ENFJ PERSONALITY-Case study, King David.

Case Study- DAVID from the Bible.

ENFJ’s have been given the code name, “the PROTAGONIST”. A protagonist is a leading character in any
movie or story and David took up this role very well with his mighty actions and the traits that he possessed.
Our modern-day Protagonist personalities include Martin Luther King Junior, Oprah Winfrey, Pope John
Paul II, Maya Angelou and Dr Phil. They are clearly not strangers to the limelight, and neither was
David. This article is a dissection of David’s personality in regard to being an ENFJ. Basically and
understanding of why God seemed to favor him so much and what lessons we can learn from him.
First, it’s good to note that he, like all other ENFJ’s was unique and he wasn’t favored because of his
personality alone. His personality smoothened the result of his actions but his beliefs, values and
absolute faith in God and humility as he sought God’s favor were unique to him. His relationship with
God was unique to him. And the beauty about psychology is, we can always learn from him and fix what
needs fixing in ourselves to smoothen our relationship with God. So, let’s get to the mind of it all.

ENFJ BREAKDOWN

E-Extroversion
N-Intuitive
F-Feeling
J-Judging

1.] EXTROVERSION
Extroversion in a nutshell means that one gains their energy from people. People of this nature have
learnt to give so that they can get. It could be something as simple as a smile to something as great as
time and resources but there is an element of self-sacrifice for a benefit of either gaining friends, loyalty
or just a good feeling. For descent people it’s all about positive win-win persuasion. For narcissists it’s
about one sided manipulation. We can at least say for David, the latter was not the case.

2.] INTUITIVE
For a concept as tough to understand as Intuition, the simple way to get it is to see the whole picture.
Physical, mental and spiritual. You have to have this to understand it. But for those that do not
(generally, Sensers, that are the majority), it can be explained as having the ability to ask and seek the
answer to the question “why?”. Why something happened, why someone reacted the way they did, why
the action gave that kind of result. So on and so forth. It is a simple question, but for a king like David, it
was an invaluable one. Because once answered, it was possible to see “what” could result in future actions.

3.] FEELING

This is a trait easy to grasp as we all have feelings in tuned in our mechanism. The only difference
between Thinkers and Feelers is that Thinkers generally don’t act on their feelings, they learnt to either
suppress or ignore them at some point in their development. Feelers, embrace their feelings and to
some extent, let them control their lives. Living without controlling them could be disastrous, but
mastering them as David seemed to have (thanks to his military experience), will bring Passion and Motivation in all of your works, which
can be infectious to all that surround natural born feelers.

4.] JUDGING
It is not the kind of judging that most of our contemporary artists sing about. For the Perceptive
individuals that may not get this concept, it can be simplified into this statement. Learning from past
experience. Yes, it could be influenced by bias, but it does come in handy when you learn how to
prevent the same mistakes from happening again. Good thing David was a fast learner, as we will see in
the below illustrations.

POSITIVE ENFJ TRAITS

1.] Warm and Friendly.

David made friends easily. He made a friend of God by always doing as God asked of him without fear or
question. [1st Samuel 18:14-David continued to have success in all he did, and Jehovah was with him].

He made a best friend out of Saul’s son, Jonathan, [1st Samuel 18:1-As soon as David finished speaking to
Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship and Jonathan began to love him as
himself].

Women fell in love with him easily [1st Samuel 18:20-Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with
David, and it was reported to Saul, and this pleased him]. Even Saul seemed to like him before he grew
jealous of him.
David was a warm natured individual that liked to entertain with music and dance, included others in
discussions and brought safety and protection to the people he loved. Makes sense why everyone either
liked him or was jealous of him. All that charisma was brightening and very attractive.

2.] Empathetic and Thoughtful.

