Tuning with the E String (1 Samuel 23:1-14)

For a couple of years in high school, I played around on my mother's guitar and then took a guitar class in college. Musical gifting is not one of my strengths, so the skill did not develop like I had hoped. One useful thing I remembered, though, was that I could tune the E string to a standard, and then tune the rest of the strings according to that one accurate pitch. When the low E string was tuned to the standard, I could descend down the other five strings, tuning each accordingly. Should the reference pitch be off and my E string be out of tune, I won't be able to reproduce good music.

As a reminder, do you remember Saul in one of his first acts as King (1 Samuel 13)? He was to wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice before God prior to going to war. As stress mounted and the Philistines gathered in mass quantity for battle, Saul's men began desserting him. Saul chose to reject God's instruction to wait, offering the sacrifice himself impatiently. Saul's internal heart strings were not tuned to an accurate E pitch. Without God as the accurate reference pitch, his actions were out of tune and the nation would falter.

In contrast, David was also surrounded by stress in 1 Samuel 23:1-14. He had lost his home, was daily on the run for his life with 600 men depending on his leadership, and had come into knowledge of Keilah's (a city) need for defense from a Philistine attack. David approached God to inquire what to do. In those moments, David was using God as his reference pitch. He was tuning his low E string by which he would be prepared to tune his others decisions as a leader. As tuning goes, you tighten and loosen the string to find the correct pitch. It's not an immediate find. David similarly was tuning his heart to God. It was not a perfect first try, but as the relationship was growing, David was learning life with God.

With a heart accurately tuned, he led his men into battle against their will, trusting that God's sovereigty and power would act on their and His own behalf in victory.

What is your reference pitch? Are you, like David, able to daily tune your heart to the solid truth of Scripture and active, prayerful relationship with God through Christ? Or, like Saul, are you depending on your own actions and flesh to deliver you through the day, thus tuning your heart to an out-of-tune pitch that will affect all other parts of your life?

Tune well, my friends. Find the reference pitch that is accurate, beautiful, and immutable.

© 2007 by Kendra Hinkle