The Power of Vision in Leadership

We're going to be looking at two Samuel chapter five. This morning, it's always disappointing when you can't look at, you know, a whole narrative in every sort of segment as it comes. We're looking at the entire life, seventy years of David in three sessions. And so you always feel like you're sort of robbing Peter to pay Paul. You're always taking a little bit from here and you're losing out a little bit from somewhere else.

This morning, we look at a very significant moment in David's history when he is finally recognised as king over Israel, where he captures the town of Jerusalem and which becomes the capital city for the Israelite nation. And so it is a massive, it's a significant moment and there's lots to explore here. So we're gonna read two Samuel chapter five verses one through to verse 15. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, behold, we are your bone and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led us out and brought in Israel.

And the Lord said to you, you shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron and king David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned forty years. At Hebron, he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem, he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty three years. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land who said to David, you will not come in here but the blind and the lame will ward you off thinking David cannot come in here.

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. David said on that day, whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind who are hated by David's soul. Therefore it is said, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. And David lived in the stronghold and called it the City Of David. And David built the city all around from the millo inward, and David became greater and greater for the Lord, the God of hosts was with him.

And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he came from Hebron and more sons and daughters were born to David. And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. This is God's word.

Alan Fadling in his book, An Unhurried Life, following Jesus's rhythms for work and rest, writes a parable about two servants who worked for a king. One of the servants, he writes, for fear of not pleasing his master rose early each day to hurry along to do all the things that he believed the king wanted done. He didn't want to bother the king with questions about what that work was, believing the king was very busy. Instead, he hurried from project to project from early in the morning until late at night. The other servant, also eager to please his master, would rise early as well but not as early, but he would take a few moments to go to the king.

Ask him about his wishes for the day and to find out just what it was the king desired to have done. Only after such a consultation did this servant step into the work of his day. Fadling writes, the busy servant may have gotten a lot done by the time the inquiring servant even started his work, but which of them was doing the will of the master and pleasing him? Genuine productivity is not about getting as much done for God as we can manage. It is doing the good work that God has actually given us.

Genuine productivity is learning that we are more than servants, that we are beloved sons and daughters invited into the good kingdom work of our heavenly father. We've been talking a lot about leadership this weekend. We've been thinking through that. We have discovered again the upside down nature of Christian leadership which is servant leadership. And whether this leadership for us, for you individually is leadership in the ministry of a church, whether that is leadership in the workplace or leadership in the family, a very important place for leadership.

The truth is leadership requires us to know why. Why are we leading? Why are we serving? And so in order for us to understand the why, we need to understand God's final purpose for what we are working towards. To understand why we're doing what we're doing, not to be busy for the sake of being busy but working towards something, we need to have a vision for what that thing looks like.

Like the servants in this parable, some will try to live their days doing stuff because they think being busy is the ultimate vision for their life. But the better approach, the approach that gives you joy in that service and also long term faithfulness in that service is to know God's will for your service. Once you understand the king's desire, you taste something of the glory that he has for His plans. You can imagine what He has in mind and that drives you. For Christians, there is amazing glory in finding the purpose that God has given us.

And that purpose is always tied, I believe, with understanding that we are working towards something far bigger than ourselves. This is again the upside down revolutionary nature of Christian leadership. While the world is trying to convince itself that our lives are the be all and the end all of our existence, the gospel continually preaches that we find understanding and purpose not in gaining wealth or status or relationships through the things we do, but becoming servants of something perfect, meaningful, and bigger than ourselves. We become builders of God's kingdom. We become builders of God's kingdom.

We get a sense of this in our passage this morning from the life of David. We saw yesterday God first teaching David and at the same time Samuel and David's brothers and David's father what God looks like for good and godly leaders. We saw yesterday how a leader needs to strive for reliance not on their own ability, but on the strength of God who is behind them. This morning, however, we focus on the vision. The great purpose for which God called David to be king.

