God Appoints the Next King

If you have your Bible turn with me to 1st Samuel chapter 16. 1st Samuel chapter 16, the life of David Has made a huge imprint in the Bible because his life covers so many different Chapters in the scriptures outside of Jesus Christ. He is the most popular character in The Bible and although he lived over 30 centuries ago The life that he lived is relevant to our life today because the problems of life never change The problems that David had are the same problems that we have on a regular basis And so how he handled them or didn't handle them help us understand how we can handle our problems today And so it's imperative that we study his life to come to grips with how it is We deal with issues in our family issues in our marriages issues dealing with Governing a group of people handling conflict running from those who want to kill us.

Maybe that's you tonight I don't know but These things are very relevant to our lives And so as we study them, we're gonna come to grips with this man's life and how God transformed him into the kind of man That truly was one after God's own heart John Butler has summarized his life in a very unique way Let me read to you what he says about the different hats that David wore.

We know about his kingship We know about his warriorship. We know about a shepherd ology He wore those hats, but he wore many other hats some symbolizing his greatness others simply symbolizing His not-so-greatness if I can say it that way, let me read to you what he says He says David was a man who was a son Who was beloved?

Meaning of his name by the way yet was sometimes looked down upon and left out by his family We'll see more of that this evening Not only was he a son He was a he was a shepherd who was so diligent in protecting his flock that with his bare hands He slew some vicious beasts that were intent on pilfering from his flock He also was a singer Who is affectionately known as the sweet psalmist of Israel 2nd Samuel 23 verse number 1 and it was not only His own songwriter the book of Psalms, but he also was an accompanist He was also a servant who knew how to take orders humbly and serve faithfully and obediently for both man and God He also was a soldier He was a soldier of all soldiers whose outstanding accomplishments began with the slaying of Goliath And his military leadership inspired men as few leaders have done He was also a Sufferer who knew what it was to be rejected have a heart filled with pain and be a fugitive in dire want He was also a seer whose prophecies concerning Jesus Christ and the Psalms are quoted throughout the New Testament He also was a supplicant who knew how to pray better than most people do and few persons in the Bible narrative Have as many of their prayers recorded in the Bible as he does He was also a scholar whose wisdom came from the scriptures psalm 119 98 to 100 which he diligently studied He was a sovereign of Israel whose throne has never been equaled and whose throne will be given even greater honor and significance When Jesus Christ himself will reign on it in the future during the Millennial Kingdom He was also a sire a father, but a poor one at that who failed miserably to discipline his children of one of his disobedient boys scriptures Condemningly says his father had not displeased him at any time in saying Why hast thou done so first Kings 1 6?

He was also a spouse unfortunately to many women He was a polygamist whose many marriages underscored the great curse of the horde practice of the multiplicity of wives He was a sinner of the worst die for he committed adultery then lied and murdered to cover it up But no one repented so nobly as David did after he had sinned Therefore he was also a saint who rose to great heights of saintly conduct and such things as sparing Saul's life sharing the spoil securing the ark Soliciting diligently for the building of the temple and in seeking God as few others have ever sought him But most importantly he was a Savior who delivered Israel From their foes better than any other king of Israel ever did and he foreshadows the great Savior Jesus Christ who was born in David's Bethlehem and of the seed of David and it was referred to some dozen times in Scripture as the son of David David's life and ministry begin for us in 1st Samuel 16 It begins with his anointing.

He's anointed three times in the scripture here once as he becomes king over Judah Which is about 13 years from this time and then another seven years after that He is anointed as the king over all of Israel. We will cover all those in time It will take us quite a while to get through 1st Samuel into 2nd Samuel But you stay with us and you'll understand this man's life and you'll you'll come to grips and you'll have some questions about his life About why this man married so many women when the Bible speaks against that How do you answer that question about this great man after God's own heart?

Where did it all begin? You'll see where it all began and where it began was the beginning of David's downfall as King it's a tremendous story And so you stay with us and you'll see much about this man and how he relates to your life and mine as we study It together, but if you got your Bible 1st Samuel 16, we're gonna do a lot of reading over the next several months I think you need to read the chapters like we did in the book of Genesis in the book of Exodus the book of Joshua and we studied them We read the entire chapter and so it takes some time to read But we are given to the reading of the scripture because the Bible says in 1st Timothy chapter 4 That's what we're supposed to do.

