The Heart of the Matter
1 Samuel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsWhen despair tempts us to believe God has abandoned us, we can rest in the hope that He is already at work bringing redemption, new beginnings, and a future that only He can provide.
Notes
Transcript
First, a quick reminder about where we are in the context of it all — Saul has been rejected by the Lord. 1 Samuel 1–15 traces Israel’s transition from the time of the judges to the beginning of the monarchy. Hannah’s prayer for a child is answered, and she dedicates Samuel to the Lord, who grows up to become a prophet and judge over Israel. The Ark of the Covenant is captured and returned, underscoring God’s power and holiness. As Samuel leads Israel to repentance and victory over the Philistines, the people demand a king, rejecting God’s direct rule. Saul is chosen as Israel’s first king, initially humble and victorious, but he soon disobeys God—first by offering unauthorized sacrifices and later by sparing what God commanded to be destroyed. As a result, Saul is rejected as king, setting the stage for God to raise up a new leader after His own heart.
God’s Choice Is Hopeful
God’s Choice Is Hopeful
The opening verse says a ton:
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?
Samuel is grieved…he’s deeply in despair. And, his mourning is ongoing. It’s not that he has mourned over Saul, but the fact that he can’t seem to shake out of his mourning. Which, may seem a bit odd. We know Saul’s failure. So, why is Samuel so upset?
Notice that Samuel mourns for Saul. Saul’s failure is why Samuel mourns. Saul’s rebellion. Saul’s rejection. A kingship that seemed to start with promise, now laid to ruin. Samuel very well could be feeling the weight of a nation without a leader. Will Israel now crumble into the same sin and rebellion as Saul? Given her history of rebellion, it actually seems pretty probable.
But, notice YHWH’s answer to Samuel:
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.”
In essence, God says to Samuel (Davis):
“How long will you keep mourning Saul. I have provided myself a king. I have not let go of my people.”
Taking verse one as a whole, we get a beautifully instructive picture. First, there does seem to be something proper in Samuel’s sorrow. He isn’t grieving because his team lost a football game. His world isn’t wrecked because he didn’t get the promotion or couldn’t buy the new car. He’s distraught over Saul’s spiritual disaster. He’s mourning over sin. Which, begs the question: do we mourn over similar matters? Do we grieve or do we gossip over sin? Does anything outside of our own discomfort ever truly move us? You see, that’s the first thing that is instructive:
We must learn to mourn over the things that truly matter.
Yet, we also find encouragement, because out of Saul’s failure will raise a type of “savior.” God is able to provide new beginnings from the most broken of places. He provides for His people when it seems everything else is crumbling around us. Davis beautifully points out:
“The true King never loses control of His kingdom.”
Should we mourn failure, sin, and rebellion? Yes, especially when the Spirit brings it forward in our own lives. However, what many of us need to hear is not that sin is despicable, but that the Savior is gracious. It’s often not the weight of guilt that needs to be placed on our shoulders, but the freedom of grace that alleviates our suffering. Child of God, hear the passionate plea of Christ from the cross: it is finished. Your debt is paid. Your punishment is settled forever more. And, for the soul still not surrendered to Jesus, listen to the Father’s plea: Here is my declaration of love for you, so that you have no doubt — I sent my Son to die in your place while you want nothing to do with me. We have hope despite despair because God is in the business of new beginnings!
God’s Choice Is Wise
God’s Choice Is Wise
As Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, he makes his way to Jesse’s house. Notice what happens when Eliab walks out:
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
It only takes a look and Samuel thinks this is him. Now, the text doesn’t note this, but you can kinda picture the type of guy Eliab might’ve been to provoke this type of response from Samuel. He’s what, 6’2”, 6’3” maybe, 225 lbs. of solid muscle. Built like a college linebacker that lives on nothing but protein and the tears of his foes. He walks in the room and commands it, not with savage brutality, but with a social grace that oozes from equal parts humble confidence and well-spoken, reasoned logic.
