A man worked for a bank in a large city. On the ground floor of the bank building, there was a cafeteria. Every day this man would get a two-cent pat of butter and hide it under his roll so he wouldn’t have to pay for it when he got through the line at the cashier.

This went on for a month or so, and people began to watch him. They saw him steal the butter and reported it to the bank president. The president fired the man on the spot, saying, “If I can’t trust a man with a two-cent pat of butter, how can I trust him with thousands of dollars?”

1 Samuel 16 begins that part of 1 Samuel which tells of both Saul and David. It covers the rest of 1 Samuel and the first chapter of 2 Samuel. These chapters tell the deterioration of Saul who, though he has been rejected by God, still reigns as the king of Israel. They also tell the story of the development of David from the shepherd lad in his father’s house to his place as the shepherd king of Israel. While the events took place in a more primitive setting than ours, there is insight to be gained as we watch God relating to nations and to individuals in order to work out His eternal purpose for creation. Israel’s political history that began with the tragedy of Saul is a mirror in which we see our own reflection today. Our leaders today are hardly different from the rulers of old.

1 Samuel 16 follows God’s rejection of Saul with the choosing and anointing of the one who will eventually be his successor. The selection of Saul was initiated by the people, but the selection of David was a divine initiative. The people’s choice was a terrible king whose life ended in disaster. God’s choice was the ideal king whose life and kingdom reflected a heart for Him. It is more important that leaders be anointed by God than appointed by humans.

When Samuel came to Jesse’s house, David was tending his father’s sheep. In ancient Israel, a shepherd did not have a great position in life. We have romanticized the idea of shepherds because they were watching their flocks on the night the angels came to them and announced Jesus’ birth, but a shepherd in those days was pretty low on the socioeconomic ladder. In fact, the testimony of a shepherd wasn’t even allowed in a court of law. When Samuel asked Jesse if all of his sons were present, Jesse said that David was tending the sheep. He essentially said that David was just a shepherd. Those who are rejected by their parents often become beloved of God.

It can be easy to look upon those around us with judgment based on their flaws or faults. As we grow in our faith, the opposite starts happening. Instead of looking down on others, we begin to see them for who they truly are-children of God, unconditionally loved by Him.

David grew up in a time when leadership was in great demand. The judges had come to power and presided over a weak and wicked country for a time, but then the people pleaded with the prophet Samuel to anoint for them a king. As the leadership of King Saul began to fail, the nation worsened. Yet God was at work, preparing David to be king of Israel.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon David the same way it came upon Saul when he was chosen king in 1 Samuel 10:10, privately confirming that David was God’s choice to succeed Saul. David is mentioned in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament figure-59 times. Sixty-six chapters throughout Scripture are devoted to telling the story of his life. David could not succeed without the Spirit of the Lord any more than Saul could. We will enjoy true success only when we cooperate with the Lord by allowing His Spirit to fill us.

When the Lord describes David in Psalm 89:20, He calls him “David my servant.” God looks for leaders who put other needs above their own, no matter what their station in life. Leaders in the secular world want to know how many people are serving them, but leaders in the kingdom of God want to know how many people they are serving. God trained David for a leadership role with four disciplines, and these are the same four disciplines that He uses to train us:

  1. God trained David in solitude. David needed to learn life’s major lessons all alone before he could be trusted with responsibilities and rewards before the public. Solitude nurtures qualities all its own.
  2. David grew up in obscurity. God trains His best personnel in obscurity. Men and women of God, servant-leaders in the making, are first unknown, unseen, unappreciated, and unapplauded.
  3. David was faithful in the menial, insignificant, routine, unexciting, uneventful, daily tasks of life.
  4. Contrary to what we might think, David was not sitting out on some hilltop in a mystic haze, composing a great piece of music, or relaxing in the pastures of Judea and having a great time training sheep to sit on their hind legs. The reality was quite different.