David seemed to love others genuinely. So much that he cared what was truly going on in their lives,
even if he got no gratitude or good will in return. When his son Absalom stripped David off of his title as
King and forced David into exile, David knew that that act would result into a battle. But even then, he
never wanted to harm his son when he sent an army to face Absalom [2nd Samuel 18:5-Deal gently with
the young man Absalom for my sake]. In a turn of events Absalom ended up killed by one of Joab’s (
David’s right hand man]) attendant. The news got to David who was still in exile. For most men, they
would have felt nothing as the title King would have been more important than their own sons. Has it
not been seen in Egypt for example, where killing family members and imprisoning them was the norm
during Cleopatra’s time? David, unlike such was disheartened, even after all that Absalom took him
through [2nd Samuel 18:33- This disturbed the King, and he went up to the roof chamber over the gateway and wept saying as he walked: “My son, Absalom my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom my son, my son!”].
The same empathy was shown for others
David loved truly and cared when he sent messengers to offer comfort to the sons of his fallen comrade
King Nahash of the Amorites [1st Chronicles 19 :2 -At that David said, “I will show loyal love
toward Hanun the son of Nahash because his father showed loyal love towards me.” So, David sent
messengers to offer comfort over the loss of his father.] When God was angry at David for a blunder, he
made, David pleaded to God to mitigate the punishment over his people for he had accepted that the
error was his, not his peoples’ [1st Chronicles 21:17-David said to the true God “Was it not I who said to
number the people? I am the one who sinned, and I am the one who did wrong, but these sheep- what
have they done? O Jehovah my God , let your hand please come against me and my father’s house, but
do not bring this scourge on your people.”].
A true narcissistic leader wouldn’t have cared as such as is observed in Robert Green’s book “The 48
laws of power”, Law number 26, “ Keep your hands clean”- where the use of scape goats and other
people taking the hit for your mistake is the common norm in today’s leadership. David wasn’t like that.

3.] Engaging and Social.

David had no qualms being down to earth and social with everyone even when he was king. This can be
displayed to when he danced and sang alongside the singers he had commanded to be selected when
the Arc of the covenant of the true God finally entered David’s kingdom. He even went so far as to add
onto the lyrics with the singers in the same regard. [1st Chronicles 16- It was on that day that David first
contributed a song of thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brothers]. He didn’t care that his dancing
made him look ‘unkingly’ and more common place, something that is wife the queen, Michal, Saul’s
daughter disliked in him [1st Chronicles 15:2-But when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came to the
city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal, looked down through the window and saw King David skipping
about and celebrating and she began to despise him in her heart.]
It was also noted that he always consulted God before going to war and always consulted his team
before coming to a decision. He believed in seeking consul and involving others in decision making,
something only a social leader does. [1st Chronicles 13:1-David consulted with the chiefs of the thousands
and hundreds and with every leader]. His head never grew too big, even as the weight of his crown grew
heavier.

4.] Strategic and Future Oriented.

This is where his intuition and judgement came in. The ability to connect the dots and answer the
question “why” helped him on his path. He could even foresee the hurdle that Solomon, his son would
have to deal with when it came to building a house for God, so he made preparations before he passed
away [1st Chronicles 22:5-And David said,:’ My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to
be built for Jehovah is to be exceedingly magnificent so that its fame and beauty will be known in all the

lands. Therefore, I will make preparations for him.” So, David prepared materials in great quantity before
his death”].

He always seemed to outmaneuver Saul when he discovered his jealousy of him. He contemplated
his every move and he played the right strategy against him as he fled, siding with Saul’s enemies, hiding
with priests and escaping into the wilderness, all in the nick of time just as he could smell that Saul was
getting close to catching up with him. As were the words of Saul, [ 1st Samuel 23:22-Please go and find
out exactly where he is and who saw him there, for I have been told that he is very cunning.].
He learnt from his mistakes always and tailored his actions so that the past hurt did not repeat again in
future [1st Chronicles 15:12-And he said to them (David to the Levites)” You are the heads of the paternal
houses of the Levites, sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers and bring the Ark of Jehovah the God of
Israel up to the place that I have prepared for it. Since you did not carry it the first time, the anger of
Jehovah our God broke out against us, because we did not search the proper procedure], this was after
Uzzah tried to protect the Ark of the Covenant from falling down and was struck dead for touching it
unsanctified and without him being a Levite, the only ones that God gave the right to touch the Ark.

