The Heart of the Matter
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the Time
How often do we get things wrong when we look at the outside of a human being without knowing the heart?
B. Reading of the Text
C. Review of the Text
D. Relevance of the Text
1. God’s Sovereign Selection
1. God’s Sovereign Selection
1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have 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 provided for myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”
Sovereignty—God’s exercise of power over his creation.
Grieve---Emotional suffering brought on by bereavement, mishap, or disaster. To grieve is either to cause or feel sorrow or distress..HEBREW WORD FOR MOURN
NT—Mourn
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Samuel was mourning over the sins of Saul and the nation. This is how desperate we should be in our desire to see others grow in the likeness of God.
1 Samuel—Looking for a Leader The Lord’s Rebuke (v. 1a)
One who loves God and his word will care deeply about sin and its terrible consequences. Like Samuel, you will find that you will weep.
Lord Rejected Saul—we know it was because he made the decision not to walk in obedience to the way of God like Samuel had instructed him to do.
Rejected—dismiss as inadequate or faulty
Samuel had anointed Saul
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
Sovereignty of God—I will send you—I have provided for myself a king.
19 Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Saul was established as king of Israel because he looked the part that the people desired. He was a judgment upon the Israelites.
19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”
Saul was the peoples king that they wanted. Samuel was used by God to express this to the people as Saul was chosen and the people were told this is your king. God in his sovereign hand would direct the kingship to a place he desired for the Israelites to go to ultimately bring a messiah to save us all.
God guides Samuel in this all as he is worried about the trip from Ramah to Bethlehem would go through Gibeah and Saul would know he passed him by. God directs his path and the concerns of Samuel. This is the personal God you serve this very day. Beloved, he knows you are human and in his sovereignty he desires to use you for his purposes but will also care for the details along the way. That is a GREAT God.
T.S.
2. Seeing Beyond Sight
2. Seeing Beyond Sight
1 Samuel 16:4-7
4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
I think one of the greatest parts of scripture is to see the great contrasts between people who walk in obedience, even though they might struggle to do so at times, and those who disobey the Lord and struggle in an entirely different way. That is the picture we continue to get from Samuel and Saul.
Samuel did what the Lord commanded
Samuel did what the Lord commanded
would it not be awesome for someone that is writing about your life in the heavenly places to write.
_____________ did what the Lord Commanded
_____________ did what the Lord Commanded
—do you come peacefully?
I think this is an extremely good question since the last we heard Samuel in chapter 15
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
Don’t you think that is a valid question for them to ask?
Vs. 5 consecrate—To be holy, removed from common use, subject to special treatment,
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Cleans us from all unrighteousness..believers are consecrated—set apart a holy for the Lord’s purposes.
Vs 6—Samuel is going by what he saw in the last choosing of a king and Saul and thought this would go the same way. It’s the firstborn, he looks like he would fit the part but Samuel still has to listen to God and be directed by him not his own eyes.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God looks at the heart.
MacArthur...The heart in the Hebrew is speaking about the emotions, will, intellect, and desires. The life of the man will reflect his heart.
34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart The Wisdom in Yahweh’s Choice (16:6–7)
external appearance neither qualifies nor disqualifies; it simply does not matter. For Israel’s good Yahweh looks on the heart. That matters.
God is not limited in anyway. Therefore, if God has a point of view, that point of view will not be simply one more point of view among many others. His unlimited point of view will have an absolute validity.
When God sees, he does not see things with the eyes, as we do, taking in only impressions. God sees according to his heart. That is, God’s point of view is determined by his own will and purpose. He sees according to his own intentions, his heart.
1 Samuel—Looking for a Leader Seeing as the Lord Sees (vv. 7–10)
This understanding of verse 7 is very important. In fact, it is, in my opinion, the key to understanding the whole of 1 and 2 Samuel! More than that, it is really the key to understanding life, the universe, everything!
This is God’s choosing and his plan..
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
T.S.
3. Unlikely but Chosen
3. Unlikely but Chosen
1 Samuel 16:8-13
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Why was David chosen by God? Great question? Did David knowingly train his entire life for the leadership position to be King of Israel? Beloved, HE did not! We may snarl at the idea of the sovereignty of God and his hand in choosing who he desire for his own purposes but that very thing is active in David’s life on this day. God had used David’s life and would continue to use David’s life to train him to be the man that he desired him to be. One consecrated for the Kingdom of God that David’s life might be placed on display for all to see as God would establish his place in HIS kingdom to bring about our messiah.
God’s good purposes arise out of his perfect and sovereign will. The bible teaches that he chose to be his people, David to be his king, and Jerusalem to be his city. his purposes in all this will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, his “Chosen one”
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
Last Wednesday night
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
We have been chosen in Christ.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Application:
Chosen
Consecrated
Having a new heart
Empowered to live in obedience to God’s commands