27th October 2023

27th October 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (focus 8-13)


Message Alan Burke 


We are all quick to make judgements by the outward appearances of a person but Samuel had been rebuked by challenged by the Lord about this, for the Lord looks at the heart. What matters for all of us are our hearts the Lord’s through Jesus Christ. Here Samuel goes though Jesse’s sons one one one, saying nope not you, nope not you, and after working his way though all the sons of Jesse Samuel after finding that there is not one of them who is the Lord’s chosen king none had gained the approval of the LORD he discovers that there is one of Jesse’s sons who is keeping the sheep, in instructing him to fetch him. While Eliab looked the part and if it had have been us we would have thought he was a good choice, the Lord had not chosen him nor the other six brothers that passed before Samuel, the Lord had chosen another one who was after his own heart to be king.


In the midst of this we may think to ourselves why on earth did the LORD make Samuel go through all this palaver instead of just telling Samuel that the one after his own heart was David or at least when he was brought before Jesse that it was not one of these sons and then go and anoint him? Remember that in the beginning that Samuel was still mourning over Saul, that when he arrived he was took one look at Eliab and thought this is the one just like the people. Through this the Lord was helping Samuel to take his focus of the externals, for the new king was not going to be the most likely candidate from a human worldly point of view but the least likely. The least of the sons of Jesse was going to be the king, he was the one that Samuel would have picked, he’s not the one the people would have picked nor is he one that we would have picked. Our 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 choose a nobody in David, a simple shepherd boy the last of eight brothers but God used him in his plans and purposes. 


As David is brought, and when he arrived he would have been a sight. There is nothing remarkable about a young shepherd from Bethlehem, the youngest son of his father, yet the LORD had chosen him. He was the least of the sons of Jesse, a humble shepherd who would never have achieved greatness if it were not for the Lord’s plans and purposes. While we are told he was ruddy with a fine appearance and handsome features, in a sense it seems neither here nor there, what does his appearance matter when the Lord was looking at the importance of his heart. Nonetheless the Lord tells Samuel that he is the one and he anoints him straight away according to the will of God and the Holy Spirit came upon him and prepared him for leadership, strengthening him for what would lie ahead as he served the Lord and reigned over God’s people. In all that took place, the LORD was at work, he was preparing the young David for what lay ahead, he was a shepherd, watching over the sheep he cared for, yet in future he would be still a shepherd but a shepherd of God’s people, watching over them. He was the least likely of all the sons of Jesse to be the king over God’s people but what mattered above all was that he was a man after God’s own heart. 


David was chosen by the Lord was anointed by Samuel in front of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, he had been chosen by the LORD, and given the Spirit of the Lord to help him in what lay ahead. Years later another shepherd would come as King, the true shepherd of his people, anointed as David came to be the saviour of the world, God’s promised Messiah, his own Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came to take upon himself our sin. The hope that should be stirred in us is that in the midst of the failure of God’s people and of their King the Lord was working our his purposes for a king that would be greater than David to come, the king that we need, the king who is saviour Jesus Christ. It is him that we must give our hearts to, our entire lives, for he Is Working Out His Purposes, he Looks At Our Heart and Desires Leaders After HIs Heart. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q81 What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, (1 Kings 21:4, Esther 5:13, 1 Cor. 10:10) envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, (Gal. 5:26, James 3:14,16) and all inordinate motions and affections to any thing that is his. (Rom. 7:7–8, Rom. 13:9, Deut. 5:21)
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