To Watch, Wait, Work, or War

Lessons From the Life of a Praying Shepherd Warrior King

I often think of the tension between God’s work and man’s work. God is sovereign and can do anything He pleases. We can do nothing good by ourselves. So how much should work, and how much should we step back and watch God work? I don’t have a nice four-point answer, but I can tell you some stories.

Watch

David sits on a stone, playing his harp. Below him, sheep graze contently on tufts of grass amid the otherwise barren hillside. Come evening, he will round up the sheep, return to his tent, and prepare supper. It should be a calm night. Recently, he had killed the bear that was stalking his father’s flocks. The bear had been formidable, but God had helped him.

Maybe someday I will help fight God’s enemies, David thought. But right now, his work was to play harp, pray, and watch sheep—pretty boring and insignificant.  

Wait

Boring and insignificant can change quickly. Earlier in the month, the prophet Samuel had called for David and anointed him with a holy oil. A feeling of power and holiness had nearly overwhelmed him, and he knew he would be king someday.

Then, David had been called to play the harp in the king’s court. He was taken right to the presence of king Saul, who was in a terrible mood and shaking strangely. David had played his harp as good as he could, and when he was done, the king had calmed down.

But dreams of ruling and fighting and leading fade quickly, especially when set against the backdrop of a brown hillside covered with sheep and dry tufts of gras. Maybe God would use David someday again, but for now, he waits on God and watches sheep.

Work

It is finally David’s first day at war. After hours of hauling food, talking to the captains in the Israelite army, and gaining an audience with king Saul, David faces the giant Goliath. It almost feels like another day at work with a little extra trust in God. He is unarmed and alone except for the God of Heaven’s armies. Then, with faith, a stone, and a twirling of a small leather sling, David downs the giant, precipitating the defeat of the entire Philistine army. Back to the flock of sheep to watch and wait and work.

Let me break the story briefly. Frequently, the story of David and Goliath is used as an example of trusting God rather than relying on human effort. After all, David even refused to put on armor before entering the battle. But the story continues, and David soon picks up real weapons.

War

Years have passed—years of watching, waiting, and working. Also, years of hot, cold, hunger, fear, danger, some warring, and some refraining from warring. Then, after a sweeping series of events, David is the new king of Israel.

If leading several hundred men in the wilderness was challenging, leading an entire army made everything previous look like child’s play. Most of the work required to support an army could be delegated—manufacturing weapons, training the troops, procuring food and water, spying on the enemy, caring for the pack animals and war horses, drafting and paying the soldiers, repairing equipment, and many other things.  But David still has plenty of work to do. As leader, he watches the army, talks with the officers, and occasionally works alongside the troops to boost their morale.

Then, the Philistines invade again. David once again faces them, not as a small shepherd boy with a sling in hand but as a veteran warrior with an entire army. And, as a new leader, David needs more watching, waiting, and trusting God than ever before. Both his work and his trust in God will help him in the upcoming battles, and someday he will write,

“Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight” (Psalm 141:1 KJV)

So maybe there doesn’t need to be tension between God’s work and man’s work. Maybe our work is a divine partnership, with a time to watch, a time to wait, a time to work, and a time to war. And maybe the more we work and equip ourselves for God’s work, the more we will find ourselves in positions of spiritual warfare that require more watching, waiting, and trusting than ever before.