Tuesday 20 September 2011

Anointing


                                       Anointing [1 Sam 16]
1 Samuel 16 is the account of the prophet Samuel going to anoint David in his father, Jesse’s house.
Saul has been rejected as God’s anointed and now, God asks Samuel to fill his horn of oil and go [v. 7]. He decided to take things in his own hands and walk according to his own wisdom in his attack against Amalek and hence, he had failed as God’s anointed. Therefore, Samuel’s eyes are seeking for the man who would now take up the cause for the Lord, God of Israel and lead his people. In fact, chapter 15 ends on a very tragic note,
            And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel
            grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over           
            Israel. [I Sam 15:35]
It is at this time that Samuel, instead of becoming discouraged discerns the voice and Will of God for the current time. As a prophet, Samuel functions at bringing the right man at the right hour. God has selected a son of Jesse to become a king for Himself. Indeed, the fact that Samuel is able to take the next big step for Israel’s future, shows how much the Kingdom of God needs a prophet to appoint the right person. Appointment of an unfit person for any work, who has not been anointed by God, immediately affects the Church negatively and retards its progress and walk with God.
Simply put, anointing means entering God’s territory. We do not need an anointing until we are working in our area of expertise or our area of know-how. It’s when God’s territory begins when we need the Anointing.
This same thing happens when Samuel reaches Jesse’s house under the pretext of performing a sacrifice. As Samuel gazes upon Jesse’s son, Eliab, for a moment, he feels that surely the Lord’s anointed is before him [v. 6]. But, God reminds him that He does not look at the outward appearance but He looks at the heart. All seven of Jesse’s sons do not find favour in the eyes of God because He is looking for something beyond human skills or human strength. He is looking for heart.
For God, it is not our strengths or our talents that matter. God’s anointing, when it comes upon us makes us remarkable just as it made David remarkable. In spite of his ruddy appearance of just another young boy, God chose to anoint David. It was this anointing that caused David to go beyond his own talents of music to his ability to protect his flock from wild animals when he was young and from God’s enemies when he later becomes the shepherd of all Israel.
David’s anointing also exhibits how the majority’s will might not necessarily be God’s will. While all would have rested their choice on anyone but David, God chose him for this same reason. In Saul, the worthlessness of physical strength and prowess had been exhibited very clearly but now, God shows how it is His Anointing that gets the job done. It is not contained within natural talents.
This account just emphasizes the fact that everyone should be anointed. We are on a journey in the Kingdom of God and we need to reach where God wants us to be. But this is not going to become possible using our own talents.
It is not enough to simply bring people into the Kingdom of God and then, leave them unattended. We need to make sure that we keep account of where they have reached. And this is not possible without God’s Anointing. The Holy Spirit will take us beyond our territory, our talents and our strengths. He allows us to enter and operate in the dimension of God’s abilities and strengths.
David, as God’s Anointed, took Israel to heights that had never been reached in Israel’s history and no one in the kings that ruled over Israel has equaled him. This was not because of his musical genius or his military prowess. It was because God’s Anointing energized him to reach God’s appointed destination for him. It was not that he was in himself an extraordinary man but God’s anointing caused him to become extraordinary.
In the time of Church, we also need to rise up like David in God’s Anointing. We need to seek it and grow in it everyday. If we want a strong community of Kingdom people arise, we need to seek God’s Anointing to do the same because it is only this Anointing will ultimately, get the job done and will get it done right.

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