And so we read the scripture We read the text because the best commentary on the text is the text. It's not the pastor It's the text and so as we read it, we know that God speaks to us through his word So first Samuel 16 verses 1 down through verse number 13 now the Lord said to Samuel How long will you grieve over Saul since I 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 selected a king for myself among his sons But Samuel said how can I go when Saul hears of it? He will kill me And the Lord said take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you What you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one whom I designate to you So Samuel did what the Lord said and came to Bethlehem and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said Do you come in peace?

And he said in peace I have come to sacrifice to the Lord Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice Then it came about when they entered that he looked at Eliab and thought Surely this or surely the Lord's anointed is before him But the Lord said to Samuel do not look at his appearance or at the height of a stature Because I have rejected him for God sees not as man sees For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart Then Jesse called to Benedab and made him pass before Samuel and he said neither has the Lord chosen this one Next Jesse made Shammah pass by and he said neither has the Lord chosen this one Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel But Samuel said to Jesse the Lord has not chosen these And Samuel said to Jesse are these all the children?

And he said there remains yet the youngest and behold he is tending the sheep Then Samuel said to Jesse Send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here So he sent and brought him in Now he was ready with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance and the Lord said arise anoint him for this is he Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of the Lord came mildly upon David from that day forward and Samuel arose and went to Ramah There is so much in these set of verses that if we had weeks to cover them we would The Old Testament narrative uncovers for us so many principles that are applicable to our life And we just can't spend time Uncovering every single nugget in the text or we would never get through Anything here at Christ Community Church and already it takes us years to get through certain books of the Bible We won't talk about those those are on Sunday morning But we want to be able to understand the truth of the scripture So I've outlined this passage by looking at three points with you.

Number one is the conditions for the appointment Number two is the injunction for the appointment and number three is the selection in the appointment It is a divine appointment God appoints David as king over Israel.

He said in verse 1. I have rejected I will send you he says I Have selected again all in verse 1 verse 3. He says I will show you And I designate to you The Lord says this is my choice The people have had their choice. It didn't work out so good Now I'm going to give you my choice. This is the divine appointment of the king of Israel and so when you look at it, what are the conditions surrounding the appointment three things you need to see one is the morning of The Prophet Samuel he's in tears the Lord comes to him and says Samuel you got to stop crying You got to move on You can't sit and cry forever Why because I have chosen a king you need to anoint him I've designated a certain individual to be the king.

You can't mourn forever. But why was Samuel? mourning so much Because the text says that he cried all night not this text previous passage he cried all night why one was because of the rebellion of Saul and Number two was because of God's rejection of Saul based on his rebellion remember Saul was not allowed to Offer a priestly sacrifice to the Lord He had to wait for Samuel to arrive in the first Samuel 13, but he didn't wait And he went on ahead and offered the sacrifice because he had to go the war with the Philistines He was an impatient man and everything for for Saul started out Okay I mean they won a couple of battles over the Amorites and things looked really really good And I mean he was a big man a strong man things look good at first, but soon they turned How quickly things turn when a man does not walk and submit to the laws of God and So Saul was one who rebelled against the authority of God and he went and offered the priestly sacrifice Anyway, and Samuel comes and says in verse 13 of chapter 13 You have acted foolishly you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God Which he commanded you for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever but now your kingdom shall not endure the Lord has sought out for himself a man after his own heart and the Lord had Appointed him as ruler over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you He rebelled against what God had said He rebelled against the authority of God and maybe what he thought Samuel was saying was something like well Maybe down the road there's gonna be another King Maybe I can still continue on until I die and then there's gonna be another King because he didn't take the admonition Very seriously at all.

