Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Intro

Recap

Saul repeatedly disobeyed God’s commands, because as we saw last week, incomplete obedience is complete disobedience.

Even when he admits he’s done wrong, the next words out of his mouth are “But please honor me before the elders of my people.” Not true obedience, and not true repentance. And God had had enough.

Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel
away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who
is better than you.

1 Samuel 15:28

And we’re going to meet that neighbor this morning.

That was the end of Samuel’s relationship with Saul—they never saw each other again. And the whole situation understandably made Samuel upset.

And that’s where we find him in the first verse of Chapter 16. Some unspecified amount of time has passed, when God says…

Story

“How long are you going to mourn for Saul,
since I have rejected him as king over Israel?

1 Samuel 16:1

Well, that’s blunt! I like the way that Eugene Peterson paraphrased it:

God addressed Samuel: “So, how long
are you going to mope over Saul?”

1 Samuel 16:1, MSG

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected for myself a king from his sons.”

1 Samuel 16:1

When it says “I have selected…” there, the literal translation would be “I have seen for myself a king.” And that’s really the theme of this chapter, how we see vs. how God sees.”

For now, notice how much different this is than when Saul was anointed King. There in Chapter 8, God says to Samuel…

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they
say and install a king over them.”

1 Samuel 8:22, NET

But here, it’s “I have selected a king for myself.”

Saul was always the king the people had chosen. Yes, of course God was sovereign over it all, but now Saul’s reign was over as far as God was concerned. “And this time,” He says, “I’m choosing the king, the one I planned to give them all along.”

Samuel sees something different about the anointing the second time around, too… there’s a currently sitting king!

Samuel asked, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!”

1 Samuel 16:2

Samuel’s at his house in Ramah, about 11 miles north of Bethlehem.

So to put it in a context we’re familiar with, God sending him to Marion to anoint a new king. There’s no Israeli Interstate System at the time, so he’s got to take 37.

There’s only one problem… Johnston City, which is where King Saul lives, in Gibeah.

No doubt Saul’s still upset from what just happened in Gilgal, and he’ll be a lot more upset if Samuel’s marches down Grand Avenue on his way to anoint his replacement.

But God has a plan…

The Lord answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate to you.”

1 Samuel 16:2–3

That may seem like a lie at first, but there was going to be a sacrifice at the anointing, just like there was at Saul’s anointing.

But the anointing of this new king of Israel is on a need-to-know basis right now, and not many people need to know.

So Samuel obeys God and heads down to Bethlehem, apparently without incident. When he gets there, the people are initially a little apprehensive of what he’s doing there. No doubt word has gotten out that Samuel and Saul are not on speaking terms anymore… and also about what Samuel did to King Agag!

Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.”

Then he hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. 😲

1 Samuel 15:33

If most of us had been there, we’d have A-gagged ourselves!

That’s the kind of thing that gets around quickly! So when
Samuel shows up unannounced, the good folks of Bethlehem
didn’t know what to think.

Samuel quickly reassures them. “No, no, everything’s fine. I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”

They do so, and Samuel consecrates Jesse’s family in particular. After the sacrifice and celebration, they most likely went back to Jesse’s house…

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab [oldest] and said,
“Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before him.”

1 Samuel 16:6

Tall, dark, handsome… surely this is the one. Sounds a lot like
the first description we heard of Saul, doesn’t it?

Sounds like it to God, too. But this time God is picking the king Himself, for Himself.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Look at what happens next:

Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said. Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either.” After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord hasn’t chosen any of these.” Samuel asked him, [incredulous] “Are these all the sons you have?”

1 Samuel 16:8–11

SAM: “Jesse, do you have any children you’ve maybe forgotten about?”
JESSE: “What? Wait…” [counting on fingers] “Oh, yeah, there is one more, I totally forgot about him!”

Some of you—maybe middle children in particular—are feeling very seen right now, aren’t you? How many would say, “Yep, that was/is me in my family!”

“There is still the youngest,” he answered, “but right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.” So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance.

Then the Lord said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.”

1 Samuel 16:11–12

It’s bad enough that your dad doesn’t remember you… or more likely, you’re the kid brother who always get’s stuck with the worst jobs, always left out, always seated at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving.

That’s David. We all know the stories of greatness that are coming, but right now, he’s got a lot of stuff working against him.

Not just the youngest, a shepherd.

You hear about this every year about this time, this year will probably be no exception: how was the job of shepherd thought of back then?

It was the worst job: low-skill, lonely, dirty, smelly. It was the task usually reserved for servants or slaves.

Like being a carny, walking behind the elephants,
shoveling giant piles of manure all day.

“I’m glad someone’s doing that job… and I’m glad it’s not me!”

Not just the youngest, the leftovers.

What number represents completion/perfection in
Hebrew literature? Seven.

Where does David fall in the birth order? He’s number eight.

He’s extra. The leftover after they had the perfect amount of sons.
Maybe he’s even the midlife “Oops!” of Jesse and his wife. Not to God.

Not just the youngest, the runt.

The word translated “youngest” can also mean “smallest”, and
it has a bit of a insulting tone to it. The closest word we have to
the context is probably “runt”.

“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”

1 Samuel 16:11, MSG

This is what our God does. If you’re taking
notes this morning, write this down:

1. God picks those on the outside.

This is just His normal MO. He loves to choose the outsider, the reject, the runt of the litter.

He always chooses the girl nobody wants.
He always chooses the son everybody forgot.

And guess what? He’s still doing the same today. I mean, look around!

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence.

1 Corinthians 1:26–29

I was joking when I said “Look around”, but in all seriousness… this should give us all so much hope. We all know what it’s like to be the runt, the fifth wheel in a conversation, in a situation. To be the last one picked for the team.

That’s when God steps up, calls your name,
and says, “I want you on my team!”

  1. God picks those on the outside.

2. God looks on the inside.

“Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

A popular phrase these days, in fact, you might even hear it in the next few days: “Well, that’s just your point of view.”

Now, in one sense, that’s true. We do all come at things from a certain angle. We bring our own preconceived ideas, our culture, our influences into any topic. It’s unavoidable, because we are limited, finite creatures.

But not God. He is in-finite. There is no limit to his point of view. He sees it all. He sees the truth. Us humans, we can see what’s visible, but the Lord, he sees the invisible. He sees the heart. There’s no difference between His point of view and reality.

We’ve always had a tendancy to do this—even Samuel, the prophet of God, jumped so quickly back into, “Oh yeah, no doubt that guy’s king.”

Technology

It’s always been human nature to focus on the external, but technology has cranked that tendancy to 11. Our culture, more than any other in history, is dominated by image more than by words.

You all know I grew up in Lick Creek, close to Anna. If you’ve ever gone around the Jonesboro square, maybe on your way to Cape, you may have noticed the historical marker that’s there. If you haven’t, you should stop and read it sometime. It’s where one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates happened nearby in September 1858.

Because of the telegraph, their debates ran in every newspaper in the country the next morning. But just the text, because while photography had been invented, there was no way to transmit the photos quickly. Either one of them could have walked through almost any town in America, and very, very few people would have recognized them.

That’s a looooong way from where we’re at today.

A lot of you may remember the first live televised presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy in 1960, 102 years after Lincoln-Douglas debates.

What’s fascinating about that night is that radio listeners thought Nixon won, but the 70 million watching on television thought the opposite (Nixon had just been in the hospital for three weeks, and refused to wear makeup).

It was the first time that a presidential debate was primarily judged on image rather than ideas. And rom that point on, it’s only snowballed to the point where perception is reality—and look where it’s gotten us.

Man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7, ESV

That’s Good News.

The reality is, 99.99% of us are never going to measure up to worldly standards of beauty or success. And in fact, with the way that digital media is often edited, it’s impossible for an actual human being to look that way. It’s not possible. And even if you do, it’s only temporary.

God created you just the way you are. I’m not saying that if you’re good looking, he’s not going to use you. But praise God, you don’t have to be good looking for God to use you? I sure am!

That’s Bad News.

Would any of us here this morning say, “Oh yeah, if God looks at the heart, I’m good to go! My heart’s right, I’m a man/woman after God’s own heart.”

If you think that’s true… it’s not true.

The Lord looks down from heaven at the human race,
to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.
Everyone rejects God;
they are all morally corrupt.
None of them does what is right,
not even one!

Psalms 14:2–3, NET

You know who wrote that? David! That’s presents a problem, doesn’t it? The [quote/unquote] “man after God’s own heart” says, “My heart is not naturally after God’s. I’m morally bankrupt.” From where we’re looking this morning, you could read, “Not one of them does what is right, not even me.”

So then what’s going on here? Well, over the years, we’ve singled out that phrase “a man after God’s own heart” and used it out of it’s original context to be a description of someone who’s truly following God.

And that’s certainly true of David, he did follow God, at least for the most part. But is David’s inherent goodness really the reason God chose Him to be king? Doesn’t that go against literally everything else we see in Scripture?

We believe we’re saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone, amen? That’s true of everybody… except David, because he was a man after God’s own heart. That doesn’t make sense. That would be works righteousness.

There’s more nuance than that. Verse 7 literally says, “for man
sees according to the eyes, but the Lord sees according to the heart.”

“The Lord sees according to the heart” Okay, but that brings up another question… is that referring to the person’s heart, or the Lord’s heart?

Remember last week, we said “Always let Scripture interpret Scripture”? If you’re having trouble understanding what a phrase means in one place, see if that same phrase is used somewhere else, especially if it’s in the same book.

2 Samuel 7 (remember, one book) David is praying, giving thanks to God for all His goodness…

“And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.”

2 Samuel 7:20–21, ESV

Same phrase as in 16:7, except this time it’s more clear who’s heart we’re talking about—it’s God’s! So when he “sees by the heart”, it’s talking about God’s heart toward David, not David’s heart toward God.

Whatever outstanding qualities we might see in this new king are the consequence of, not the reason for God’s choice of Him.

John Woodhouse, Looking for a Leader

So what was the difference in David’s life that made him go from sinner to saint, from the one who rejects God and is morally corrupt to the one who would follow God, lead His people, and write the majority of the book of Psalms?

  1. God picks those on the outside.
  2. God looks on the inside.

3. The Spirit comes to abide.

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward.

1 Samuel 16:13

The Spirit of God in His life, that’s what made all the difference.

Only person in the OT where God’s Spirit was with him “the rest of his days”. But that’s our experience every day in the New Testament.

And he will be with you “from that day forward.”

What are you looking at?

In Others

We shouldn’t be so quick to judge people based on the outside. Based on how they’re dressed, how they speak, how they drive, and a million other ways.

In case you haven’t heard, it’s election week. Listen, I’m not a politician, I’m a pastor, and grateful for it. But as the one who is accountable to God for your spiritual wellbeing, let me try to shepherd our hearts through this week, with a bit of trepidation, and a whole lot of love.

We’ve all heard old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and that’s all fine and well, but there are some more fitting metaphors for the next few days:

When it comes to voting… ever been lied to by a politician?

God sees the heart, ask Him to help you see clearly.

SBC Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials

WHEREAS, Some journalists report that many Americans are willing to excuse or overlook immoral or illegal conduct by unrepentant public officials so long as economic prosperity prevails; and

WHEREAS, Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God’s judgment (1 Kings 16:30; Isaiah 5:18-25)…

Be it further RESOLVED, That we implore our government leaders to live by the highest standards of morality both in their private actions and in their public duties, and thereby serve as models of moral excellence and character; and…

Be it finally RESOLVED, That we urge all Americans to embrace and act on the conviction that character does count in public office, and to elect those officials and candidates who, although imperfect, demonstrate consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character.

SBC Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials

That was written and voted on by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998. If you remember what dominated the headlines in ‘98, you know why. But the content still stands the test of time, because it’s based on God’s word. Character matters in all people, but especially those in leadership.

The reality is, you may feel like it limits your choices—so be it.

In Yourself

Watch your heart this week. Or better yet, ask a friend or your spouse to help you watch it. Most of all ask the Spirit to watch over it.

The last election, I was still in the throws of COVID, felt horrible, recorded a short video in my bedroom along these same lines. You’ll hear it at least every two years as long as I’m around.

Look at your own heart. If you feel elation or despair, that’s a warning light on the dashboard of your soul that you’ve put way too much stock in this world instead of the world to come.

Not saying issues aren’t important, just that they’re not of first importance. So make sure to keep them in their proper place.

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day

1 Corinthians 15:3–4

Look to Him

No matter who’s the President, Governor, we have a King, the Son of David, who is on the throne of heaven, and whose reign will never end. And we are in this world, in America, in Illinois, as ambassadors of that Kingdom.

We are his people, royal priesthood, holy nation, people for His own possession to declare the glories of God.