His ability to connect the dots and play chess in real life helped him escape for his life and achieve his
long-term goals even earlier than schedule. He became a king by age 30, won nearly all the wars that
came his way with minimal cost, of course he had God as his back up and he made sure that he tried
with his best of his ability never to create strain with God, for God was the only one to make his plans
come to fruition. He was wise in his daily actions as he prepared for the future.

5.] Great Communicator.

He was a king that motivated his people all through. He was a passionate communicator;
inspiring courage and comfort to both his troops and his people. He was
exceptionally persuasive, gathering data first before deploying his verbal skills.
He even persuaded Saul from killing him when they met face to face on the mountainous regions while in exile; even to a point of making Saul, who greatly wanted David dead understand that David was the next
king. It was so efficient that Saul made David swear to spare Saul’s generational line after he became king, basically accepting to bend the knee before his kingship [ 1st Samuel 24:20- Now look! (Saul said), I know you will surely rule as King and that in your hand the Kingdom of Israel will endure.
Now swear to me by Jehovah that you will not wipe out my descendants and that you will not annihilate
my name out of my father’s house].

6.]Appreciative.

David always knew how to say Thank you. It is a simple phrase, but it won him great allies, great favor
form his subjects and most especially, great favor from God. It is one of the ENFJ’s easy to learn trait
that we all can apply in our lives, which comes with repetitive results throughout life. This can be noted
in his prayer [1st Corinthians 17:16-25].

7.] Peacekeeper.

He only went to wars that were sanctioned by God, every other time, he kept the peace. He was even
merciful to Saul when he could have killed him without realizing it (since Saul was after his life), [1st
Samuel 24], and he intended to show mercy to his son who even after stripping his kingship from David
and sending him to exile, still had room in his heart to have mercy on him. [2nd Samuel 18].
ENFJS prefer to keep the peace as they know there are better outcomes working together than there
is being in divisive politics.

NEGATIVE ENFJ TRAITS

1.] Overly Empathetic from being too understanding.

This was observed in David’s self-sacrificial love for Saul and Absalom who wanted David’s head on a
platter yet he somehow wanted to ‘kumbaya’ his way back into their good graces. He forgave easily as
his intuitive traits made him understand Saul’s jealousy and Absalom’s impatience and entitled-ness.
As a child of prophecy, things worked out for him in the end. But for the rest of us ENFJ’s whose future
has not been foretold, it would be unwise to stay in the same pool of turmoil people bring into our lives
just because we can understand why they are doing this.It is best to stay away from bully’s that mean
you harm and keep your mental sanity. Just ask Oprah how she did it.

2.] Over commitment and People Pleasing.

This was a trait never observed in David, but it is a common weakness in ENFJ’S. David is a good teacher
here because he was only committed to keeping God happy during most of his leadership and God made his
paths unfold easily. In our modern day of technology and work, we might forget our duties to God and
keep our plates full of other people, their lives and problems. It’s always good to remember that we were brought here to love, for sure,
but we cannot save everybody. Something David clearly understood. Eye on God always and God will
give you the strength to help those that you were meant to help. Not the entire world.

3.]Sensitive to Criticism.

We normal ENFJs are sensitive to criticism from others since most of our world revolves around others.
We like being in leadership positions so we value what our team thinks and feels about us. This is a
weakness that David clearly didn’t possess. But it’s easy to see why. He only cared what God thought of
him. He never cared that he appeared less than royal to his wife Michal when he danced like an insane man,
celebrating the Ark’s arrival to Israel, nor did he care that it bothered his army when he mourned the
death of his son Absalom when Absalom was the reason for their being in exile. He was true to himself all
through and cared only what God thought of him, freeing him from the grip of people’s thoughts of him.

4.] Struggle to make Tough Decisions.

We ENFJs are too inclusive, and we like to make decisions that will be a win-win for everyone. However,
there will be those decisions that will have to be made that will not please everyone in every group

setting. This is observed in elections where democracy is never 100 percent in someone’s
favor. This is where the ability to take up your role as the final decision maker will be tested, something
that David learnt how to do well. Unlike most of us, David was lucky to gain discipline from his youth
when he went to bloody battles. He was used to commanding garrisons and being a leader of men before he hit
20 years old. Most of us are only getting into discovering ourselves by that age, so he had a major
advantage in that respect and this weakness barely applied to him. We should therefore strive to learn,
from him, know when to delegate, when to listen and most importantly, when to have the final say even
when it won’t be to everyone’s benefit, so long as the greater good of everyone is the end game.

