dad. When he saw my resume he said, “I don’t know Otis, but if he is anything like his dad, we will want to talk to him.” What a tremendous complement!”

Because of Jesse’s leadership as a father, both David’s peers and his superiors saw something different in him. Jesse was a diligent and God-fearing father, and he taught David and his other sons well. This is still true today as fathers teach their children about the things of God.

We need to be about Our Father’s business. When Mary and Joseph took the boy Jesus to the Temple, they thought that he had gotten lost. In fact, He was right where He was supposed to be. He was amazed that they did not realize that Jesus was “about His Father’s business.” 

As men lead their families, as men raise their children, as men serve in the church we need to do so as if it were Our Father’s Business, because it is!

Let’s see more by reading 1 Samuel 17:12-20:

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.  And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.  Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry

Jesse Loved His Sons with the Love of God:

Jesse’s love was even-handed.

This is an interesting passage of Scripture. David had been anointed King, and he had been playing the harp for King Saul. Jesse might have thought, “David is the key to our future! He has friends in high places! Even his peers love him! I must handle him with kid gloves for he is special!” But that’s not what Jesse did. Jesse sent David out to tend his flocks.

Don’t get me wrong, tending sheep was a big responsibility. Those flocks were a large portion of the family’s wealth, and David was given stewardship over them. Also, David could learn a great deal of leadership as a shepherd, so it was good for David, but David was not being treated better or worse than he was before he was anointed.

Jesse loved all his sons, and our God loves all His children as well. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We all come to God as helpless beggars, but then we are created as heirs to the throne. Jesse loved his sons the same way God loves us. 

Jesse’s love was practical.

Jesse could not be with his sons who were at the battlefront, but he wanted to care for them. So, he sent David to them with food for them and also a gift for their commander. No doubt this was a welcome care package!

I know how much this type of practical love means because I have been the recipient myself. When I was in Iraq in 2010, my wife would collect all kinds of goodies that we could not get in-county and she would mail them to me in large boxes. In fact, the mail orderly once complained about how many big boxes I was receiving, but I shared most of the contents with my fellow soldiers. I will say that I never want to see another Girl Scout cookie again, but the practical love from home was greatly appreciated!

Like Jesse, fathers love their children in practical ways. Another favorite memory of my dad was how, just before I got married, he gave me a full set of tools. Of all the gifts I got for our wedding, that was certainly the most practical one. I have used it far more than the ten sets of salt and pepper shakers that we received off our wedding gift registry!

God loves us with a practical love also. He created this world for us and so many wonderful things that are in it are a blessing to us as well. Jesus said that He came to give us an abundant life, which is certainly a practical expression of love. 

Jesse’s love was tender.

A common saying is “out of sight, out of mind,” but that was not true for Jesse. He was concerned for his boys, and he wanted to share that concern with them. He wanted to hear back about how they were doing.  These young men had grown up and they had taken their place in the line of battle, but dad still loved them, and he wanted to know how they were doing.

Several years ago, when our children were still in middle school, one of the deacons of our church had children who were young adults. As I was preparing to perform the wedding for one of his sons, I asked him, “When do you stop worrying about your children.” He replied, “You never really stop being a dad.”

Our God has a tender love for us also. He wants the best for us, and He hurts when we hurt. He rejoices when we rejoice. Our God wants to be intimately involved in our lives. He wants us to pray to Him the way parents want to hear from a child away at school or, like Jesse’s boys, going in harm’s way. He cares for us even when we are preoccupied with the affairs of our lives, and like Jesse, He reaches out to us and touches us with His care and concern.

Conclusion:

One might think that Jesse’s greatest legacy was that he was father to a king.  This is, no doubt, a wonderful thing, but to be honest, we have to remember that he had seven other sons as well. They did not become kings so did Jesse have that much to do with David’s anointing? It is hard to tell.

What we do know is how Jesse lived his life and how he raised his boys:

Jesse walked with God. Jesse taught his sons to walk with God. Jesse loved his sons with the love of God.

Is there any greater legacy that a man could have? 

Is there any greater legacy that any mother could have?

Is there any greater legacy that any of us could have?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt