HOW GOOD IS YOUR HEART?

Everybody loves an underdog story. The Biblical story of David being chosen as the king of Israel is truly a remarkable story. 

The Lord said to Samuel, —- I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. —Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. (1Samuel 16:1-5)

Samuel was no ordinary man. Dedicated to God and given over for God’s service when he was just a boy, Samuel perfected the art of obedience to God and doing His will. There are kings who rule over kingdoms and there are kingmakers. Samuel had grown in stature before God to a point where he was the kingmaker and the ultimate authority in Israel. He was not a man you mess around with. And when he arrived at the door of Bethlehem, the elders trembled with fear. Such is the effect of the presence of a man who is truly devoted to God. Yet this was an instance where the greatest of men was fooled for a moment.

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.”  So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (1Samuel 16:6-13)

Samuel was carried away by the appearance of Eliab, the eldest son and was fooled into thinking he was the anointed. But notice that he was quickly able to correct himself. And then with astonishing accuracy, he rejects all the sons that Jesse presented. As the last of them came and passed before Samuel, imagine his thoughts- “I am able to approve none of them….. did I get this message from God right?”

But Samuel was no ordinary man. He heard the voice of God and knew the will of God to the extent that it matched his own will. And then he surprisingly asks, “Are these all the sons you have?” David’s father didn’t think much of him. Elsewhere we read that his brothers didn’t think much of him either. Being the youngest, he was probably just a number for his father, and was barely noticed as he grew up. Being the youngest, he was considered little more than a servant and was assigned the menial task of taking care of sheep. 

But it was during those moments, when David was alone in the desert all day, tending to the sheep, that he developed an intimacy with God that was unmatched. In fact he was often referred to as ‘a man after God’s own heart’.  It was during those moments, he perfected faith and then stretched it to a point where he even seized and killed a lion and a bear that attacked his sheep. Though assigned a menial task, he welcomed the opportunity to develop his faith and his intimacy with God. Therefore, later, when the entire army of Israel, including his brothers who were in the army, was struck with fear when they saw the Philistine army and its champion Goliath, for David, it was a welcome challenge and not an impossible task.

Yet this young man was not even invited to the event where the greatest man among them, Samuel, who sent shivers down the spine of ordinary men, had come to visit and anoint one of them. Why bother inviting him, when he could rather take care of the family business. Samuel’s pointed question sent Jesse scurrying to get him in. The last thing Jesse wanted was to get Samuel annoyed. And as soon as David enters the room, God gives Samuel the green light. This was the man whose heart was right, who would be the good king that God wanted and Samuel wasted no time, nor sought any advice from Jesse’s family and anointed a mere shepherd boy to be the king of Israel.

And this boy whose heart was good, went on to be the greatest king Israel ever had.

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