Did he? Because just when you come to first Sam which had to 15 Verse 3 it says now go strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has do not spare him But put him to death both man and women child infant ox sheep camel donkey I mean how much clearer can you be right kill everything keep nothing kill it all so he summoned The people and he went to war It says in verse number nine, but Saul and the people spared Agag He was the king and the best of the sheep the oxen the fatlings the lambs and all it was good and We're not willing to destroy them Utterly, but everything despised and worthless that they utterly destroyed In Saul's heart was rebellion Because the king in his heart was rebellious The only thing he could do was lead the people into rebellion As a leader of your family if there's rebellion in your heart You're gonna lead your children your wife in the ways of rebellion It is so imperative that the leader be a godly leader an example to those he leads In the nation in the country in the state in the church in your family You don't have God in leadership.

It will take you the wrong Direction every single time and that's what happened to the people. They were unwilling It wasn't like they were forced to to spare some of the fatlings and some of the sheep and King Aga They just weren't willing to do what God said So when you come to verse number 10, then the word of the Lord came to Sam was saying I regret that I have made Saul King for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commandments Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night Samuel rose early in the morning To meet Saul and was told Samuel saying Saul came to Carmel and behold he set up a monument for himself then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal And Samuel came to Saul and Saul said to him blessed are you of The Lord I have carried out the command of the Lord Can you imagine that?

He didn't carry out the command of the Lord, but in his own mind He convinced himself. He had carried out the command of the Lord He felt like in his own mind he could spare the king because after all he was the king and he'd want to be spared so he spared King Aga and He kept that which was good And we'll see in a moment because he would like to use that as a sacrifice to the Lord It would be good spoils. He could sacrifice to the Lord, but God said kill everything destroy everything But when you have a rebellious heart There are certain things God says you don't think you need to do and that's the way Saul was But he convinced himself.

He was obedient to God Samuel said what then is the bleeding of the sheep in my ears in the low end of the oxen which I hear And Saul said they have brought them from the Amalekites For the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed Now they kept the best we killed everything else, but we kept the best because we're gonna give it to God We're gonna honor God with it can't honor God with that which he told you to destroy can't do that but Saul thought he could And it says and Samuel said is it not true though?

You were little in your own eyes You were made the head of the tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed you king over Israel and the Lord sent you on a mission And said go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites and fight against them until they are exterminated Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of? The Lord he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord You see he didn't conquer evil God says you got to conquer evil He chose not to conquer evil Listen that which you do not conquer and destroy Will end up destroying and conquering you and we'll see that at the end of first Samuel in his death That which he did not destroy Killed him in the end because he was rebellious to God at this point in his life But the consequences of sin are devastating You know if you learn anything for the Old Testament learn that you know when God says do something you better do it Because the consequences are severe verse 20 then Saul said to Samuel I did obey the voice of the Lord and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me and Have brought back Agag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites But the people took some of the spoil sheep and oxen the choices of the things devoted to destruction To sacrifice of the Lord your God at Gilgal and Samuel said he has the Lord as much the light and burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heathen the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of divination and in subordination is as iniquity and Idolatry because you have rejected the word of the Lord.

He also has rejected you from being King Do you hear what he said? insubordination is as idolatry If you are insubordinate Unwilling to submit to authority Whatever that authority may be You are an idolater. You're a worshiper of yourself You are God you are the authority He says in sub in subordination is as iniquity and idolatry Then Samuel Saul said to Samuel I have sinned I have sinned I am indeed transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words which I feared and your words because I feared the people and listen to their voice Whenever the leader listens to the voice of the people instead of the voice of God He will always fall into sin Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord But Samuel said to Saul I will not return with you for you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected You from being king over Israel and a Samuel turned to go Saul sees the edge of his robe and a tour So Samuel said to him the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor Who is better?

Than you What a sad sad Indictment upon the king of Israel When you come to chapter 16 verse number one Saul's morning he's in tears and the Lord says Sam you got to get up You got to stop crying Why because you have clear direction as to what you are to do and Because you have clear direction as to what you are to do.

You need to stop mourning and start moving God was serious about this You got to get up because I rejected him as king Why would you mourn over somebody? I rejected as king when I've already established who the next Kings going to be And maybe Samuel was was feeling guilty maybe he felt like well, you know what I anointed this guy I thought he was the man. I thought things would go well, and maybe it's my fault. He rebelled against the Lord Maybe if I to counsel them better, maybe it was my fault.

