By Guerin Tueno
What a disaster!
King Saul has gone from being the golden boy of Israel to the John Elliot of the Old Testament.
Saul’s reign was like a roller-coaster ride.
Started low, but then he shot up as King, and then down again.
He misunderstood who’s really in charge.
God isn’t some lucky mascot to drag around with you next battle.
Saul repeatedly failed to obey God.
He developed the bad habit of blaming others:
"It was my soldiers’ fault – they made me keep the good stuff"
He’s a bit vain – erecting monuments to himself.
And God has had enough.
Samuel told Saul that God is going to take away the kingship from his family and give it to someone else.
Someone after God’s own heart – who’ll care about God cares about; who’ll obey God and not forget who’s really King.
Have you ever imagined yourself as a character in the Bible?
I’ve always found the idea of being an Old Testament prophet pretty appealing.
You know, wild hair, wilder taste in clothes and getting to say in a deep voice:
"THUS SAYS THE LORD!"
But being a prophet would have had to be one of the scariest job’s going.
Poor Samuel.
He was the one who told Saul he’d failed and would lose the crown.
If I were Samuel, I would have been expecting a date with the pointy end of a spear.
And now God tells Samuel it’s time to anoint someone to eventually replace Saul.
Naturally enough Samuel believes this will cause Saul to declare open season on him.
The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me."
So God gave Samuel a plausible reason for going out that wouldn’t get his killed, along with directions on where to go, and what will happen.
And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you and say, ’I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you." Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem.
Eventually Samuel found Jesse and his sons.
Not an important family.
Often in the Old Testament, the writers give us someone’s family tree to show that their important, with great ancestors. But this is just Jesse of Bethlehem. Nobody special.
Samuel’s eyes look around and settle on Jesse’s son Eliab.
Tall.
Good build.
Can probably wield a sword all right.
Would look good on stamps and coins.
Perfect! This one will do just fine!
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as mortlas see: they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
Samuel, you’re judging from the outside.
I’m concerned with what’s inside.
Saul looked right externally, but I rejected him because of his attitude to me.
I’m not a lucky charm.
I’m not a pet God to do tricks.
I want a king who’s on my side.
Someone with a heart after mine.
Someone who’ll put me first, and not himself.
Someone who cares about what I care about.
I’ll tell you who to anoint, because I see inside and out.
So Samuel worked his way through the other six sons.
No.
Nuh.
I don’t think so.
Nup!
Sorry.
No way.
Is that all you’ve got?
Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, " There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here." And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he."
But he’s just a kid!
Cute, sure, but just a kid!
Like in Lord of the Rings, when Boromir learns that little, unknown, insignificant Frodo Baggins is the one who carries the future of the world.
But God sees inside.
This child is to be the King after God’s own heart.
Bizarre as it must have seemed to Samuel, Jesse, not to mention David’s big brothers, Samuel anoints David.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
The Spirit of the Lord that came upon Saul after he was anointed now falls on David instead.
It will be years before David is King, but God is with him, even now.
Its a nice story.
Kid makes good.
Underdog wins.
But is that all it means?
No.
What God wanted wasn’t the qualities that people, even Samuel, expected.
I had to learn v7 as a memory verse when I was at Sunday school.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
You see, God, the Lord, is the real King of his people.
The human who sits on the throne is not a free agent.
They’re not there under their own power.
God is King, and that’s what Saul lost sight of.
The most important attribute for the king is a concern for God’s glory.
The human ruler is at his most kingly when he bows before God, freely, willing, and out of love for God.
Now we don’t have a national king over God’s people today.
But we do still have human leaders.
They may not be anointed with oil, but they are still appointed to lead.
How are we to discern who is to lead us?
Do we appoint them because their impressive like Saul or Eliab?
No – the criteria for leading God’s people remains.
Don’t judge a book by its cover – by the external appearance.
Don’t fall for human impressiveness.
The smooth words.
The educational background.
What God wants is people with hearts after His.
But neither is it that we need to choose
Ugly, stuttering illiterates as Christian leaders.
That’s still judging by the appearance.
We need to choose leaders who’s lives show us inside them.
Leaders who demonstrate that they love God and want what he wants.
We need to pray that God will give us leaders who will please Him, in everything from the Sunday School, to the Vestry, all the way to Archbishop, or who ever is top dog in any Christian organization.
The primary qualification of ANY Christian leader is that they have a heart after God’s heart.
Not their C.V., their abilities or appearance.
Their heart.
The same is true for all Christians;
God isn’t looking for mere attendance, or the appearance of religiousness.
God wants his people to have hearts after him as well.
When asked what the greatest commandments was Jesus said it was to:
"love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37
Both the Old and New Testaments call God’s people his children.
Having hearts after God’s
is us showing the family resemblance.
Any Christian can be chosen by God – he looks at where our hearts are. St Paul would later write to the Corinthian Church saying:
26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:26-31
God loves to choose people who don’t measure up to the expected level both to be his people and to lead his people, because they show that he is the Mighty One, the Wise One.
There will be Christians and Christian leaders of exceptional ability.
But their chief quality is their love for God.
Being after God’s heart doesn’t mean never getting it wrong.
As King, David really stuffed up.
He had one of his military commanders killed to cover up that David had got his wife pregnant.
But when David was caught out by Nathan the prophet, he genuinely repented of what he’d done – read Psalm 51 to see how he responded to God.
Unlike Saul, David’s response was deep and personal.
But there is one person after God’s own heart who never got it wrong.
Who never needed to repent or be forgiven, but who carried the crime and punishment of us all.
Someone who doesn’t just share God’s heart, but of whom God says:
This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased".
Anointing David as King is not an end in itself.
Yes, David was a great ruler, but only his descendant Jesus can truly by called a man after God’s own heart.
I want to leave you with these questions.
Have you accepted the one God has anointed – that’s what Christ actually means, Anointed – its not Jesus’ surname – its his job description.
Have you made him king in your life?
Have you asked God to help you bring your heart into alignment with Jesus, the one with a heart perfectly after God’s?
For more sermons from this source go to www.sttheos.org.au
