Who will be king?
Reading: 1 Samuel chapter 16 verses 1-13:
Ill:
• Garage photos.
• They look great but they are of course without substance.
King Saul’s greatest concern was his looks/image:
• How he looked before the people was all important.
• He was chosen as king because of his looks.
• He is described as being ‘head & shoulders’ above everyone else.
• He was outwardly very impressive, but inwardly extremely hollow.
Ill:
Rolls Royce body with a Reliant Robin engine.
Saul was elected King:
• But he is no longer qualified.
• God has rejected him.
• Israel is surrounded by her enemies.
• They desperately need someone to carry the sceptre… but who?
• Samuel the prophet did not know; none of the people knew.
• No one knew…………..except God.
(1). Man panics…………God provides (vs 1)
“The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
Ill:
• The term Dad’s Army was given to the British Home Guard during World War II,
• It was predominately made up of men who didn’t qualify for active service.
• The BBC produced a programme called ‘Dad’s Army’,
• It ran for nine years and they produced around 80 episodes.
• The characters & their expressions became household names:
• e.g. Capt. Mainwaring- ’Right then. Pay attention, men’,
• e.g. Private Fraser-’We’re doomed, I say. Doomed’.
• e.g. and of course Corporal Jones-’Don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring, don’t panic’
When things do not work out as we expect it is easy to panic:
• Samuel the prophet of God may have been panicking!
• But God was not!
• He knew exactly what he was doing and who the next king would be.
• Saul, the first king of Israel had been chosen by the people – and had been rejected.
• Now a new king would be chosen – and this time chosen by God himself.
Notice:
• In verse 2 Samuel is panic-stricken again;
• “What if Saul hears?” he knows for him that spells disaster!
• From a human viewpoint Samuel was plain scared
• He knew if Saul got wind of his plans it was ‘goodnight’ Samuel.
• Samuel the prophet is not looking to or trusting God;
• His eyes are firmly fixed on his potential situation.
• Notice: God doesn’t even answer Samuel’s remark about Saul.
• He simply says get your eyes fixed on me!
• Samuel, you don’t have to be smart, just obedient.
• You don’t have to be clever, all you need do is obey.
• Saul may send shivers down your back, but he doesn’t frighten me!
• God asks Samuel to trust him.
Quote: Tom Marshall
• “If we want the Word of God to have authority in our life, there is only one way - obey it.
• If we want the Holy Spirit to have authority in our life, there is only one way - Obey Him.
• If we always obey impulses of fear or doubt or resentment,
• What will have authority over our minds? Fear, and doubt and resentment”.
Verse 4:
• “So Samuel did what the Lord said”.
• Brilliant Samuel, now you are talking!
• At last he had trusted and he obeyed!
Ill:
Henrietta Mears used to tell her students:
• "A bird is free in the air. Place a bird in the water and he has lost his liberty.
• A fish is free in the water, but leave him on the sand and he perishes.
• He is out of his realm.
• So, the Christian is free when he does the will of God and is obedient to God’s command.
• This is as natural a realm for God’s child;
• As the water is for the fish, or the air for the bird."
Verse 4:
• “So Samuel did what the Lord said”.
• Brilliant Samuel,
• As we will see in a few minutes time; Samuel discovered once again;
• That trusting God is always best!
• Both for us & other people!
(2). Man chooses…………God corrects (vs 4-8)
ill:
• The man in the antique shop who was cleaning an old lamp;
• When suddenly a Genie appeared.
• The Genie said; "I will grant you one of three choices ;
• infinite wisdom, infinite wealth or infinite health."
• The man looked at his wife, then looked at the Genie and replied "Wisdom."
• "So be it." and the Genie disappeared.
• In the silence that followed, the man sat thoughtfully, saying nothing,
• He just stared off into the distance.
• Finally, his wife could bear it no longer;
• She exclaimed, "Do you have anything to say?”
• He looked her in the eye and said:
• "I should have taken the money."
• Life has many choices, and doesn’t it seem at times, when we make one,
• We later have regrets about our decision and wished we had taken another.
When Samuel the prophet of God arrived at Bethlehem (vs 4):
• He would need real wisdom so that he could make the right choice!
• He couldn’t afford to get it wrong and let the wrong person rule over the nation as king.
• He needed some wisdom;,
• He needed to know the mind of God in this situation.
When Samuel arrived in Bethlehem (vs 4):
• His visit would not have gone unnoticed,
• A prophet’s visit was a major event,
• As well as blessing it could spell potential disaster!
ill:
• Police Car pulls up on your driveway or outside your house:
• You assume the worse, rack your brains to see what you might have done.
But Samuel has not come to judge anyone or even bring bad news:
• He was there to find someone;
• Only he did not yet know who!