And maybe you feel a little guilty. I don't know I wouldn't tell us But you know what? God says Get up stop mourning start Moving you have got to fulfill the word of the Lord in your life so He gets up and begins to move listen You need to follow the clear teaching of the word of the Lord and God has given that to Samuel And so the conditions for the appointment were one the mourning of the Prophet number two was the misery of the people The people were in misery look what it says over in chapter chapter 13 verse number 7 Yeah, it says this in chapter 13 verse number 7 Also, some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling Then over in chapter 14 verse number 29 Jonathan said my father has troubled the land the people were in misery the people were in misery under the leadership of this man who truly was an ungodly man who was the rebellious man and the only the only result of that is people who tremble and people who destroy the land of The Lord God and that's exactly what Saul was doing The Bible says in the book of Proverbs over in Proverbs chapter 29 Verse number two when the righteous increase the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules the people groan And people were groaning they were in misery Over this man's leadership or lack thereof to lead them properly in the ways of God So you had the mourning of a prophet you had the misery of the people and you had the menace of the Philistines the Philistines they were the menace in Israel's side and they would be the menace in Israel's side until listen carefully until The four brothers of Goliath are killed You with me See Goliath had four brothers.

Absolutely. When we're gonna find out their names Oh two weeks Two weeks, okay but the Philistines will be a menace in the side of Israel until Those four brothers are finally killed, but they are all over Israel and they are constant They are relentless They are like the worst bad habit you've ever had and they just keep coming and coming and coming and boy so the conditions for the appointment are just right and you know what that's really good because when conditions are at their worst God is Always at his best God's always at his best But we see him at his best more readily when things look so bad and bleak and black around us And that's exactly what was happening here in the land of Israel.

And so God would do a great and mighty work so we leave the conditions for the appointment to go to point number two the injunction for the Appointment the injunction for the appointment How or now the Lord said to Samuel how long will you grieve over Saul since I rejected him from being king over?

Israel fill your horn with oil and go and I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I Have selected a king for myself among his sons in this injunction comes a provision a Provision for the people a King designed by God himself the king that God himself wants to rule his people listen God always provides When there's a need He always provides the right person at the right time when there's a need God is never too late with his provision God is never too early with his provision His provision always comes at the right time because he is the great provider when Moses died There was a provision of Joshua when Joshua died.

There was a provision of judges who would lead That would lead us to Samuel now that Saul has been rejected There'd be a provision of a new king the king that God wanted to have She God always provides the right man at the right time because he is in complete Control look what it says. He says I Have selected I have provided maybe your Texas provided because that would be the key word I have provided a king for myself The word provide use 1,300 times. The Old Testament is only translated provided four times of the 1300 Every other time it's translated.

It's translated a word of vision that is to see or be seen God is saying I have seen a king for myself Has a double meaning one in the present King David in the future the son of David the Messiah I have seen the king for myself. There's a king for me I have seen him and because I've seen him I can provide him for you. You see the reason Abraham called the Lord God Yahveh Yireh That is the Lord our provider is because he was able to see what was the need of man and make the provision possible So that word Yireh is the word that means to see I have seen the need And because I've seen the need I can provide for the need and that's exactly what God has done There's a provision That's given to Israel That will take the place of Saul That will be God's choice For his people.

Next thing I want you to see is the protest About the injunction. Okay the protest But Samuel said how can I go verse 2? When Saul hears of it He'll kill me How can I do this? How can I obey you Lord? How can I follow your commands Lord if I follow you I'm gonna die Folks, let me tell you something.

There's always a risk involved in following the Lord Jesus always a risk Saul Was after those who would be against him Samuel had already given the indictment. It's over. You're done. God's rejected you He says if Saul sees me, I'm gonna die. I can't go and get another king Saul kill me But you know what? There's never an opportunity Where it's right for you to disobey an injunction from God never No matter what you feel no matter what you might think because we always think in the negative most most of the time Well, it's always gonna turn out wrong for me And and so that that's where Samuel was and this was a man of God a prophet of God He was a man designed to to be a spiritual leader of Israel, but his thinking was horizontal His thinking was you know, Lord, you know, if I do what you've asked me to do I'm gonna die and I don't want to die.

Anybody want to die? I don't want to die And God says you got to go You got to go Because the fear of man is a snare it's a trap Got to be careful about that.

