It’s delicate. The way the light caresses a snowflake without melting it on a winter’s morning. It’s delicate. The way the sunshine finds me in the rain. It’s delicate. The way the cactus embraces a flower bud resting on its shoulders. It’s delicate… the way the blackberries taste when seasons change.

God, show me… the way the sun brightens iceburgs stationed in the arctic. Show me… the way the moonlight accents the northern lights roaring in the auroras. It’s delicate… the way Your heart paints beauty. The way Your voice plays music. Play me Your song of cascading crescendos like the rainbows You made for us to say You love us. And I’ll play You every melody You want to hear…

It’s delicate… the way the Lord serves the world night and day. It’s intricate. The way He holds us. Universe spinning on the axis of Your Word holding it in place. You are the good and perfect King. Our kind and generous God.

God never stops running the world for you… giving the world for you… beautifying the world for you…

The King serves the best delicacies.

I love to see what He creates.

Do you want to reign with Him in the Kingdom of God?

Learn to serve as He does.

Royalty begins with serving.

“For even the Son of God came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

Everytime you see Jesus in the gospels, you see Him serving…

You see Him working.

You see Him giving.

You see Him loving.

You see Him healing.

You see Him teaching.

You see Him leading like a King.

“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:7

Jesus bears the marks of One who serves. Calloused hands. Nail lacerations. Blood streaked. Sweat seeping into the pores. This is what it looks like to be the King of the Universe. What it looks like to be royalty. Learn from the King whose expertise comes from experience.

This is what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom where giving of Oneself in love marks the innate nature of its King. It’s Savior.

The King serves the best.

The King’s service is a delicacy.

An artform.

A wonder.

A rare gem you want to observe and learn from.

A servant’s heart epitomizes royalty.

In 1 Samuel 16 King David shows us one of the delicacies of His service when he played the harp for King Saul in the palace. He began his adolescence serving and He continued into his adult years serving.

We see this clearly as we read about David, the man after God’s own heart. David has already been named King at this point in the story but he must wait until it’s his time to assume the throne. At this time, Saul has stopped seeking the Lord and he is being plagued with many evil spirits as a result. Thus, God has anointed another, David, to be the King after him.

While Saul experiences turmoil, he seeks out advice but considering he has stopped seeking the Lord, He does not ask the Lord what to do… he asks his advisors around him.

“Saul’s officials told him. “Your Majesty, let us go and look for someone who is good at playing the harp. He can play for you whenever the evil spirit from God bothers you, and you’ll feel better.” 1 Samuel 16:15-16

What do the advisors do? They have to look for someone else. Saul had an amazing opportunity to be King and seek the Lord while surrounding himself with godly men and women but he surrounded himself with people who had zero insight to give him. Be careful about who you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with people who have no loving, spiritual insight to give you, it only inhibits you. Saul has led with this group of people for a long time and they have not advanced his spiritual life at all. Ultimately, it’s not up to them to support his spiritual life. But it’s true that 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “bad company corrupts good character.”

You need wise, servant-hearted people around you who love Jesus and lead with love. Who have the Holy Spirit instead of evil spirits. If no one in his cabinet could say or do anything to help alleviate Saul’s turmoil, that’s because they didn’t have a Holy Spirit in them to be able to do it. You need God’s Spirit. And David had that.

“At that moment, the Spirit of the Lord fell on David and stayed with him from then on.” 1 Samuel 16:13

David is called by Kings because of the Holy Spirit of God in him.

David goes before Kings because of the Holy Spirit of God in him.

David will become King because of the Holy Spirit of God in him.

“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29

David excels in his work because He has the spirit of excellence that flows from a holy God who Himself leads with excellence, giving only the best.

David’s gifts are anointed by the Lord and thus He flows from that anointing for the purpose of bringing souls to know Yahweh. When God gifts you in a particular way, He does so that you will reach Kings and Queens with the message of hope in the Messiah. You are God’s chosen vessel to carry His love to them. This is why knowing God intimately through a spiritual and intimate relationship is so important. You can only act with greatness if you learn from God, not man. Let God empower you, inspire you, lead you, speak to you and move through you… then you will touch hearts deeply. So seek the Lord always.

This is from a psalm of David while he was in the wilderness. Writing his heart utterances to the Lord. No isolation could remove him from closeness with the Lord. In fact, it only enhanced His connection with God…

Your spiritual life with Jesus is the most important part of you. Don’t ever neglect that. Prioritize it over everything!

Now David will go before Saul to bring the Holy Spirit back to the palace where it has been missing during the reign of Saul.

“All right,” Saul answered. “Find me someone who is good at playing the harp and bring him here. “A man named Jesse who lives in Bethlehem has a son who can play the harp,” one official said. “He’s a brave warrior, he’s good-looking, he can speak well, and the Lord is with him.” 1 Samuel 16:18

“And the Lord is with him…” they said.

May that be what they say of you. Not everyone will acknowledge it. And you have to be okay with the persecution that comes with it. But no one will be able to deny the power of the Lord in your life in the end, because when God is with you no one can stand against you… Not everyone will love you. Look what they did to Jesus. Not everyone will accept you. Look what they did to the disciples. But God will keep using you to touch the hearts of people around you. The ones who see the Lord in you will be your biggest advocates, like beautiful gifts that come from the Heavens. David would find this kind of gem in the middle of his obstacles in later years when Saul would turn against David. Saul’s own son, Jonathan, would see who David was and they would become the best friends. Jonathan was loyal to David over his father. And David would rejoice in this beautiful friendship given to the Lord.

Keep trusting in the Lord even in the obstacles of leadership and God send people into your life who are for you.

In verse 18, it says they knew the Lord was with David.

So Saul calls David in.

“Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Tell your son David to leave your sheep and come here to me.”