Samuel mourned for Saul in 1 Samuel 16:1. Part of his grief was caused by his love for Saul and his family, and some of it must have been tied to his anxiety about what would happen to the country, so recently united. God reminded Samuel that He bases His decisions on inward character and the caliber of a person’s heart alone. Saul was taller and more handsome than anyone in Israel-he looked like a king. David was less impressive by human standards-and even less so than his brothers-but he possessed the heart of a king. He also had a heart for the true King of Israel, the Lord. Even a godly man like Samuel couldn’t help but judge a man’s character by his appearance. This is why we must continually go to the Lord for His wisdom; only He sees the heart. If we don’t periodically take time before God to have our hearts purified and cleansed, it will only be a matter of time until His blessings will no longer flow through us.

Samuel tried to hold on to the past. Through the centuries, Christians have often been trapped by their inability to let go of those things which no longer seem to serve God’s purpose. We grow accustomed to institutions, organizations, programs, ways of thinking, and ways of doing things. We develop such an emotional attachment to them that long after their usefulness to God is past we hold tenaciously to them.  We often pick leaders by credentials rather than character. When we have to select a leader, we should ask the candidates questions about character, not about their qualifications.

A little boy was passing the afternoon away in his backyard when suddenly he saw a huge rat. He knew that his parents didn’t want rats around the house, so he grabbed his baseball bat and took care of the rat rather quickly. He was so excited that he wanted to tell his parents right away. He went inside and yelled, “Mom, Dad…you’re not going to believe it! I found a rat, hit him in the head with my baseball bat five times, and them I stomped on it!” Just then the boy saw the pastor of the church was in the living room visiting his parents. He finished his story by saying, “And then the Lord called him home.” People with true character are those who live authentically in every area of their life. They’re the same people on Saturday night that they are on Sunday morning.

The choice of the least likely person, from a human perspective, is a theme found throughout the Bible. The apostle Paul, in discussing the gospel of Christ, states that God has always made choices that have surprised the world. The study of church history or the study of history of any congregation will usually reveal that God has often worked His purpose through some very unlikely choices. If you will let me get personal for a minute, I am one of these unlikely choices. Recently I celebrated 20 years of lay ministry. To this day I’m still amazed that God chose an unlikely person like me to do His work in my parish and the wider community. If we want God to do something extraordinary in our lives, we must be obedient in the little things, and then He’ll bless us beyond our imagination.

There is an old saying that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and that’s true. Our idea of who’s beautiful and who is not is quite different across cultures and indeed has changed rather a lot over time. When you meet someone for the first time, what thoughts go through your mind? How do their physical attributes influence what you think of them? That’s a confronting question, because most of us treat people quite differently, depending on whether we perceive them to be “good looking” or not.

In a world that is obsessed with influences, Instagram filters, Facebook followers, work-out routines, fad diets and fashions, this word from God is fresh and relevant today. We learn to look for the unexpected heir of David in our midst-not arriving with an entourage or emerging on the balcony of a castle, but tucked away in a manger, worshipped by shepherds. David was an unlikely choice.  If Samuel had his way, he would have deferred to Jesse’s oldest son, but when David came Samuel followed God’s prompting.

No matter who we are or where we are from, we are valuable. That is true for everyone, no matter what society tries to tell us today. No one is perfect, but the Bible tells us that God accepts responsibility for all our imperfections. That doesn’t mean He takes responsibility for the problems in our lives that we brought on ourselves by poor choices like overeating, smoking, or drinking too much. God accepts responsibility because He has a bigger perspective than any human. God sees us for exactly who we are, and He wants us to know that He loves us abundantly and wants to do mighty things through us!

Bibliography

  1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 376-377)
  2. Chafin, K.L., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 8: 1,2, Samuel (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 120-124)
  3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
  4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
  5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 369-271)
  6. Rick Warren, “You Are Valuable, No Matter Who You Are.” Retrieved from connect@newsletter.purposedriven.com
  7. Jack Graham, “The Big Blessings of Small Obedience.” Retrieved from jgraham@powerpoint.org
  1. Christine Caine, “God Looks Inside.” Retrieved from no-reply@christinecaine.com
  2. Charles R. Swindoll, “A Man od Integrity.” Retrieved from info@insightforliving.ca
  3. Berni Dymet, “Beautiful People.” Retrieved from berni@christianityworks.com
  4. Dan Clendenin, “When God Was Sad.” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net
  5. Meg Jenista, “1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 Commentary.” Retrieved from https://cepreaching.org/authors/meg-jenista/

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