Read 1 Samuel Chapter 16 and verses 1 to 13.
This is a photograph of some of my school mates. I was never in any football team!
I have a memory from my two years at Stevenston High School before I sat the entrance exam for Ardrossan Academy. I was rubbish at sport - especially football and I remember that our PE teacher used to choose the two most talented football players and gave them the task of picking the two teams to compete with each other during the lesson. I was always left sitting on the bench as neither of the two superstars both named John would pick me for their team. "It's your turn this week. I had him last week." It did not do much for my self-esteem. A few years ago I told someone that I played 'left outside' at football - he corrected me. "Do you not mean 'Outside Left?' he said. "No, I really mean 'Left Outside.' But I was in good company. David was also 'left outside' - but not by his classmates - more by his brothers. And it was nothing to do with his lack of sporting talent.
They had a very important visitor to the Jesse household. It's not every day that the prophet arrives in the village of Bethlehem - before it was famous as the birthplace of Jesus. It was not an important village and Jesse, David's father was not an important guy in the village. There was a signpost on the door- "Ordinary". It was a big family and I don't see any mention of a mother or a sister. I am not saying that there were no females in the family - only they are not mentioned.
Samuel, the prophet and priest, was well-respected and he had come on an important mission. He was there to choose Israel's new king. Had the other king died? No, he was alive and healthy with no intention of giving up the throne. But God had decided that Saul's time as king was over. He had given Samuel instructions to choose a successor to Saul and the replacement was to come from Jesse's family of sons. They were an impressive bunch of lads - tall and rugged looking. All seven of them looked as if they would fit the bill for the next king. Much of the new King's role would be to act as war leader because Israel was constantly at war with her neighbours. So height would seem to be an important consideration - as well as physique- you did not want a weakling as a king. He would have to do a lot of hand-to-hand fighting and be able to wield a sword.
So Samuel asks Jesse to present his sons one by one to him beginning with the oldest and going down the line to the youngest. Samuel had learned to listen to God. It was as if he had an earpiece linked to a radio tuned into God's voice. When he saw the eldest son, Samuel thought his task was over. Eliab fitted the bill perfectly. But God gave very clear instructions to Samuel that Eliab was not to be the next king. God told Samuel not to be impressed by this young man's height or physical appearance because God had not chosen him as the new king. God made a statement to Samuel that applies to our day too. The Lord does not look at a person the way we humans do - we judge by external appearances but the Lord looks on the heart. We will discover that Eliab was proud and haughty and pride is a major obstacle to serving God. The next two sons were presented to Samuel - their names were Abinadab and Shammah. God rejected these two young men as being suitable as the next king of Israel. Samuel went through the same process with all of Jesse's sons.
So Samuel asks Jesse an awkward question, "Have I seen all of your sons?" Surely, you have not forgotten to tell us about one of your sons. And then comes the confession from Jesse. "Well, there is the youngest, but he is not at home. He is looking after his sheep." It seems that Jesse does not value all his sons equally. He probably expected Samuel to choose Eliab anyway so there is no need to send for the wee one. I get the impression that Jesse treats David as an afterthought - a nonentity. Samuel insists that they send for David and he makes it clear that he wants him brought speedily. When David arrives, we discover that David is handsome - he is ruddy - a fresh complexion from being out in the open air all day, and he is described as having beautiful eyes. This might seem a contradiction because God had told Samuel not to judge by outward appearances and yet we have a description of David as a good looker. This is not why David was chosen as king, though. It was not his looks but his character which mattered to God. God instructed Samuel that David was the one who was to be the next king of Israel and Samuel then anoints David as king. The next Day Share will look at this anointing in more detail.
There are two lessons from today's study
1. We may be regarded as an outsider by society and even by our friends and family but there are no outsiders with God. In fact, God often chose the marginalised for His service. We could think of many examples where God chose those who were considered insignificant to serve Him.
2. We should not be influenced by our society's emphasis on outward appearance. The world seems to tell us that what matters is how we look. My boss once told me that 'appearance is everything' when my collar was turned up at an important meeting. I am not suggesting that we should totally forget about how we look. I am suggesting that we need to get this into correct perspective. God is more interested in our spiritual state than our physical appearance.
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