Unconditional Anointing

David Anointed King  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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1 Samuel 16:11-12 ESV
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.”
I can recall as a child how my dad once introduced a saying to me that really stuck when he told me that by doing a certain thing we can “kill two birds with one stone”.
Now, that immediately intrigued me, it sounded pretty strange, and I imagined that in my head, throwing a stone at a single bird, yet killing two birds with that single stone’s throw. And being intrigued like I was, I asked him what he meant when he said that, and he told me that it means achieving two things by performing a single action.
Thus, an example of this would be going to grocery store to get dinner and dropping your mail off at the post box that is sitting outside of the grocery store.
Another example of killing two birds with one stone would be me riding a bicycle when I come to work here at the church, in that not only would I be saving money by not having to buy gas, but I would also be getting in some exercise.
Well, as we continue this morning in our study of first Samuel, chapter sixteen, we observe what we may say is like God killing two birds with one stone in that God not only sends Samuel to the sons of Jesse to anoint a new king, but in the selection process, God reveals to Samuel, Jesse, and the sons of Jesse the aspect of man, particularly the aspect of a king that God desires most.
We see this as we first harken back to the text of our sermon from last week. And as we do that, we recall how upon observing the sons of Jesse, Samuel immediately thought that Eliab, Jesse’s oldest son would surely be the one whom God would have Samuel anoint as king.
And why was it that Samuel immediately thought that this would be the case? Because he was tall and handsome. And like we said last week, as funny as that sounds, we all naturally do that.
If there is someone in a crowd that is much more attractive than any other person in the crowd, they immediately grab our attention. And because such a person grabs our attention, we pretty much immediately think that such a person is entitled to special treatment.
Well, God doesn’t reason that way. He doesn’t favor people because they are attractive or rich or powerful, but rather, as He revealed to Samuel, God favors certain people because He has given them a heart that pleases Him.
And God revealed this to Samuel when He told him that unlike man, God does not look upon the outward appearance of a man, but instead looks upon the heart of man, the heart that He has given man, and then judges based on that.
Now, after receiving a “no” concerning Eliab, Jesse had six other sons of his pass before Samuel, but every last one of them received a “no”. None of them were the one whom God had chosen to be anointed as king over Israel.
But God had told Samuel that one of the sons of Jesse would be anointed king and that He would reveal to Samuel who that son would be. Yet every son that had been presented to Samuel was rejected by God.
But the Word of God cannot fail, and yet no son of Jesse had been chosen, thus Samuel was justifiably puzzled by this. Therefore, Samuel asks Jesse, in the first part of verse 11 of our reading:
1 Samuel 16:11a ESV
11a “Are all your sons here?”
Since God had told Samuel that he had chosen one of the sons of Jesse to be anointed king and because all of the sons that he had just seen had not been chosen by God in this regard, he rightly concludes that Jesse has at least one more son in addition to the sons that he has just seen. Therefore, Samuel asks Jesse if all of his sons are present or if perhaps there are other sons of his who are not there.
Then we see the response of Jesse in the next part of this eleventh verse, where he says:
1 Samuel 16:11b ESV
11b “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.”
Jesse tells Samuel that he has one more son in addition to the sons who are present, his youngest son. And he tells him that the reason why he is not there is because he is out keeping, tending to his sheep.
Now, when we think about what has happened thus far in this narrative, how Samuel came to Bethlehem and requested Jesse and ALL of his sons to be present as he sacrificed. When we consider that, we should rightfully wonder why Jesse wouldn’t bring ALL of his sons to this gathering?
As we said before, in Samuel specifically inviting Jesse and his sons to this feast and this sacrifice, it signified that this feast and this sacrifice held special significance for them in particular.
And so, having this knowledge going into this special feast and sacrifice, it would seem as though Jesse reasoned the same way that Samuel did back in verse six, when Samuel believed that God would choose Eliab based on his size and good looks.
Jesse probably reasoned by thinking that if God had chosen one of his sons to some important office or task, then they would have to meet certain qualifications that he was certain that his youngest son could not meet.
He was young, very young. Most scholars believe that he was probably about fifteen years old at this time. Surely, God would have nothing to do with him is what his father thought.
As Jesse said, “he’s not here! He’s out keeping sheep!” he probably didn’t even inform this youngest son of his that Samuel had come and requested the presence of his sons. And in telling Samuel, “he is keeping the sheep” what he likely meant to relay to him is that it isn’t necessary for this youngest son of his to even be present.