• So he gets the head of the household, Jesse to line up all his sons;
• And then he will try to decide who would be Israel’s next king.
Note: Verse 6 gives us an insight into how Samuel is thinking:
• "Samuel saw Eliab and thought,
• "Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord".
• Samuel’s choice of the next king:
• Would have been purely on looks, he is taken up with appearance.
• So in verse 7 God says:
• "Oh, ohh wrong Samuel!" God says; "That’s not my choice".
• Then in verse 8 we have candidate number 2:
• "Jesse called Abinadab in". He also probably looked like a man-mountain.
• But Samuel was told by the Lord;
• "Oh, ohh wrong again Samuel!" God says; "That’s not my choice".
• One by one verse 10 tells us, all seven of Jesse’s sons pass before Samuel:
• Each one is rejected. Each time God says; "He’s not my choice".
Go back and read the last part of verse 7:
• "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him".
• We are told exactly why Eliab and the others are rejected:
• "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
• Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart".
• Samuel was making the very same mistake;
• That the people of Israel had made when they chose Saul the first king.
In verse 10; Samuel the prophet is now totally confused:
• God told him, "I have chosen my man" (chapter 13).
• And God doesn’t lie.
• So how come God has rejected all of Jesse’s sons,
• This doesn’t make sense!
(3). Man forgets…….God remembers (vs 11-15)
Joke:
• Shortly after her husband had died;
• The widow said to her friend;
• “I had him created and his ashes were made into an egg-timer”.
• The other woman asked; “Why an egg-timer?”
• And the first replied;
• “Well he never did any work while he was alive,
• So he might as well do some now that he is dead!”
I think Jesse undervalued his youngest son David:
• Perhaps he did not appreciate or value the long hours;
• Or the work that David put into shepherding the sheep.
• He perhaps had more up front contact with the other brothers;
• And could see the work they did.
• The other brothers also had age on their side;
• Compared to his other boys David was just the ‘baby’, the runt of the litter.
Note: Frustrated with the lack of results in finding a new king (in verse 11):
• Samuel says to Jessie:
• "Are these all the sons you have? Hey Jessie are you sure you haven’t forgot one?"
• Jesse replies;
• "There is still the youngest... but he is tending the sheep".
• Jesse says to Samuel: "There’s one more, but you don’t wanna bother with him"
• "He’s the baby in the family"
• "He just looks after the Baa lambs".
• "He’s a boy, he won’t be any use to you".
• Jesse obviously had not listened to what Samuel had just told him!!!
• "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at…………the Lord looks at the heart".
So Samuel tells Jesse in verse 12:
• "Send for him and bring him in".
• You can almost imagine him saying; “It’s a long shot but send for him anyway!”
David eventually arrives at his home:
• As he opens the door, he sees the house full,
• His seven brothers and two sisters are standing there,
• He also sees, an old man, the prophet Samuel,
• And he starts thinking, "What in the world is going on? Has someone died!”
Samuel looks at David:
• Now don’t forget, David doesn’t know what’s going on,
• And at that very moment God speaks to Samuel and not anyone else.
• Then Samuel gets up;
• Verse 13: "Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him".
• That means he poured it on his head,
• He marked David out as being God’s new king.
I love this story:
• Don’t you think it’s kind of comical:
• David fresh from looking after the baa lambs,
• No doubt still smelling like them,
• Enters a room full of his:
• Bigger, more senior brothers.
• Who were physically much stronger and mature.
• Some of them battle harden soldiers,
• Men of responsibility, these looked like king material.
• And yet Samuel chooses a skinny teenage boy called David:
• Not any of them, to be the next king!
Note:
• Let me just emphasize again:
• That there was nothing about David’s looks or physique:
• That would have impressed God and caused him to say:
• "Wow! That’s my boy, there is the next king of Israel".
In fact at the time David was chosen:
• He probably didn’t look no different, from any other Jewish boy of his age.
• He was probably about sixteen and covered in acne!
• It might surprise you to know;
• That there is only one verse in the Bible that talks about David’s appearance:
• Quote: 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 12 which says;
• "So he sent and had him brought in"
Now this is the only description of David’s appearance in the whole of the Bible:
• "He was ruddy (healthy)".
• "He had a fine appearance" (No acne!).
• "Handsome features".
Ill:
David is the most mentioned man in the Bible:
• 1,118 times, David gets a name check.
• Yet this is the only time that he is described for us physically.
• Now that tells me first of all, that when God says in verse 7:
• "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart".
• He means it!!!
• Here is the evidence, the proof.
To choose David, who was only a young shepherd boy:
• And to appoint him as the next king of Israel,
• Would make no sense at all in the eyes of the world,
ill:
Making a car park attendant the next Prime Minister!
