Between 1501 to 1504 this famous artist chiseled a 13 ½ foot marble statute of a famous Bible person. Q Who did the work? Q Who did he conceive his work to be representative of?
Hint: also famous for painting the Sistine chapel. Famous for a painting that pictures God’s finger reaching out towards Adam’s
Today we are going to consider another of the great people of the Bible. David. He is a person that many are quite familiar with. Michelangelo’s rendering of David pops up in all sorts of advertisements and books. However this is not an art class. Our goal today will be to consider his being set apart by God to lead the nation of Israel as king. The main player of our text will be Samuel, yet the story is about David and what precipitates his kingship.
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BACKGROUND
As we approach today’s text we must bear the following in mind. The prophet Samuel is an old man. During his career he has judged the nation of Israel, he has served as the prophet and priest of God, he had anointed Israel’s first king: Saul.
What immediately precedes our text details for us why Saul has been rejected by God as Israel’s king. He was made king by God because the people had rejected God’s kingship of the nation. So, God gave them Saul, with the promise to Saul that if he obeys that he will be prospered and his kingship will last. Alas, Saul had turned out to be a real lemon. Repeatedly Saul was found disobedient to the directions and commands of God with the result that God, through Samuel, pronounced his judgment upon him (just as God said he would do to those who disobeyed him). God would no longer be with him, the kingdom was no longer his, someone better was going to take his place
Chapter 15 closes with the commentary that Samuel mourned Saul and never again went to see him, while the whole matter grieved the very heart of God. (The point being that it hurts and breaks the heart of God and his servants when people reject Him and bring upon themselves his righteous judgments—see Ezek. 18:32, Gen. 6:5)
Chapter 16 opens with God speaking to Samuel (whether it be audibly or inwardly to his heart we know not). What is very clear is that Samuel is one who is close to God. He is one who discerns the voice of God. In fact he is the prophet of God and as such God’s mouthpiece to the people of Israel.
God’s message: It’s time to move on! Let Saul go!
Samuel had been in a state of mourning for Saul
-he had anointed him as king
-he had had a long time rel. with Saul
-he obviously felt some affection for Saul
Yet: Saul’s disobedience had isolated him from God and brought the judgment of God. God’s judgement and rejection of Saul in part being visible through the fact that his prophet was no longer to have anything to do with Saul. Samuel’s refusal to ever see Saul again mirrored the depth of God’s rejection and judgment upon Saul.
It was no light thing for Samuel though. It broke his heart. In fact the word “mourning” in our text is the same word that is used for grieving the dead. Samuel was grieving for Saul as if he were dead, even though he was still alive. In Jewish culture this still happens at times today. Sometimes if a Jewish families child becomes a Christian they will hold a funeral service for their child. To them, their conversion, is so grievous they act as if there child has died and they hold that funeral service and then continue to live on as if they were dead, while in reality their child is alive and well.
Samuel mourned for Saul as if he were dead because Saul’s disobedience before God and the deserved judgment he faced was painful to him.
To this God says to Samuel “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him”
Q What’s God’s point?
It’s time to move on and to bring your mourning to an end because I have chosen another to be king. My favor rests upon a member of Jesse’s family.
It seems God’s desire was to get Samuel’s perspective back on track. God rejected Saul for good reason—Saul had repeatedly despised the commands and will of God in respect to his kingship.
To be rejected by God is a frightful thing. The scripture portrays it as something which is always deserved by those who are rejected. Their rejection is because of their continuing sinful ways and that makes God angry and hence he is pictured as turning his back upon those in question and having nothing to do with them, other than to send his righteous judgments upon them. At times his rejection is seen to be temporary in the scriptures—for when the Israelites repented he restored them (in fact God’s promise by his covenants is that the Israelites as a nation will never be completely forsaken and rejected by him). At other times his rejection is seen to be final. In Lamentations 5:21-22 the people wonder if God’s rejection of them was final as they say “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure”
ANYWAYS; GOD TELLS SAMUEL TO MOVE ON AND NOT GET HUNG UP ON SAUL FOR HIS FAVOR RESTS UPON ANOTHER.
