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In the Book of Revelation, a massive dragon wants to attack heaven. The dragon thinks that the throne is unoccupied. There is no leadership, no organization, so there should be no problem taking over that throne. When he gets there, he sees that the throne is, in fact, occupied by the “lamb that was slain.” Now this dragon, so massive that it can take out a third stars in the heavens with a sweep of its tail, confronts the meek and humble lamb who is sitting on the king’s seat.
In order to appreciate what is going on here, we need to go back to when the Israelites wanted a king. As they put it, “Everyone else has one.” So they go to the prophet Samuel who tries to talk them out of it by reminding them that kings are very needy. They need great food, big palaces, bigger armies, and expanded borders. Kings are takers. They will take your money in taxes, they will take your children and put them in his army, they will take your best vineyards and farms, and they will take your freedom.” They still wanted a king so Samuel went to God and God said, “Sure, I can work with a king.” Samuel returned to the people and told them the job description of a king. The king must never be a taker; he must be a giver. The king will always listen to God and do what he instructs. This means the king will be a meek and humble servant of God. So that is why God picks David to be the king because he is a humble. He is the youngest in his family and a shepherd boy. Not long after this, two great armies, the Israelites and the Philistines, face each other on the battlefield. Instead of wiping each other out in a full confrontation, they agreed to terms: our strongest guy will fight your strongest guy and let’s see who wins it in that way. So the Philistines picked a man that was 6 cubits. A cubit is 18 inches. If you do the math, it comes to nine feet. This guy could dunk a basketball while his feet are still planted on the ground. Over at the Israelite camp, God picked little David. Of course the Israelites go into panic mode because of the disparity and try to compensate by giving David all kinds of protective armor and sharp swords to meet the Philistines big advantage. David said, “I am not taking any of this because I don’t need it; I have God.” When David took down this walking two-story building of a man, both sides were in a state of absolute amazement. Everyone saw God that day. And that is what David continues to do. He wows everyone with the acts of God. It just took a humble person to reveal him.
And then something happened. I have no idea why, but one day David became a taker. He took Uriah’s wife and had the husband killed. After that everything went wrong. And that is the lesson of the Book of Samuel. Sometimes when we progress in life and acquire skills and power, we forget who we are, humble servants of God. And we lose our connection with God. In the Book of Revelation, the powerful dragon faces down the meek humble lamb, and the lamb will win every time because the lamb is with God.
About two or three hundred years ago, an aristocrat commissioned an artist to do a portrait. The aristocrat put on his best clothes, mounted a stallion and lifted up his chin so his face could catch the light of the sun. Following him was his wife and entourage. In the background of the painting, the artist added a water hole with the peasants cooling off in the water, and splashing each other. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. When you looked at the sullen faces on the aristocrats, they didn’t look like they were having a good time. The artist was supposed to make the aristocrat look important, but instead, he ended up sending the guy a message. Happiness is at the bottom, not the top.
For us, Christians happiness for us is humble service. Yes, we do climb up the social latter, acquire talent, titles and impressive responsibilities. But never forget who we are, humble servants of God. And through us like young David and Christ, all the world will see the greatness of God.