That's exactly what Saul did We read it just a few minutes ago. Saul said I listened to the voice of the people because I feared the people I Feared them. I fear what they would think I fear what they would do. I fear that maybe they wouldn't like me I fear that I might not be accepted. I fear that they might not look at me as their great king I feared what they thought And here was Here was Samuel Fearing what might happen to him.

I might die You ever notice that we tend to fear things we have no idea what we're talking about You might die.

Really? Do you know the future Samuel? No God does But Samuel didn't but we tend to fear those things that we Can't see and the God tells us that we're to walk by faith and not by sight So the Lord says to Samuel Samuel listen Take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord and you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice And I will show you what you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one whom I Designate to you now, there's always a problem here People say well, wait a minute God is telling Samuel Not to be honest Is God actually telling Samuel to be deceptive?

Is God telling Samuel? to lie when asked No, that's not what the text says you can think that but that's not what it says Listen God says you got to go and you're gonna offer sacrifice because you got to lead your people into worship You do that you go and you invite Jesse to come and be a part of that in his sons Someone asked you what you're doing you tell them I'm going to offer a sacrifice.

I'm going to worship God Now if someone would say is that all you're gonna do Samuel or you can do something else He'd have to tell him what else he was doing. I'm not gonna ask that question, right? But he's got a pass by Saul's abode and if someone asks him He has to have a reason as to why he's going to Bethlehem The reason is you're going to offer a sacrifice you're going to consecrate the people of God as you do that You're going to consecrate the family of God that I'm going to use to choose a son who's gonna rule my kingdom That's what you do One author said it this way There is here an appearance of duplicity Sanctioned by divine authority which it is important to examine It was the purpose of God that David should be anointed at this time as Saul's successor and as the ancestor and The type of his Christ It was not the purpose of God that Samuel stir up a civil war by setting up David as Saul's rival Secrecy therefore was a necessary part of the transaction But secrecy and concealment are not the same as duplicity and falsehood In the providential government of the world and in God's dealing with individuals Concealment of his purpose till the proper time for its development is the rule rather than the exception and Always must be that way And he's right Concealment is not falsehood.

And so he would go and he would do exactly what God said he was gonna alter What God said he wasn't gonna go around what he was gonna do exactly what God said to do So you've seen the provision in the injunction there's gonna be a king it's my king it's my appointed King It's the one that I have chosen. I'm gonna provide for the people of God We've seen number two The protests about the injunction from from Samuel and the third thing I want you to see is the promise in the injunction The promise in the injunction.

This is very good. Listen this the promise simply is this I Will send you verse number one and verse number three I Will show you I will send you and I will show you You see God always leads us to guidance and instruction And he only unveils to us the next product next step when he is ready to invent it to us But only as we are going From being sent will he show us what we are to do if we don't go he don't show Make sense We don't go he don't show you go You'll see You'll see God will show you but you got to be obedient.

I'm gonna send you Secondly, I'm gonna show you but you got to go and So this is the promise in the injunction, I'm gonna show you exactly what you are going to do I'm gonna show you exactly who the king is I'm sending you so that you can do what you need to do to anoint him as the next king of Israel This is so good Because you see God puts you in a place where he doesn't give you all the details But he puts you in a place so that you'll trust him for the details That makes sense He doesn't give you all the details at once.

He didn't tell you everything about your marriage does he? Okay, you're gonna be married this day You're gonna be married for 50 years and this is how it's all gonna turn out How many kids you're gonna have this how many of those kids are gonna live and some of those kids are gonna die How many boys you're gonna have how many girls gonna have how many dogs gonna have how many cats you're gonna have where you gonna live How you gonna live how much money you gonna he didn't do that for you, does he?

No Those things are unveiled one step at a time because we're to walk by faith not by sight And we don't trust him every step of the way Remember what it says over in Psalm 37. This is so good Those are Psalm 32 verse number 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way what you should go I Will counsel you with my eye upon you I'm gonna instruct you. I'm gonna teach you in the way that you should go But if you don't go I can't show But you got to go And I will guide you with my eye the all-seeing eye of God My eye is gonna be upon you.

