Devotions for Week 2: David: Finding Peace When We Are Troubled (WATCH HERE)
1 Samuel 16:18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him.”
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
Certain people have a calming presence. There are moments when peace enters a room not because circumstances have changed, but because a person has arrived. In 1 Samuel 16, Saul is a troubled king. The Spirit of the Lord has departed from him, and his inner life is marked by fear, restlessness, and torment. Into that unsettled space God brings David, not yet as king, not yet as warrior, but simply as a faithful servant whose presence brings relief.
While David has skill with the harp and is noted for his courage and his appearance, the most important phrase comes at the end of the description: “The Lord is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18). That single sentence explains why David’s presence matters. David does not bring peace because of talent alone. He brings peace because he lives before God with a heart shaped by trust, humility, and obedience. God chooses to use that kind of godliness as an instrument of calm in a troubled soul.
We see something similar throughout Scripture. Proverbs tells us that a gentle answer turns away wrath. Paul urges believers to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts and then to live that peace out within the body of Christ. God often brings his peace into anxious situations not through dramatic intervention but through the steady presence of people who walk closely with him.
David does not fix Saul’s heart. He does not remove Saul’s deeper spiritual problem. But God still uses David to provide relief. When God uses us bring peace, he does not require perfect conditions or perfect outcomes. Faithfulness is enough. God takes care of the rest.
You can be a David to someone. God may place you in the presence of someone who is anxious, grieving, angry, or spiritually unsettled. You may not have answers or solutions. You may not even know the full story. Yet God can still use your godliness, your patience, your prayerful presence, and your quiet trust to bring peace into that space. The call is not to fix people, but to be faithful people through whom God works.
Reflect: How do you think your presence affects the emotional or spiritual atmosphere around you? Where might God be inviting you to be a quiet source of peace for someone else this week?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for using ordinary people to carry your peace into troubled places. Shape my heart to reflect your presence more clearly. Help me walk closely with you so that others may sense your peace through my words, actions, and spirit. Use me as you used David, not for my glory, but for yours. Amen.