But as we look at the end of this eleventh verse, we see that Samuel feels differently, as we read,
1 Samuel 16:11c ESV
11c And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
I believe that there is a reason why God had not just simply told Samuel that he was rejecting Eliab when Samuel laid eyes on him and presumed that God would choose him based on his height and appearance. I believe that God had told him this so that when the time came for Him to reveal to Samuel whom He had chosen, he would know that the one whom He had chosen was not a likely candidate.
Thus, knowing what God had revealed to him back in verse seven of this chapter, of how God sees man’s heart and judges based on his heart and seeing that Jesse is reasoning the way that he had reasoned when he first laid eyes on Eliab, Samuel rightly presumes that this youngest son of Jesse must be the one whom God has chosen.
Therefore, Samuel, with great urgency, tells Jesse to send for his youngest son and to have him brought before him that he may be informed whether or not this youngest son was the chosen son that God was seeking.
Then as we move on to the beginning of verse twelve in our reading, we see the appearing of this youngest son of Jesse, where we read:
1 Samuel 16:12a ESV
12a And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
Knowing what he knew about his youngest son, Jesse may have been perplexed about the request of Samuel, but he obediently carried out his command as he sent for his youngest son and had him brought before Samuel.
The first thing that Samuel noticed about him is that he was “ruddy”. Now, I understand that that’s not a term that we use every day, but what “ruddy” means is “reddish”. Thus, this reddish feature of the youngest son of Jesse refers probably to his hair or to his sun-soaked skin, or perhaps to both.
He also noticed that this youngest son of Jesse had “beautiful eyes and was handsome”. And so, while this youngest son may have had handsome attributes, still, the designation that God set with the heart back in verse seven shows that God judges not by appearance, for He is no Respecter of persons, but judges in accordance with His own good pleasure, by the heart that He has graciously given them.
And as this youngest son was brought before Samuel, God reveals to Samuel His judgment concerning him in the last part of our reading, at the end of verse twelve, where we read:
1 Samuel 16:12b ESV
12b And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
As the one who was least expected by all, was brought before Samuel, the Lord spoke plainly when He said, “arise, anoint him as the king over My people Israel, for this one whom you see, is the one whom I have chosen”. The will and determination had been fully made manifest to Samuel.
It is most certainly no secret that God’s ways are higher than our ways. That God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. That everything about Him transcends and rises above everything about us.
Samuel would have never thought that God would will to anoint a teenaged shepherd boy as king over Israel, His peculiar people, His treasured possession. He beheld, strong, strapping, handsome Eliab and felt as though he was the most logical choice.
Jesse would have never thought that God would will to use his youngest son in special capacity, let alone to reign as king over His people. For this reason, he didn’t even bother to let this youngest son of his know when he and his sons were summoned to come before Samuel.
But these sons of Jesse who were then present, they, especially Eliab, may have possessed everything that one would outwardly look for in a potential king. But they were rejected by God, and they were rejected in favor of their youngest brother, who we of course know as David.
The name David means, “beloved”. And thus, as Esau may have appeared more impressive than his younger twin brother, Jacob. Indeed, though he may have been the favorite and preferred son of his father Isaac, the scriptures nonetheless record God saying, “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated”.
And it may have been that these sons of Jesse, particularly Eliab had been the more impressive of the sons, indeed, it may have been that like Esau, Eliab was the favorite and preferred son of Jesse, still, nonetheless, David was beloved by God.
God had chosen David, not because of his height, his stature, his strength, his appearance, no, God chose David in spite of the fact that his brothers possessed these attributes more than he did. Indeed, God chose David because it was God’s will and intention to choose David. Indeed, God’s election of David was an unconditional election.
And beloved, for those of us here today who are among God’s children, His saved and sanctified people, for us, our election was just as unconditional.
As we close this morning, we look to the words of Paul, who makes this abundantly clear to us in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses 26-31, where he says:
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Beloved, we owe the entirety of our existence, of our salvation from sin, and our state now as born-again believers in Christ Jesus because regardless of what the world has ever thought of us, indeed, regardless of whatever we have ever thought of ourselves, God was pleased to look at each one of us and say, “This is the one whom I have chosen for My own pleasure, and for My own glory”.
And thus, may we accordingly worship such a glorious God as ours Who chose us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
Amen?
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