Lesson Plan 5: The Power of God’s Faithful Servant

Passage

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Aim

The student will be able to realize the urgency to respond to God’s call, and to use particular skills and resources he or she has to serve Him.

Introduction

Consider this quotation from Donald MacCullough’s “The Power of One!” in his weekly column "MacNuggets" in the college newsletter, February 19, 2001. After the quote, the class will be shown two Biblical examples of people who changed the course of history.

I attended an interesting seminar last week where the presenter developed the idea of the “The power of one!” He was establishing the fact that in today’s culture, the power of one person can at times, be unbelievable.

His primary reference, and there were many, was the young Philippine student who turned in a software project to his College professor who in turn rejected the project. (Not a good day when that happens!) However, even though it was turned down, the student decided to try it anyway. The rest is history as this one single person in the Philippines entered his rejected software program into his computer only to discovered that when activated, figuratively speaking, brings the world of computers to its knees as this virus spreads from software programs to software programs. People could not resist opening an e-mail message that said, “I Love You!” The damage to computer software programs and time spent eliminating the virus cost in excess of six billion dollars.

The seminar leader made the observation that six billion dollars of damage used to be called “war!” Nations and armies had to inflict widespread damage on one another to create that kind of damage. Now, in the 21st century, one person sitting at a computer can do more damage than entire armies in past centuries.

However, my mind tends to work in the other direction. The power of one in the 21st century can also be the faithful servant God calls to be faithful to Him in a very complex culture. Our culture looks for size, largeness, and large spheres of influence while we understand that one person walking in an obedient relationship with God, can be used in an effective way to impact the world. The power of one can also be significant in our representation of Him.

Study, Part 1

After reading the passage, list qualities that you observe about Samuel. Possible observances:

  1. Compassionate. Cares for Saul despite his rejection by the Lord as king.
  2. Fears Saul. Samuel is slow to respond to God’s command because of this fear.
  3. People fear him. The elders of Bethlehem fear Samuel the moment he is in town. This is because the Lord is with him, but also the news of Samuel killing Agag would also reinforce this fear.
  4. Lawful. Makes sure that everyone is consecrated before the sacrifice.
  5. The Lord is with him. The people fear him, and also the Lord speaks to him.
  6. Heeds commands of God. Though Eliab does appear to be of great physical stature and possibly able, the Lord tells Samuel he is not to be king for his heart is not right.
  7. He is a king-maker. God chooses him to anoint David as not only the king of Israel, but also to anoint the dynasty of David that will ultimately lead to the Messiah.

    After this historic milestone, he simply returns home to Ramah, and does nothing more with the matter until David flees to him in the following chapters.

Study, Part 2

After reading the passage, list qualities that you observe about David. Possible observances:

  1. Tends sheep. David has humble beginnings as a shepherd. David was not even called into Samuel’s presence until Samuel inquires if all the sons of Jesse are there.
  2. Ruddy and attractive.
  3. Heart designed for kingship. In 1 Samuel 16:7, God tells Samuel that he chooses His servants by looking at the heart, and not the physical appearance. Though he was attractive, this was not the criterion in which he was chosen.
  4. Young. He was the youngest of eight brothers.
  5. David was God’s anointed king.
  6. The Spirit of God came on him. All believers were not characterized by having the Spirit until the Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension, so this is extremely significant.

Follow-up discussion: The Lord uses many types of people to do his will. Samuel, before he was born, was dedicated to the Lord to His work. He was a prophet, a judge, and a king-maker, and was called to do God’s work from the beginning. David was a shepherd who was in the shadow of his older brothers. Nothing is known about David before he was anointed. His name only appears twice in Ruth in a genealogy before this chapter. Yet in the passage, the way the author brings up his name for the first time he almost assumes that all the readers know who he is. One thing we can be sure of, however: he was not raised to be a king and the father of the Messiah, but God called him out to be so.

Summary

With this in mind, what kind of people does God use to do His work?

The answer can be a multitude of things: the young, the old, the man and the woman... the list goes on. The one who grew up with the Christian family and schooling, and proper training can do it if called by God just as easily as the one who came from a non-Christian background. The answer comes down to the point that anyone can be used depending on what kind of heart they have, 1 Samuel 16:7.

Transition

We as Christians all have the same Spirit in us that David had. Likewise, we all have things in our lives that can be used for the Lord’s glory. Unlike the boy from the Philippines who created a great havoc with his computer virus, what we can do with our knowledge and resources will make an impact that will be remembered forever?

Application

The student will receive a piece of paper, and will be asked to write down abilities and resources that we could use to the glory of God that we don’t already. For example, if one has a car, they could offer a ride to church for someone who needs Christ. If one has computer skills, they could design a Christian website designed for His glory. We can always do more things to serve the Lord. Anything that you do to further the Gospel of Christ will be remember far more than any act of evil regardless of how big it is.