I'm gonna protect you and because he sees everything he provides everything. That's the way God works And there's a big promise here for for for Samuel here He is mourning the rejection and the rebellion of Saul And God says you know what he got to move on You know what's in the past is in the past You got to get up.

You got to move on because I've rejected him as king and as you go I will show you Exactly what you ought to do and who you are to anoint But you've got to follow me each and every step of the way That's so important because as Samuel so are we we must walk by faith We must trust God every step of the way and so Samuel begins his journey He goes and he does exactly as God has told him to do he obeys He obeys Now listen carefully This is so important a Despondent spirit never produces a dedicated spirit Here he was in despondency.

Here. He was mourning. Okay a Despondent spirit never produces a dedicated spirit. It only produces a degenerating spirit That's what was happening same as life a Despondent spirit and that's where he was. He was despondent man. He was down to the dumps and That kind of spirit never produces a strong dedicated spirit, but only a degenerating spirit It just goes further and further and further and further away from God not toward God until you obey the voice of God You gotta obey can't do what God says Can't wait to feel I do what God says because when you're in the midst of your despondency You're not feeling like doing much what God says, especially if you know if you do it's gonna be a big risk to your life right but once he begins to obey and follow that despondent spirit disappears and Now his spirit is dedicated to following the will of the Lord because he steps out in faith and does what God says.

I Don't know where you're at I don't know if you're down to the dumps if you're depressed or where you're at But you know what you need to obey the Word of the Lord the injunction from God Whatever it may be for you and your family. You need to obey exactly what God's Word says and follow it through to the very end So we looked at the the provision from the injunction we looked at number two the protest about the injunction number three the promise in the Injunction and then fourthly the problem from the injunction here it is so Samuel did what the Lord said and came to Bethlehem and The elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said you come in peace Why do they come trembling?

Listen whenever you follow the will of the Lord and do what God's Word says it causes other people to tremble around you and Here was the prophet of God Going to Bethlehem. What's he coming for? Is he coming to pronounce an indictment upon us as a as a village? Did we displease the Lord did we disobey the Lord? I mean here comes the prophet of God. What are we gonna do next? Oh, no, here comes Samuel. What's he gonna do? What's he gonna say? Does God have a word for Bethlehem and they came trembling to him in?

fear and asked Do you come in peace? We kind of hope you do Do you? Sam says relax. It's okay. No problem. He said I come in peace I come to sacrifice to the Lord consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice he also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice You know God's Word always causes people to tremble When God's Word came to Herod in Matthew chapter 2 He and all Jerusalem Feared the word about the king that was born in Bethlehem Because if you live a life that's opposed to God's Word you have every reason to fear what God's gonna say So Samuel comes and tells them this is what we're going to do that leads us to point number three and that is the selection in the Appointment and it begins with number one the consideration and number two the complications Number one the consideration look what it says verse six Then it came about when they entered they looked at Eliab and thought surely the Lord's anointed is before him Samuel didn't learn much between Saul and David Remember when he saw Saul he was head and shoulders above everybody He was huge He was the man's man He passed the eyeball test He's the guy So here comes Eliab now remember in Middle Eastern times What they do is they bring in the the children the boys and they bring the oldest the youngest right oldest is always first He's the right to the inheritance.

So he's first and he's he's the man in Samuel's mind he's the man. This has got to be it. This has got to be the Lord's anointed I mean, this has got to be God's provision, right? after all He is the man He passes the eyeball test again for Samuel But just like with Saul God or unlike with Saul God stops him and says Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature Because I rejected him for God sees not as man sees For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart Boy, what a what a beautiful statement about what our God does.

He sees into the heart of a man You see we were like we're like Samuel. We're enamored with what we see And that's always been one of the main problems of man, right? It was it was a problem way back in Genesis chapter 3 the apple was pleasant to the eyes right the lust of the eyes Same thing with Achan in Joshua chapter 7. He looked upon the spoils. He says to Joshua I looked at him and they were pleasant to my eyes. I just had to have them. I Had to have them so I took him he broke the command of God We'll see in 2nd Samuel 11 when David looked upon Bathsheba.

