Expectations Are A Big Deal

 

When talking about expectations, the real issue at hand seems to be time or timing based on promises God made to us. When I think back on God’s original calling in my life, I thought since He called me, everything He promised would come to pass almost instantaneously and continuously. 

 

What I can tell you after 19 years since He originally called me, is my original and initial expectations were not met exactly as I thought. I thought because God called me, everything would basically fall into place. Now I completely realize that as naïve thinking, but at the time I held onto a fresh young faith that had yet to be truly tested and tried. Jesus needed to know I could weather the storms. He wanted to see if I would quit and run for cover at the first sight of crisis. 

 

As I said in last week’s blog, Dear Woman, Do You Need Someone To Defend You? Luke 7:36-50, I actually did want to quit so many times during my years following His call in ministry. But I am still here. 

 

All this came to mind as I have been reading and studying about David’s story. 

 

The Merging Of David’s Anointing, Expectations, And Life’s Reality

 

In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Samuel anointed David as the next king of Israel while Saul still reigned as Israel’s king. I imagine that David held some pretty high expectations regarding the prophet Samuel coming to his house and picking him out of all his brothers as Israel’s future king. 

 

Let’s travel through the next several chapters of David’s life. Think with me how David’s expectations possibly affected him. 

 

First let’s think through what happens immediately following David’s anointing. In 1 Samuel 16:14-23, Saul, who was king at the time, started having problems. The Spirit of the Lord left him. A distressing spirit troubled him and he needed something to calm his nerves. Saul heard that David was a skilled harpist so he sent for David to come and play the harp for him. 

 

Now, don’t forget that David went to play the harp for Saul with some type of expectation related to his anointing. When our expectations are high and fresh, they are strong and even strengthen us. It is there that our confidence is maxed out. 

 

Next scene in David’s Life – 1 Samuel 17

 

David fights Goliath, the Philistine giant. He takes Goliath down with a stone and a sling shot and walks away with the head of the giant. In 1 Samuel 18, the women sing David’s praises and stir us jealousy and hatred in King Saul. The next few chapters show how a determined Saul pursued David to kill him and David escaped to the Philistine city called Gath. The story continues along the same line until the end of 1 Samuel where Saul fell on his own sword to end his life. 

 

I wonder if David ever thought for an instant after being anointed to be the next king of Israel that his road to the throne would be so filled with turmoil. Maybe he thought he would be taking down giants, but I can’t imagine that he ever expected that he would have to run for his life from his own people.

 

Nailing down the timing related to David and Saul’s relationship and Saul’s reign appeared to be difficult even for scholars. Commentaries vary in the matter of timing. I read one commentary that identified 2 years between David being anointed to be the next king and Saul’s death. While I’m not sure if 2 years is a correct time frame, I can tell you that from 1 Samuel 16:13-31:4-5 (David’s anointing and Saul’s Death), a whole lot happened in between those to markers. 

Let’s Take That 2 Year Time Frame

 

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems only right to think that David probably expected his reign as king to come on the heels of Saul’s death. However, 2 Samuel continues the story and shows us that Saul’s son, Ishbosheth became king of Israel and God sent David to Hebron to rule as king over the house of Judah. 

 

It seemed that God gave David only a tiny portion of his promised kingdom. 2 Samuel 2:10-11 reveal that Ishbosheth reigned as king of Israel 2 years and David reigned as king of Judah for 7 years and 6 months. 

 

Did David ever expect that once Saul was out of the picture that someone else would sit on his God-ordained throne? What did David think and feel about the fact that God gave him this tiny portion while someone else sat on the place of His calling and anointing? 

 

There is nothing in the text that makes me think David struggled with the reality of his situation other than the very fact that he was human. Surely David’s expectations and actuality merged together to ignite a barrage of questions and inner turmoil. Even if his dilemma was only illuminated in the darkest moments of the night, I can’t help but believe that his humanity pressed through his confident expectations. 

Take a moment to absorb the impact of these words from 2 Samuel 2-4 that paint a picture of David’s experience during this season:

War

Compete

Opponent 

Field of Sharp Swords

Fierce battle

Beaten

Strike 

Devour

Bitter

Pursue

Fight

Struck down

Died

Buried

Stabbed

Mourn

Coffin

Grave

Lament

Wept

Killed

Beheaded

Dead

Executed

Hanged

Tomb

Do you think David’s expectations ever calculated the actual turmoil he would face becoming King? 

 

And here is the moment David waited for with expectation: 

 

Therefore all the elders came to the king at Hebron,

and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord.

And they anointed David king of Israel.

2 Samuel 5:3

 

Well there it is. His expectations realized. God’s word and promise prophesied by the prophet came to pass. Through all the turmoil, battle, death, pain, and mourning David saw his faith made manifest. 

 

The beauty of this story is more about where David set his expectation. David believed God. Years passed and every kind of hardship obstructed his way. But David’s expectation in his immovable God, in God’s unwavering spoken word, and David’s own personal anointing experience gave him the staying power that he needed to see the promise of God through to its fulfillment. 

 

No wonder David wrote: 

 

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see 

the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 

Psalm 27:13

 

As For You Dear Sister

What kind of expectation do you have based on God’s word and promise spoken to you in your life? Don’t place your expectation in people who will let you down or circumstances that will fail you. Place all your hope, i.e. your confident expectation in Your God who can not fail. 

 

If the dark cloud of turmoil, pain, battles, and even death threatens to overshadow your hope, your dreams, your faith, your family, your calling, or anything that God already spoke a promise to you, a day is coming when the Son is going to shine through. You too will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! 

  

Psalm 27 is a great psalm to read, pray, and meditate on while you wait for God.