Teaching point: What God has rejected we are to reject. What God says no to, no matter how distressing we are to say No to. Our approval cannot rest and our affections cannot remain upon those whom God judges. We must find ourselves in complete agreement with his righteous judgments which he executes today and will in finality do so at the judgment seat of Christ.
This does not mean we are to shed no tears for the wicked. Indeed we must sorrow at their fate and in their rejection of God. Yet there is a time to move on for indeed God is still at work in raising up for himself faithful and true workers and there is a job for us to do. The job of seeking out the lost of whom God will bring to himself.
THE LORD TOLD SAMUEL HE HAD ANOTHER CHOSEN: FROM THE HOUSE OF JESSE, A BETHLEHIMITE.
-If you are familiar with the Bible book called Ruth you will know that Jesse is the son of Obed who in turn is the son of Boaz and Ruth.
-in ch. 4 of Ruth the elders blessed Ruth for her faithfulness and love for Naomi and asked that God make her like Rachel and Leah, two esteemed mothers in the land of Israel, from whom the nation sprung. That blessing comes in partial fulfillment through David and ultimately in the birth of Jesus, the descendant of David
-from this house of Bread comes one day, Jesus, the bread of life
So, Jesse, would have been a well known and respected figure in his community.
SAUL’S EVIL HIGHLIGHTED v.2
GOD’S PROVISION v.2
Go their and make a sacrifice to me, “Heifer” a cow that had not produced calves. Hence such a sacrifice is a peace offering. An offering which God is said to enough the aroma of the cooking animal. An offering that could only be eaten by the ceremonially clean and when it was eaten, the worshippers celebrated their fellowship with each other and God’s goodness to them.
ISSUE: HOW WILL SAMUEL KNOW WHICH OF JESSE’S FAMILY IS THE ONE OF GOD’S CHOOSING TO BE KING v.3ff
“I will show you what to do”
“I will tell you who is the one I have set apart and whom you are to set apart as my man”
The concepts introduced here are very important to us for what is addressed concerns the primary issue of how a person makes decisions. That’s a fundamental question that you and I ask. “What should I do? –with my life, in respect to what school I go to, what career I should pursue, what house I should buy, when I should have children, who I should date amongst the eligible Christian pool, etc)
The simplest answer to the question we face in our lives all the time “what is my decision going to be in regards to x” is this “WAIT FOR THE VOICE AND LEADING OF GOD BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISIONS IN LIFE”
God tells Samuel to anoint or to set aside for king, the one of his choosing, not the one of Samuel’s choosing, and the amazing thing is this and its really encouraging. God says I am going to make it clear to you.
What’s so encouraging? The principle is this: God says to you and me: Listen to my voice for I will answer all your questions in respect to what you are to do. God’s promise is to lead us. We are never left high and dry by God. He will make his will for our lives clear. Our responsibility is to listen, obey, and to wait for his voice before we barge ahead and blow it.
SAMUEL ALMOST BLOWS IT!
-obediently he sets out to do what God has told him to do
-people terrified when he shows up in Bethlehem. (hard to say why. Some suggest that they feared repercussions from Saul, others suggest that they feared Samuel for his words carried weight as the mouthpiece of God and perhaps they feared some word of judgment from his lips).
-None the less Samuel reassures them that he comes in peace and that indeed he has come to sacrifice to the Lord-to which he tells them set themselves apart unto the Lord that they might participate in the sacrifice.
Here we are reminded that when one approaches God it is to be with clean hands and a clean heart. To consecrate oneself means to set oneself apart for participation in that which is holy. To participate in worship in that day one had to be ceremonially clean. One had to wash, along with observing a number of other stipulations in order to be qualified to even go to the place of worship and approach God. Approaching God in the OT era was limited at best. The N.T tells us that today we enter into God’s presence not via the blood of bulls and goats but by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. A person can have peace and fellowship with God through a relationship with Jesus and we can enter into God's presence boldly at any time because when God sees us, he sees us in our spiritual relationship with his son.
As mentioned, Samuel almost blows it in respect to anointing a new king.
-remember God’s word to him. I will show you the one of my choosing
-remember the principle we are to live by: Wait for the voice and leading of God before you may any decision.