This vision I want to say for all of us is planted in us by what we call an internal and an external calling. We have this vision for God doing something great and we may not have all the details yet but there's two things that drive us towards that vision. Firstly, it's an external calling, something that is happening around us that spurs us towards that, that directs us towards doing something, and then an internal calling which confirms that, which inspires and drives us. And if you don't know what that means, that's okay because we're gonna explore that now. Firstly, a vision for leading is tied with an external calling.

In verses one to verse five in our passage, we see at last David is accepted as king at the age of thirty. Remember, he was a shepherd boy. A long time has passed. At the age of thirty, David is finally anointed king over all the people of Israel. For two decades nearly, David waited and he probably doubted whether this anointing was really true.

Throughout his story, we see David being very careful about claiming anything for himself. Remember the famous story of him having the opportunity to kill Saul, having the encouragement from his followers to do so. And even here at his appointment by the elders of Israel, we see it coming in stages. We're told firstly that David had to reign as king of Judah for seven years. Maybe they sort of just wanted to see how David goes.

He can only rule over this one tribe for a while, for seven years. Meanwhile, civil war between all the other tribes is raging. There's infighting between all the tribes of Israel. They're also constantly harassed by the Philistines and the Canaanites externally and they are so worn down that they finally come to David tired and they say, okay, we recognise that you are king.

But we can see what is happening here as God has to put in place certain things externally to David for him to be recognised as king. The elders give some of these external reasons themselves. Have a look at this. Firstly, we see in verse one, they come to David and they say, you are the flesh of our flesh, the bone of our bones. You are family.

So there's an external calling of being family, being related. You are one of us, David. So we recognise that it makes sense that you would be our king. We share the same DNA. We belong to the same ancestors and the same promise that was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And so there's this ethnic reason for why David can be recognised as king. The second thing in verse two is an experiential reason. They say that they have witnessed how David was a good leader even in the time when Saul was king. They say, it was you who led out Israel, who brought in Israel. And then the third external reason they give is theological.

So it's familial, experiential, and theological. The second half of verse two, they say to him, the Lord said to you, you shall be shepherd and prince of my people Israel. So these are callings on David's life that happened outside of him. He is recognised for having the gifts. He is recognised for belonging to a certain group that the circumstances in which he's grown up in.

And then he has this amazing theological call over his life as well. Now David comes to understand that he has this great purpose of leadership on his life by this external call. Every time God calls us to service, this is the first thing I think we should check. We can check what we will refer to later as the internal call, but this is often a great place to start. Do I have recognisable gifts?

Gifts and abilities and circumstances that others have seen and have confirmed in me. I know of young men who have thought that they were called to be pastors because they really love God. Meanwhile, in our churches, there's usually a body of elders and pastors who evaluate potential candidates for ministry by what we call examining them. We look at their lives. We look at their ability.

And I've been witness of painful moments when people who were absolutely brilliant Bible nerds, they love God, they love God's word, but they had zero interpersonal ability, they had no preaching skill, they never served a single day in any way in a local church and they wanted to be pastors. And in that moment, wise heads prevailed and gentle and kindly but truthfully said to them, we just don't think that God is calling you to this particular role in ministry. There is a necessity for an external calling. People to recognise your gifts. People to say there is a need that needs filling.

There is a circumstance that needs your input. There is a necessity for an external call. God often calls us into leadership when others are also able to identify our gifts and validate our calling. And we see it happening in the New Testament. We looked at Timothy recently.

Several times, Paul tells Timothy, remember the laying on of hands of the elders once upon a time who saw your gifts, who laid hands on you and said, we believe that you are a called minister of God in His church. Paul himself, after his amazing conversion experience and going for perhaps even three years into the wilderness, he has to go back to Jerusalem to the apostles. Why? So that they can validate Paul is an apostle like one of us. He has to receive an external call even when he receives this internal and theological call from Jesus Christ Himself.

We recognise that you are our man for this job. Despite Israel's blindness for so many years they finally realised that because David is blood of their blood, bone of their bone, because he has the ability to lead Israel even during Saul's time, and you think the most obvious reason, God has said, you are the shepherd of Israel. For all these reasons, they say, we think you're worthy of being our king. But then apart from this external call, David has a sense of an internal calling as well. That's our second point.