• Where’s his training?
• Where’s his background?
• Where’s his qualifications?
• Where’s his experience?
But in the mind of God:
• Impressed not with brawn or with brains,
• But with a heart surrendered to him,
• It made perfect sense.
• David was the right choice.
(4). God speaks…….….we respond:
ill:
• Albert Einstein was on one occasion invited to speak at a banquet;
• That was being held in his honour at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Hundreds of people from all over the country;
• Crowded into an auditorium to hear what he had to say.
• When it came time for him to speak,
• The great physicist walked to the lectern, solemnly looked around, and said,
• “Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry, but I have nothing to say.”
• Then he sat down.
• The audience was in shock
• A few seconds later, Einstein got up, walked back to the podium, and spoke again.
• “In case I have something to say, I will come back and say it.”
• Six months later he wired the president of the college with the message:
• “Now I have something to say.”
• Another dinner was held, and Einstein made his speech.
The great thing about God is that he always has something to say!
• If he didn’t I wouldn’t be here this morning.
• But…hearing from God is often conditional.
• He speaks on condition;
• We are prepared to listen, and to act on what he says!
Ill:
• Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard used to tell a parable;
• It was the story of a community of ducks;
• Each Sunday they waddled off to duck church to hear the duck preacher.
• The duck preacher spoke eloquently of how;
• God had given the ducks wings with which to fly.
• With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go,
• There was no God-given task the ducks could not accomplish.
• With those wings they could soar into the presence of God himself.
• Shouts of "Amen" were quacked throughout by the duck congregation.
• At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left,
• All of them commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard;
• And each one waddled back home!
So often e are a lot like the duck church.
• We come to this church...we sing these songs........we hear the message;
• But when the service is over........we leave exactly the same way we came in.
• We leave unchanged!
• We leave unaffected by the word we have just heard!
TWO APPLICATIONS:
(1). Remember God’s ways are not our ways.
• They are so different.
• We choose people like Saul, God chooses people like David.
• More important than our looks & talents.
• Is our attitude & heart!
Ill:
God’s ways our not our ways:
• Ill: 110 shopping days till Christmas
• Who would have worked through a teenage girl called Mary.
• Who would have chosen a stable….with cobwebs for curtains etc.
Ill:
Think of the cross, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 27:
"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are".
• What looked like just another tragedy,
• Turned out to be the world’s greatest victory!
Ill:
• Man was shipwrecked on a desert island.
• He painstakingly built himself not just shelter but a house.
• It took months to complete;
• But it really was a home from home.
• One day he went to the other side of the island on an expedition;
• Later on that evening he headed home.
• When he arrived he was horrified to see his house on fire;
• It blazed away in the night sky and it was too late for him to do anything about it.
• Exhausted, depressed he just collapsed in the sand;
• And fell into a deep sleep.
• The next day when he awoke he saw a ship anchored off shore;
• And a rowing boat full of people heading his way.
• When they landed on the island, the Captain said;
• “We saw your fire signal and came to help”.
• What the man saw as a tragedy;
• Had actually been his means of salvation!
(2). God has given his Spirit, his helper to those who follow him.
• Back to 1 Samuel chapter 16 the rest of verse 13 tells us:
• "From that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power".
• David was not only anointed with oil:
• But also with the Holy Spirit, and it was this that kept David humble!
Ill:
• You never read of David:
• Running down town and going to the Israeli version of Harrods’s,
• So he could try on the crowns.
• He didn’t get new business cards printed saying,
• "Change it from shepherd to king".
• He didn’t buy a t-shirt saying,
• "It could be, It is me! I’m the new king".
You want to know how David celebrated being king:
• Look down to verse 19b:
• This is one reason why he was chosen by God.
• "Saul sent messengers to Jesse saying; Send me your son David, who is with the sheep".
• Samuel’s visit didn’t go to David’s head and swell it:
• After Samuel had gone,
• David went straight back to his sheep, to the baa lambs.
• Even later when David is promoted to being the king’s musician:
• He has a job at the palace, he’s mixing with royalty,
• But if you look at Chapter 17 verse 14:
• "David went back and forth from Sail to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem".
• This is why David is called a man after God’s own heart:
• He was humble, he was faithful and trustworthy.
Application:
• In the Old Testament,
• The Spirit of God came on people and then left.
• In the New Testament,
• He stays, he indwells every Christian.
• He comes to make us more like Jesus in our attitudes & character!
• ill: Horse.
Ill:
• On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas,
• Is a portrait with the following inscription:
“James Butler Bonham—no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom.”
• The job of the Holy Spirit is to create the image of Jesus in our lives.
• So that his likeness will seen in the lives of his true followers.
