Our Last Choice - God's First Choice: David The Shepherd Boy Series

And finally, David already had a job. The oldest son when he was of age would begin working with his father on the farm as soon as his younger brother was old enough to tend the sheep. This succession would continue until the last son would ultimately become the family’s shepherd. David’s place in life was already determined. He had a job and apparently was good at that job from what we’re told later on in his life.

The fact is if we had been living in the farmhouse next door to David’s family on the Judean hillside, we probably wouldn’t have even known the name of David’s youngest son. His dad didn’t even think of including him until Samuel asked him if there were any more. Jesse rubbed his beard and said, “Oh, yeah, there’s my youngest. Almost forgot about him.”

The story of David is a story of right seeing. It’s a story which challenges us to look beyond outward appearances to a person’s heart and character. God saw something in David that no one else had seen. The Hebrew word that is used when the text tells us that Samuel looked at Jesse’s sons implies that he looked but didn’t really see. There’s a difference you know? Samuel, Jesse, and Saul all missed what was ultimately important to God.

Unlike the qualifications we look for when we choose teams on the playground or in the gymnasium God looks for something completely different.

God looks at character not appearance. The text tells us that God doesn’t see as we do but God looks right through our facades and our pretense to see our heart. That should both inspire and frighten us. It should inspire us when we feel that we are judged by others according to our abilities or our appearance to remember that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And it should frighten those of us who have survived by pretense when we know that what’s on the inside doesn’t match what we claim to be.

God also chooses certain people for certain tasks because God values the will not ability. God isn’t interested in how much you can accomplish, in how talented you are, what God’s most interested in is whether you’re willing to do whatever it takes to serve him.

I heard part of a very inspiring story on Thursday and Friday on Focus on the Family. It was the story about a young boy who was born with cerebral palsy and how his handicaps and limitations caused those around him to seriously doubt his ability to do the littlest things in life, things like riding a bike. Allan Oggs shared the story of how he had fought each of these battles because he wanted to. Eventually he applied for a scholarship and was told that he could go to any school in the country and would receive full tuition room and board. What he told the official interviewing him was that he wanted to be a preacher. The official couldn’t believe it and tried to talk him out of it. But in spite of everyone who told him that he couldn’t more than thirty years later he’s been a traveling evangelist, preacher, and motivational speaker, and formerly served as an administrator and instructor at his alma mater, Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi. If you heard Rev. Oggs speak you would hear a man with a serious speech impairment whose love for God and determination speak loudly.