5.] Patronizing and Condescending.

Another trait that David barely had. ENFJs are blessed with a natural social grace and charisma that
most personality traits do not possess. Because of our inability to not stand out, it can get into our heads
sometimes. This is where humility can be learnt from David. David always knew where his strength
came from, from God. Because of this knowledge, he always knew that God could give to him and could
always take from him. The rest of us might think that this natural leadership we have might be from our
own natural abilities and not see them as gifts from God for a purpose specifically designed for what He
wants us to do here on earth. The end result, a bad condescending and patronizing attitude.

6.] Overly Idealistic.

At this rate, I might just ask all of us to sign up for military boot camp training since David realized early
how not to have this problem in his trait from the army. When you get to see death from a young age
and you charge enough times in battle frontlines, reality has a way of smacking you in the face. We infants
of a mostly peaceful century have been sheltered from the gruesomeness of this world most
of our entire lives. Even what we experience as the worst things in life are not even close to what Syrian
or Somali refugees for example have lived through all their lives. It will have to dawn to the ENFJ’s at
some point that the world is not ideal and most people due to being godless and being run by self-
interest will not be kind to others, will not be grateful for favors and have no meaning to their words. It
is the harsh reality that we ENFJ’s will have to learn early, or we will live a life of continuous
disappointments.

7.] Impatient and Demanding [Leaping without Thinking].

At least here is something that we share with David. Could be because of our impulses of love or hurt
but sometimes ENFJ’s let their passion get the best of them and they end up doing or saying things that
they will later end up regretting, even if they knew that it will definitely lead to nothing good if they went
through with it. David definitely knew that his abuse of power concerning Uriah’s wife would lead to God’s
punishment, but he was too love struck to give a damn [2nd Samuel:11-12]. He knew that doing an
unsanctioned census would lead to God’s punishment, but he was too in his feelings to remember this
[1st Chronicles 21:1]. It would be therefore important to remember ENFJ’s that feelings are like a river,
they will come and go. Its best to act on what we feel after the feelings have gone.

BESIDE ENFJ:  Davids Unique Traits.

There are other unique things in David that made him different from others, devoid of his ENFJ traits.

-He was always courageous as he had fought lions, bears and giants from a young age.

-He had unbelievable faith in God and his ability to come through for him.
[“1st Samuel 45-David replied to the Philistine [Goliath]]: You are coming against me with sword and
spear and javelin, but I am coming against you in the name of Jehovah of armies, the God of the battle
lie of Israel whom you have taunted. This very day Jehovah will surrender you into my hands and I will
strike you down and cut off your head and on this day, I will give the corpses of the camp of the Philistines
to the birds of the heavens and to the wild beasts of the earth; and people of all the earth will know that
there is a God in Israel. And all those that gathered here will know that it is not with the sword or the
spear that Jehovah saves for the battle belongs to Jehovah and he will give all of you into our hand.”]

-He obeyed God without question.

-He was honorable and a man of his word. Every promise he made, he kept. And everything he took, he
bought, [unless they were the spoils of war]. There was no one sided deal with him. He was never a
bully. And he did not do bad deals.

-He needed only to learn from his mistakes once. Once he knew what the problem in his outcomes was,
he never repeated the same mistake again.

We can learn a lot from David, especially on how selfless we are to be in our pursuit to pleasing God
always. Even at our own cost. Afterall, this life is borrowed, we might have our freedom, but this life is not
free. It will be best to always remember that and keep in God’s good graces, always. If we have any
chance of getting out of here alive.

BOTTOM LINE.

Remember the Gospel.

God loves us, but He is not crazy about us.
We are wallowing in our own sin for which we have no savior.
We should always repent and believe in the sacrifice of our God, Jesus Christ who was sent by God the
father to die for our sins, so we might get to have eternal life. [JOHN 3:16]