A vision for leading is tied to an internal calling. A good way of thinking about an internal calling is to think of an internal drive. Something that motivates us to do things. David is a very driven man. Once the elders of Israel tell David that they think he is worthy of being their king, he's like, great.

Thank you. Finally done. Let's get on with it. So he decides to go and attack a city called Jebus, Jebus.

It belongs to the Jebusites which is known as Jerusalem. It's a masterstroke of diplomacy because up until this point, Jerusalem didn't belong to anyone in any tribe of Israel. Jerusalem was a neutral city always owned by the Jebusites. And now by attacking Jerusalem, conquering it, and making it his capital, the city of David, he's saying to all the tribes of Israel, I'm not playing favourites. Even though I come from Judah, this city doesn't belong to Judah.

It has never belonged to Judah. I'm not gonna make anyone's capital cities the capital city of the Israelite kingdom. It's similar to how Canberra was cut out of New South Wales once upon a time or Washington DC doesn't belong to any particular state. It's a place of government ruling on behalf of all the people. David's natural ability is seen in how he conquers Jerusalem with cunning and inspiring leadership.

He finds a weakness in the city's defences. There's a water shaft that leads into the walled city of Jerusalem. He leads secretly his army through this water shaft and he surprises the Jebusites who were sitting very comfortably in their stronghold, in their fortress. They were even from the text here shouting at Jerusalem, even the lame and the blind in Jerusalem can defend against your army, David. That's why David then says, whoever is willing to come with me to take on these Jebusites, they will be destroying the lame and the blind because my soul, David's soul hates them.

It's not the lame and the blind people who are crippled. It is these Jebusites. He sort of turns it back on them and Mark seven says, okay, well, I'll take on you, the lame and the blind. Therefore, it is said in verse eight, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. What does that mean?

Did David have some sort of discrimination against crippled people? Probably not. Because we heard yesterday, he loved Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, who was crippled or lame in both legs. So it wasn't a hatred. He's saying the Jebusites will never come into my palace.

They resisted me. They will never come in. But so we see how David masterfully captures Jerusalem. This man is gifted. He is a wise strategic leader.

All of this is understood to be the outworking of David's internal drive. David captures Jerusalem, we see not because God has given him the plans to do it. He doesn't inquire of the Lord which he does even in this chapter later against the Philistines. David figures this out by himself it seems, sovereignly under God, of course.

But we see instances of this internal drive even yesterday where David is angry at this uncircumcised Philistine that is defying the armies of God, this Goliath. He has a drive against the injustice that is to resist God. This is ultimately the thing that we must acknowledge as a point of difference, however, between David and us. Because David has a drive that was internal but it was ultimately called on by this anointing that he received as well at one point. This supernatural prophetic anointing.

And I dare say, we need to be careful when we deal with the Davids or the Samuels in the Old Testament by not reading ourselves into the story either. We don't fight the giants like Goliath. That isn't our battle. We can see some of the similarities and dependence upon God and so on, but we don't fight those battles in the same way because only David did. Only David was anointed king of Israel.

The reason is, by God's grace, David is uniquely called to build the kingdom of God at that time for the ultimate purpose of bringing Jesus into the world. We're reminded of this unique supernatural prophetic calling in verse two of our passage where the elders again say to him, the Lord has said to you, the Lord has said to you, you shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be prince over Israel.

And so even yesterday as we reflect on David's life, this morning as we reflect on his life, we need to remember that we don't get the same calling as David does. We don't hear God's voice in the same way. And yet, I can also tell you that we are called by God. In a way, this calling is better than David's call because we have received God's final word on the purpose of life. The scriptures are concerned with telling God's greatest purposes.

We might not be told whether you're going to be a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker, but God has told us some of the most significant things to invest our time and effort and ability into. Ultimately, it is His kingdom. David perhaps didn't understand exactly why he was building this kingdom. He needed to build a kingdom. He had a passion for the honour of God, but for what end?