Well, as soon as Samuel sees Jesse’s eldest son he draws the conclusion that this is the one of God’s choosing.
He makes this conclusion based upon Eliab’s appearance. How he looks.
You and I often make decisions based upon how things look. We say “It looks pretty good to me” or “She or he looks pretty good to me” “That job looks pretty good”
Looks: we make to many decisions based upon how things look. The principle this text drives home for us is that we are to make decisions not based upon our rough and human evaluations but on the basis of God’s voice and leading, for which we are to wait upon and seek.
Samuel, as wise and godly as he was, needed to be reminded to listen to the voice of God and not make decisions based on how things appeared to him.
We are told that God pays no attention to how people look physically and on the outside. God looks and evaluates people’s hearts.
Q Isn’t that the kind of input we need from God. God sees beyond the masks to the core of people’s beings. God sees beyond the surface and that’s why we need to wait for God’s voice before we make the decisions we do.******
GOD CONSIDERS AND WEIGHS EVERY PERSONS HEART
-God knows your heart and mine
-sometimes we get fooled by the way people present themselves. God is never fooled. Some people even appear to be Christians when they are not. We are fooled. In fact Jesus says in Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Q What is heart like right now? Are you what you present yourself to be? Are you a Christian? Are you really right with God or are you just fooling yourself? Have you in humility and repentance cried out to Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? Are you making every effort to live a godly life and find yourself in comformity to the perfect and holy will of God?
DAVID ANOINTED
-By the end of that day it was revealed to David that he was the man of God’s choosing. He would one day be king. However, his choosing was not without event. His father never even bothered to bring him to Samuel in the first place, considering him somehow unworthy. 7 brothers passed before Samuel that day and each one was found to not be the one of God’s choosing.
Imagine what Samuel was thinking after the 7 had gone by. It looks as if Jesse is out of sons. He has to ask if there were any more.
Pt: Don’t despair when God says no to things which might looks right you. God said no to Samuel 7 times before he said yes. When you wait upon the Lord and seek his will in all things you in the end will get God’s very best.
In the very end David is brought in from the fields, from looking after the sheep. The Bible tells us he was a good looking guy, but that’s not the reason God picked him to be king. He was God’s man because when God looked at David’s heart he found a man approved. He found one whose heart was oriented towards Him.
That day Samuel took his horn of oil, the horn which is a symbol for power and might, and he anointed David’s head. In front of his family he brothers came to know that: one day David would be king, he was God’s authorized man, he was to be held in special regard and honored.
God provided evidence of his choosing and empowering. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. v.13
-it was affirmed to David from that point on that he had been specially called by God to be king.
-just as Elisha looked for evidence that he was Elijah’s successor so by the giving of the Holy Spirit to David it was made clear in his life that God’s hand was specially upon him in regards to the kingship of Israel
The Point: God never fails to equip those whom he has called.
Another point: God confirms to those who are his that that is what they are: His. (Confirms it through his word, confirms it through the indwelling Holy Spirit, confirmed to us through service for those who have served well gain a great assurance in their faith I Tim. 3:13)
Last point: Spirit filled people live Godly lives and true godliness in a person is hard to miss
CONCLUSION
At this point David is the man who will be king. He’s the man of God’s choosing, chosen not based on externals but by God’s evaluation of his heart (which means he was a follower of God at the time of his choosing)
A few things to remember
Please listen carefully to this principle and understand its spirit aright.
1. Those rejected and judged by God are because they deserve it, their actions and evil hearts have warranted it. Tears are appropriate for a while because man’s sinfulness and rebellion breaks the heart of God and it ought to break ours. Yet in the end we must be about God’s business and end our grieving for those whom God has judged.
2. “WAIT FOR THE VOICE AND LEADING OF GOD BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISIONS IN LIFE
3. He will make his will for our lives clear. Our responsibility is to listen, obey, and to wait for his voice before we barge ahead and blow it.
4. God sees beyond the surface and that’s why we need to wait for God’s voice before we make the decisions we do.******
5. GOD CONSIDERS AND WEIGHS EVERY PERSONS HEART
