We are slowly walking through the life of David and next we are looking at the transition from the kingship of Saul, to the anointing of David. Have you ever felt left out? David, the youngest of seven brothers, was overlooked by his father when Samuel arrived to anoint the next king. David didn’t “look” like the next king. He was very young and he was out doing the least glamorous job in the family, tending the sheep. But while doing that he was cultivating something that God desired in Israel’s next leader—a heart for God.
David is described as “a man after God’s own heart.” If we could figure out how to be a man or a woman after God’s own heart—if we could crack that code and somehow live it—we could live in a beautiful way.
Saul looked like a king. The people of Israel demanded a king. They wanted to be like every nation that surrounded them and God appeases them with a man who looked the part—Saul. Unfortunately Saul’s character isn’t that deep. He’s selfish, angry, hateful and mean-spirited. Saul loses touch with reality and begins to go a little crazy and ultimately loses the kingship. This happens because of three pretty severe acts of disobedience.
After Saul’s first act of disobedience, the prophet Samuel tells him that the kingdom will not be passed down to his children. Next, Saul becomes impatient and gets ahead of God in battle, his second act of disobedience. After that, Samuel informs him that the kingdom will transfer to a new power sooner rather than later—and that God has already chosen Saul’s replacement!
Saul gives some apology excuses—you’ve probably heard these before. They sound like “I’m sorry, but…” Saul is not concerned with repentance, but more concerned with his image.
The Lord rejects Saul and sends Samuel out to find and anoint the next king.
“Now the Lord said to Samuel, ‘You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.'” 1 Samuel 16:1 NLT
In all of this—God had a plan. Even when there are mistakes, he can take you from this moment and there is a perfect will of God for your life. God had that day in mind.
We prefer the faith where God explains himself. We try to find a formula for a result we can predict. But it is never God’s plan that we know what’s going on. He always leaves us in the dark! Otherwise, it would not take faith. The only thing you need to serve God today is your “yes.” All you have to do when serving God is to be obedient.
Meanwhile, David is hanging out with the sheep, just like any other morning. But this was going to be the day. His life would never be the same again. He was going to be anointed to be the king of Israel.
I’ve got news for you today. Today God has an awesome plan for your life and he created you uniquely for it. Your call starts today. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday or what last month looked like. Would it have been better if you hadn’t done all that sin? Yes, it would have been better. But the cool thing about God is he can take the failures of your past, and use them as a club against the enemy. He created you specifically for what he has for you to do.
What do you do for the meantime? You serve and love Jesus. Keep pressing in and then one day, it will happen. It takes faith, but you can count on him.
So, Samuel arrives on the scene in Bethlehem. He performs the purification rite and begins reviewing each of Jesse’s seven sons. Samuel thinks surely it is Eliab. But the Lord corrects him saying,
“Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NLT
After meeting six sons, and receiving no confirmation from the Lord, Samuel asks, “Are these all the sons you have?” 1 Samuel 16:8
Jesse admits there is one more—the youngest out tending the sheep. The minute Samuel sets his eyes on David, the Lord confirms—yes, this is the one. Anoint him.
“So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.” 1 Samuel 16:13
Then, David goes back out with the sheep. David didn’t mind being with the sheep because he knew that those were his call at that point. Sometimes we can be looking ahead to what God is going to do in our lives and we forget to cultivate a heart that loves him now. It’s all about the little things right now. God’s way is usually not what I’m expecting.
God is the only one who sees eternity. We can be impatient and come up with our own plan, but with that, nothing works. So what are we supposed to do? We need to do what David did in the woods—cultivate a heart that loved God. Run to Jesus’ feet and love him every day.
Rock Church serves the communities of Fargo, West Fargo, and Moorhead. We meet at West Acres Cinema, Sundays at 10 am. At the Rock, you can belong before you believe.
