Day 18: 1 Samuel 16:14–23

I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and the Lord is with him (v. 18).

The Scripture combines two descriptions of David we would not expect to find together: he played the harp; he was a warrior. In two simple descriptions, God tells us volumes about “the man after His own heart.”

We find that David had the tenderness and the sensitivity of an artist. He was a musician and a songwriter. David did not simply have talent. Talent alone could not have soothed the torment of Saul. David plucked the strings of his harp with tenderness and sensitivity. He chose melodies that ministered to the aching soul. You may rightly imagine that many of your favorite psalms were first sung by the young voice of David, wavering and cracking somewhere between boyhood and manhood to the accompaniment of a well-worn and deeply loved harp. Yet we are also told he was a warrior, brave and strong. The fingers that gently plucked the strings of a harp could also wind fiercely around a sling or a sword.

These complementary parts of David’s character will appear throughout this book. David was a complex man. He could be both passionate and withdrawn; dependable and shocking; righteous and wicked—just like us.

Two qualities I’ve come to admire most in both men and women are tenderness and strength. I no longer see them as exclusive terms. Quite the contrary, I’ve come to realize that one without the other leaves an individual lacking wholeness. I deeply desire to be a woman of tenderness and strength because my dearest role model possessed both.

Christ Jesus is the artist. He created the world with colors and textures human artists have tried for thousands of years to imitate. Christ Jesus is the musician. He gave the angels their voices. Christ Jesus is the tenderhearted, ministering to our every need.

Christ Jesus is also the warrior, forever leading us in triumphant procession, if only we will follow (2 Cor. 2:14). In our greatest weakness, He is strong. Christ Jesus is the blessed embodiment of both characteristics. He has set an example before us of true manhood and true womanhood. No greater man or woman exists than one in whom tenderness and strength can be found. David was such a man.