We know that it was for Jesus. We know that it was for the inclusion of the whole world into the promises of God's salvation. In other words, we don't hear God's prophetic voice through a Samuel to each of us telling us exactly what we're gonna do with our lives. But if you are feeling lost in your sense of calling, this is the answer. Pursue God's word more deeply.

Why? Because God has spoken His decisive will in the Bible. It's an interesting thing to think about, but the Hebrew word for Bible, the Hebrew word for the text of the Bible is called mikra, which is based on the Hebrew verb kara, which means to call. So when ancient Jews spoke of the scriptures, they spoke of it as a call to listen to. It's a refreshing way to think about scripture.

The Bible is not a book of information we carry around. It's a voice we listen to. This word of God is not a dead document. It is marching orders that gets us going. It is there to inspire us.

It is there to give us that internal drive. God calls us through His word. We know the reality that all humanity has internal drivers. We know that there are ambitions. Christians and non-Christians have them.

We know that there are urgencies, there are frustrations and disappointments and passions that drive us. We know all of that, but we may not know that usually tied with our internal sense of calling as Christians is this idea of what we can do with our lives. The great purpose that God has given us. As Christians, that internal calling has been reshaped. All humans have internal drives and passions.

As a Christian, that has been reshaped by understanding the vision that God gives us in the Bible. What is that vision? Where do you get it from? It is to rediscover it in His word. So practically speaking, and I know we're just doing a sidestep here.

Practically speaking, if you are lost and you're looking for vision for your life, go to church. Listen to preaching regularly. We could put a podcast on five times a day and we could not get through all the sermons that is on the internet to listen to. It means we prioritise Bible study with other Christians. It means we bring our kids to Sunday school so that they can have a great vision for what their purpose in life is.

If you don't have a strong sense of calling in your life, if you don't have a sense of urgency, it is not because God hasn't spoken to you. God has spoken and it is in the Bible. We need to listen to that now. David receives both that external calling through the people and he has this internal sense of calling that's both his personality, his drive, but also this incredible unique one off calling. I need you to be king. But now we get to the core issue and this is our final point in closing.

What's the point of that calling? Why, what is God's plan for David's calling? Why did God make David king? And the third point is, the ultimate purpose of leadership is serving God's purposes for His people. The ultimate purpose of leadership is serving God's purposes for His people.

After all is said and done, after being crowned by the people, after setting up his capital city in Jerusalem, building a palace for himself, after unifying the twelve tribes of Israel, even starting to make those strategic alliances, we hear that Hiram the king of Tyre sends cedar and carpenters and masons to build David's palace. David comes to this conclusion in verse twelve, and David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel and that He had exalted His kingdom, why? For the sake of His people Israel. We see two things at both the beginning and the end of this verse which drives the revolutionary understanding of leadership in Christianity. Firstly, David knew that it was the Lord that made him king.

Leadership is never self attained. Leadership is always given by the great leader over us. The Bible states that every government, every authority whether they believe in God or not never gains leadership by their own prowess. They are granted perhaps for a time power to be the leaders in whatever sphere. Why?

Because it's been given to them by the King of Kings, the Lord of all lords. We fail catastrophically as leaders. Even Christian leaders fail catastrophically if we forget that God is the one that we are ultimately accountable to. He's the one who has the right to direct how we lead and for what end we lead. David is king because he understands God has made him king.

Then we come to the second truth from verse twelve and that is at the end of the verse. David is king, it says, for the sake of God's people Israel. David came to know that leadership was not for himself nor for his family's comfort or the dynasty that would come after him. It is for the sake of God's people. That is why I can say categorically to all of us sitting here in whatever sphere of leadership we might be called to, your service in the church is never a waste of time.

Your service in the kingdom of God is never a waste of your effort. Whatever role you are called to within the church, it is never a waste because God's universal purpose is this. Romans eight twenty eight, everything works for the good of those who love Him. It is a revolutionary thought, but ScoMo is leading Australia for the good of Christians. Medical experts and leaders are making decisions regarding COVID for the good of Christians.