She was pleasant to his eyes See just because your eyes See something Doesn't mean it's the right thing Okay, be careful. See Satan is a master counterfeit, but he's also a master in the world of cosmetology Okay, he can make things look really really pretty. They're really beautiful That could be very very bad for you, but they look really good on the outside And Samuel felt prayed the the same old thing that that we fall pray to the lust of the eyes It looks so good. This must be God's choice We do it in all kinds of ways.

Don't we we do it when we look to buy a home? Right buy a car Pick a wife, right? She's got to be pleasant to the eyes. We don't get a married somebody who's an eyesore, right? So she's gonna be pleasant to our eyes And yet yet it's it's what's on the inside that counts you could buy a house. It looks beautiful on the outside But on the inside, it's a mess. It's falling apart. It's infested with termites, right? You can buy a car but unless you look under the hood man, you're not sure what you're getting We'll see with the wife Because it's the heart that counts The Lord God says look, you know, I'm interested on what's on the inside.

I'm not too concerned about the countenance I'm not so sure about the charisma I'm not so sure about the competency. I'm not so sure about the credentials, but I'm sure about the character I'm sure about the character Because what's on the inside is gonna make him my kind of man. Not what's on the outside And it would do us well to remember what the Lord God said, right Because you know, there are many men who have married some beautiful women, but have had miserable lives Because the character of the woman is not what they thought it was going to be They were enamored with the beauty on the outside But they had forgotten about what's on the inside and that's so important and God looks on the inside of a man And so same what comes it's got to be the guy.

Look this man's a stud man. Look at this guy He's got everything. I mean, he's big He's tall and you know that you want a king that everybody can see but you got to remember that They shoot at the king first So if they see him the best they're gonna hit him pretty quickly, right?

So but but you want somebody you can who can be seen in the crowd you want somebody who's got the stature of a man that could that could provide the kind of manhood that people need to see and And God says, you know what?

I rejected him. That's not my guy And so you can imagine, you know Samuel scratching his head you thought he would learn the lesson before but evidently he didn't learn the lesson and so you go back and you begin to understand a little bit more about what is this whole process and that Jesse called A bit of dab and he passed it for him. God said that's not the guy then Shema He passed by and said that's not the guy and he made all seven sons passed by and none of them were the guy So, what do you do?

What do you do? And and that leads us to the the second aspect of this and and that is the complications The complications to the selection Everybody's been everybody's here.

What do we do? And one of the complications was the opportunity for Saul or for Samuel to compromise to settle to settle Seven guys passed by God doesn't Appoint any of them or recognize any of them or tell him to anoint them I mean, they're sure sure once the lion came out that that Samuel was already pouring the oil in and ready to go and pour the oil on his head. He think this is the guy But it's not well, maybe it's the next guy. That's not Must be the next guy. It's not maybe it's the next guy.

It's not him either Well, I guess I guess I better choose choose somebody. It's one of Jesse's sons. It's got to be one of them So maybe I'll just I'll settle for one of them How many times we settle because we're unwilling to wait for the Lord to reveal to us the right one Right the right person the right job Don't settle God never wants you to settle He wants you to have the best always the best See and so here he was trying to figure out what to do and he could compromise And that was that was part of the the situation in terms of the complications, but I want you to know something.

I The opposition of Jesse the father It was part of the complication of This whole selection process. Let's know what happens text says this Same instead of Jesse are these all the children now if he didn't ask the question he never sees David Because Jesse's not about to bring him out Why not Are these all the children he said there remains yet the youngest and behold he's tending the sheep Now this is very important Have you ever met a shepherd? Never met a shepherd Next time you go with me to Israel, we'll introduce you to a shepherd.

Okay, they smell the high heaven Okay, the breath is absolutely atrocious Okay, they're they're haggard they're just smelly dirty individuals And and Jesse has no thought whatsoever remember there was a consecration there was a sacrifice and all the sons were present except for David Because he wasn't even thought of he was the youngest son. He was out tending the sheep But it gets worse than that This this is if it wasn't so humorous Listen this listen to what I'm gonna say here. Okay, this is 1st Chronicles 17 verse number 7.

