A Youth Leading Men
1 Samuel 18:5
"And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants."
You rarely find a youth who is mature enough to be in any leadership position, much less leading men into war. The verse above says that David was"set...over the men of war." You must understand that David just killed Goliath. That feat may seem to be something that is worthy of promotion, but David was only seventeen years of age when he defeated Goliath. So, here is a young man who was given position to lead men into war at the young age of seventeen.
The amazing thing about this position that was given to David was that the men accepted his role as their leader. You often see young people given position at a young age, but rarely do you find that these young people are accepted by those whom they lead, especially those who are much older than they. I often see in the ministry pastors give their children a position in their ministry, but the people are not accepting of this leadership role. Though they won't tell the pastor their feeling, it can be seen in how they truly follow that person. We find in this story that there were two things that caused David to be accepted in this leadership role.
First, he earned the right to lead by killing Goliath. A person needs to earn the right to be given position. Position should never be inherited; it should be earned. The men of Israel accepted David's leadership role because he accomplished something. If a person doesn't have something that they have accomplished, then they should not be given a leadership role. Accomplishment is like a college degree to a position. Accomplishment validates that a person deserves the right to hold that position. If they have never accomplished anything, then they should never be given a leadership role.
Furthermore, the degree of the accomplishment should determine the degree of the leadership role. David didn't just kill anyone, he killed someone that nobody else could kill or even tried to kill. If a person wants a high ranking leadership role, then they need to accomplish something that nobody else has ever done.
Second, David behaved himself in a wise manner. Though he was a youth, he didn't act like a youth. I have watched people hold leadership roles who didn't behave themselves as was becoming to their position. If a person doesn't behave themselves rightly before they have position, then you can be guaranteed that they won't behave themselves wisely after they acquire a leadership role. Leadership is not a right, it is something earned. You partly earn that role by doing right in front of people and when they are not looking.
Finally, David did not look for a role of leadership. People who want leadership roles don't deserve it. The best way for you to acquire a leadership role is to do right because it is right to do. Don't seek to be a leader, just do what you are supposed to do. You will find that when you do what you are supposed to do and accomplish things that others are not able to accomplish that leadership roles will find you.