1 Samuel 16:19

God will send you to bring the Holy Spirit into places where He is absent.

Will you go when asked?

Carry the power of the Lord and you go before Kings and Queens.

True greatness reveals itself through service. 

Jesus served… He “took on the form of a servant being born on the likeness of men” as Philippians 2:7 says. We are never too high to serve.

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” 1 Corinthians 9:19

How can you serve the Lord?

Every person created by God was designed to serve Him and others in some way. You don’t have to be in ministry to serve the Lord. Serving the Lord manifests from your everyday lifestyle of seeking God to honor Him and giving your heart to Him, along with serving others with the same tenacity and passion.

David was not yet serving in his role as King as he would be in later years when he played his harp for the King, but He shows himself to be the real King in this story… serving the Lord in every ask… with His delicacy of lovingkindess to Saul even in Saul’s rebellion against the Lord.

Saul begins to take a liking to David because of this…

Saul is attracted to something in David.

“Not long after this, Saul sent another message to Jesse: “I really like David. Please let him stay with me.”

1 Samuel 16:22

Something different resides inside of David from everyone anyone else in the palace. And He is not even yet living inside the palace yet. He doesn’t need to in order to be royal. He already is. Because David hosts the Lord. David carries the Spirit. David leads with love. David walks as a King, serving as a King to Saul who is in much need of someone to ease him at this time.

Saul sends for David.

The Spirit of God is attractive to a world with no hope.

It gives a glimpse of the God every soul longs for and was designed to anticipate because He made us to know Him. Walk in the Spirit of God and you beckon souls to the salvation of Jesus. Love God and that love in the sight of others provokes their own desire for God too. It awakens their spirit to encounter the Spirit of the Lord.

David’s music unto the Lord casts away the evil spirits inside of Saul.

“Whenever the evil spirit from God bothered Saul, David would play his harp. Saul would relax and feel better, and the evil spirit would go away.” 1 Samuel 16:23

When you know how to serve with delicacy… love with delicacy… reign with delicacy… you cast away evil spirits. 

Who needs you to play for them? Keep playing… don’t let your love stop…

Your song of love casts away darkness.

Your confidence of hope rids away evil.

Your faith in Jesus woos hearts to salvation.

A man or woman following Jesus wholeheartedly is the most attractive human being that can exist. Let the world see your love…

David is a King of many delicacies. Not just a beautiful harp player who woos the Holy Spirit but also a valiant warrior who prevails with the power of the Holy Sprit for His people.

In the next chapter of 1 Samuel 17, we will see this delicate harp player standing fierce on the battlefield defeating Goliath for all of Israel.

Royalty serves with versatility. 

“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 19:22

One day David tends the sheep.

One day David plays the harp.

One day David slings stones at Goliath.

This is the rare and mezmerizing delicacy of a King after God’s heart: knowing how to balance power and love. There is a time for shepherding, there is a time for war, and there is a time for peace. Kings who act with God’s heart know the difference. And they act accordingly.

“They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Malachi 3:17-18

God saves His treasured sons and daughters.

Kings and Queens war for God’s people. Serve God’s people.

David shows us what servant leadership looks like, as learned from His God, Yahweh… the King of kings.

King David’s leadership began long before he ever stood before Israel as King. He began serving the Lord with royal leadership out on the sheep pastures. Protecting the flock, feeding the flock, watching over the flock, nurturing the flock. Then he continued serving when He stepped up to fight Goliath when no one else would. He fought for Israel, stood for Israel, risked his life for Israel, and saved Israel through His service of bravery even though he himself was not in the army. But he was the one man who stepped in to serve when it was most crucial and dangerous.

Royalty acts in bravery.

Royalty serves with courage.

Royalty leads with God’s heart.

It’s a delicate balance… power and love. To be so strong and forceful, yet gentle and mild. It’s the essence of God. The Lion and the Lamb. He is both the meek and mild Savior and the valiant, ferocious warrior. When you lead the universe of good and evil, you need both. You need ferocity to rid out the devil and you need love to take care of the people. The King always knows how to harness both powers, a rare and beautiful synchronization. He serves the best of Himself, and thus calls us to do the same.

“Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5

I’m reminded of the heart of our Royal King manifested in the Father of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

This Father prepares for an impromptu banquet at the moment of welcoming his son home. Giving him the best meat he possessed in his residence: the fattened calf. This is a delicacy in this culture. A calf set aside. The kind of meat you save for a special occasion.

That is how God serves you…

God serves the best to you.

He finds the best for his sons and daughter, so you never have to settle for what would not be accepted into the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of lavish resources, not cheap materials. Understand who you are to Him, and you understand God only saves the best for you.

God is glorified in how He serves His children… in how He serves the world in sustaining it… in how He serves our souls in dying for it… in how He serves in love. God’s heart for His children is mature to the point of learning how to serve others instead of expecting to be served.

“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Romans 12:11

Glory shines from serving. Royalty always serves. How can you serve the ones you love? How can you serve God?

Princes and princesses serve the Kingdom.

What they do when they become Kings and Queens? They serve…

Royalty never stops serving with the heart of God. 

Another day glistens and I wake up beating with the heart You gave to see Your name come to earth as it is in Heaven. Show us the delicacies of Your royalty twinkling in the ivory of Your temple where You remain the cornerstone. The foundation. The elevation of Kingdom freedoms engrained in the ground we’re walking on… and we’re walking in Your power. Serving in Your kindness. Giving with Your generosity for all to see You’re good, Lord. You’re good to us. We want to serve alongside You in the wonder of Eden forever.

I give myself to you

because I want to

like You want to

when You give Yourself up

for me everytime

I need Your light

to shine

on me

I love You

my Savior for eternity

“The greatest among you shall be your servant.”

Matthew 23:11