Everything works ultimately for the good of those God has called into His kingdom. The grand vision of God, the grand vision of God that we as those servants in the parable need to come and listen to again, again, and again is the success of My kingdom, the success of My people. That is God's grand vision. And so I can say confidently that service in God's church, in that building up of His kingdom, in whatever form that takes is the ultimate goal of your life.

Because even non-Christians are being used for that end. So of course, we may say that the ultimate goal is for God to be glorified. We can say, what about that? How does that work if God's ultimate vision is for the kingdom? What about His glory?

If you read scripture, how is God's glory always measured? By who is worshipping Him? By who is worshipping Him. God's glory is tied with His people. And whether our call to leadership may be in the role of a Sunday school teacher or whether that is to do street evangelism or religious instruction in schools, both the bringing in of non-Christians into the kingdom or in the training and the discipling of those already in the kingdom.

All of it is to produce either more citizens for the kingdom or to inspire those citizens to give all glory to the God and the King of their kingdom. This is what made David a truly great leader. He served to build God's kingdom, sometimes physically, sometimes by saving and delivering lives, and at other times, as the great psalm writer that he is inspiring people to bring their worship to God. All of the psalms that he wrote inspired this awe of God, this glorifying of God. And yet David was only a fraction of what his descendant Jesus would be.

In Matthew twenty two, we hear Jesus saying to the Pharisees, whose son is the Messiah? And they knowingly said, it must be David. The anointed one must come from David's descendant. And Jesus said, you're right. But Jesus says, why did David say in one of his psalms, Psalm one hundred and ten, Yahweh says to my lord, come and sit at my right hand.

Why would the descendant of the great king David be greater than David? Jesus doesn't answer that question for them. They don't know how to answer it. But the answer is, Jesus is the greater King David. Jesus is the perfect servant king.

And it's exactly for the same self understanding that David had that we looked at in verse twelve. Firstly, Jesus said, I am a servant because the Father has told me I am a servant. He has placed me in this position and David knew I'm king because Yahweh has made me king. Jesus said all the time, I have come to do the will of my Father. But then he also knew that it was for this one purpose, the good of His people.

Jesus would say in John ten, for this reason the Father loves me because I laid down my life for my sheep and I do so only to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own will. This is the charge I have received from my Father. And so what we see is a thousand years later after David, David, the little shepherd boy who became king.

David, his descendant whom he worshipped and longed for himself, there arose a king who became the good shepherd. David was the shepherd of Israel, but only one would be the good shepherd. Why was he the good shepherd? Because he served his people to the last. I lay my life down for my sheep and he died our death to give us his life.

And he now gives us the grand vision of an incredible love that he has for His people that drives us to build that kingdom. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that we may be inspired from your word of this huge vision that you have for the end goal, the purpose of humanity. Your great desire is the success of Your people. That success is tied in with Your success.

The ultimate crowning of You as King over all parts of creation. And so Lord, as we began even this morning to say that we long to be who you are on that final day when we will see you for who you are completely. And yet, Lord, even in this moment, the working of your Spirit that breathes fire into our souls, we taste some of the glory. We see some of that vision. Help us to put our effort, to put our time, to put our finances, to put our priorities, Lord, in line with that great goal.

We pray, Lord, for many to be saved through our ministry, for many more citizens in this kingdom. We pray, Lord, for many citizens to be inspired to glorify you, to know you even more so that our worship can touch the glory that you deserve. And so Lord, for whatever capacity you've created us, whatever gift we can bring to our King, Lord, we will bring it. We lay it at your feet. We ask Lord that you will see it as sufficient, that you will see it with the motives that we bring it to you.

And that is because we love you, Lord. And we are so thankful for you. And we are so moved by your great sacrifice that has enabled us to enter that kingdom. The sacrifice that has purified us even as we so desperately desire to be pure. Lord, keep this vision in our hearts, in our heads as long as we can, as long as you are willing to do so.

Father, thank you for your encouragement this morning. In Jesus name, amen.