Don't turn there. Just listen Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David thus says the Lord of hosts. I took you from the pasture Okay, everything's so good. All right. Here's the next phrase from following The sheep did you get that? You say to David I took you from the pastor from following the sheep Wait a minute Don't the sheep follow the shepherd So why is it David? Is following the sheep that said twice in the scriptures? David's following the sheep. He is so low on totem pole that he's not even in charge when he's on the backside of Bethlehem He's following the sheep That's where he is and Jesse's not even thinking about his kid.

Yeah, we got some kid out there. He's my youngest one He's probably around 16 17 years of age probably He tends to sheep. That's what he does He's busy on the backside doing what he whatever it is. He does but he would have never been a thought in Jesse's mind had Samuel not asked the question. Is this all you got? This is it you got to be somebody else because God hasn't given me the word yet He tells them there is someone else And so same as that of Jesse send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here So he sent and brought him in Now he was ready with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance and the Lord said arise anoint him for this is He Wow, listen carefully The complications outside of the opposition of Jesse outside of the opportunities may be compromised on Samuel's part Is simply this the obscurity of David Now listen carefully this obscurity.

We talked a little bit about last week was pronounced It was preferred and it was Providential This is a pronounced obscurity This is a major part of David's life David was not Even present at the offering of the sacrifice and the consecration of the people of Bethlehem. He was not there That's why his obscurity is so pronounced. That's why this is a complication to the selection process. He's nowhere to be found Nobody wants him around his own father doesn't even want him around I mean if you were never son number eight, how would you feel about this?

Well, how come I wasn't invited to come in and and be paraded in front of front of the prophet You think that he'd have complex You think he felt left out? Isolated sad He wasn't But he was left out. It was pronounced obscurity. He was left in the fields by himself See, even though he's unseen by man. He is seen by God And God knows him. It's a pronounced obscurity. No one even thinks of bringing him in It was it was a preferred obscurity because because as you'll see in the story of David Goliath Even a liar wants nothing to do with David, but it was a providential obscurity Why listen carefully?

Who David was was seen on the backside of Bethlehem when no one was looking just like you Who you are is not what we see here Who you are is when you're left alone in the Backside of your home and there's no one around That's who you really are What you watch on the internet, that's who you really are What you watch on television, that's who you really are What you do in times of isolation, that's who you really are And that's why this is a providential obscurity Because what David was on the backside of Bethlehem was truly who he was a humble Servant of the Living God, that's who he was and who you are in the dark is who you really are before God We don't know what you do in the dark When you go unseen and notice no one's around.

It's just you What you do in the periods of isolation Defines the character of your existence. That's who you are And that's who David was it was providential why you know what you become a king you are isolated you're alone When you become a leader to lead you must love to be alone You can't lead If you want to be around everybody doing what everybody else does you can't lead you as a king you live in the realm of isolation You live by yourself because you got to make decisions that doesn't make everybody happy makes most people sad mad But you gotta live with yourself and you gotta live in isolation and David through those first years of his life was learning how to live by himself on an island all by himself to make decisions based on what God's Word says and Not worry about what anybody else thought because there was nobody that's around but sheep It was a providential obscurity that shaped and molded this man in his skills And his talents to be used mightily For God in the conclusion.

He was anointed King of Israel Now, I'm not sure everybody knew what was happening here Because nobody runs and tells King Saul Nobody leaves today a king King Saul guess what there's another king in town. His name is David You're in trouble. He's 17, but he's studly You know, no one tells no one I don't think anybody knew I think David knew what was happening But the interesting thing about this whole thing is that nothing's changed And yet everything has changed Nothing changed in David's life He went back to doing sheep stuff He was anointed.

He's gone. He's bought he's gone. Bye. Bye back to obscurity back to nothingness Go on get out of here. He goes back and does what he does And yet everything has changed from this point on Because the gifts that he has Brings him before the king and then everything begins to erupt bigger than life And we'll see that next week. Let's pray father We thank you for tonight a chance to study your word and a chance to examine our lives in light of your word To make sure Lord that our lives are true and pure before you.

I Realize that where they are in the dark is really who they are before you And I pray God that you do a mighty work in all of our lives that we'd be committed devoted Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and that from the life of David we would learn what it means to be men and women after God's heart Totally given to the truth of your word. We pray in your name. Amen