Yep, Samuel has our man pegged on first glance, but then the text speaks and shows just how dangerous OUR impressions can be. We see little, perceive little, in the grand scheme of things, we know little. Our perception is often skin-deep, but God sees all the way down to the heart. In one of the better-known verses in Scripture, God reminds 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.”
So much of 1 Samuel hinges on choices. Israel chooses the ark in chapter 4, and disaster follows. Israel chose a king instead THE King in chapter 8, and look at where they are now. And here, as faithful Samuel is ready to set apart a new king, even his choice is incorrect. There is a pertinent reminder:
God’s people are only safe in His hands.
And, what a reminder as well that we need His safety, His counsel, His direction…His voice every step of the way. Here’s what I mean: think back to chapter 3 where YHWH was directing a young Samuel. And now, years later, God still has to correct a mature Samuel. Guys, it’s a subtle reminder that we never arrive at a place where we are no longer in desperate need of God’s direction.
This text, then, provides significant instruction even for us today. No, we don’t live in a kingdom ruled by a king in a physical sense, but we are members of the kingdom of God. And, only God’s wisdom is sufficient for directing His people. Oh how the outward appearance can be alluring to us. A choice that seems wise or sound…a decision that makes practical sense…even a pastor who has all the trappings of being a success — a mover and shaker, an aggressive extrovert skilled in the arts of handshake and persuasion, able to sell the church because they’re as smooth at the dinner table as they are in the pulpit. And to top it all off, he knows all of the -isms.
We become enamored by these things when we should be asking: does he pray? Does he love his wife? His kids? Can he be moved to humbly weep over the beauty of the gospel?
Finally, these verses also give us a glimmer of hope, for in them, YHWH speaks, Samuel responds, and God’s will is done. How often does our Savior not just save us from our sin, but also from our own personal saviors, our “self-chosen solutions to kingdom needs or personal dilemmas,” as Davis calls them?
How faithful is He to so often save us from ourselves?!
God’s Choice Is Surprising
God’s Choice Is Surprising
As Jesse’s sons are each paraded before Samuel…“Surely this is the one!”…every one of them is met with a “…the Lord has not chosen this one.” Finally, after the seventh passes by, Samuel says:
“The Lord has not chosen these.”
There’s only one logical question for Samuel to ask at this point. After all, God had clearly stated that His king would be from Jesse’s house (see 16:1). In essence, Samuel is like, “Well, you got any more?” Jesse responds in 1 Samuel 16:11 “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.” But, what exactly was Jesse getting at? Did he expect some type of response from Samuel?
Well, it can’t be the youngest, maybe I was wrong.
Well, you can’t leave the sheep unattended.
Well, who knows how long it’ll take for him to get here, so let’s continue with the sacrificial meal.
But, that’s not how Samuel responds. The matter was urgent…so urgent, in fact, that Samuel said they would do nothing else until the youngest son got there.
…And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
So they waited. No sacrifice. No meal. Not even taking a seat. Until in walked the youngest son...the shepherd boy…stinking like a sheep and fresh from the fields…made it home. The text gives his description when he walks in the door. It’s…an odd look for a man from Bethlehem. He’s “ruddy,” meaning his complexion was red like a cherry or blood, and his eyes were “beautiful.” When Hani, our first tour guide in Israel a few years back talked about David, he pointed out that David would have looked different from nearly every other Jew. It’s undoubtedly owed to the fact that three and four generations prior, David’s grandmothers were Rahab and Ruth — not Hebrews. His appearance, his looks, only contributed to the fact that he was an unlikely choice. If Eliab or Saul were the epitome of what you looked for, David…is the opposite.
But notice what God tells Samuel:
“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
Yet another one of God’s “didn’t see that coming” episodes. He wasn’t invited to the meal, not even by his father Jesse, and he’s so obscure that we don’t even get his name until verse 13. We’re again reminded that God works outside of the counsel of man in ways that often confound and even trample upon our preconceived notions and wisest ideas. How often does God choose the foolish in order shame the wise? How often does God choose the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor.1:27)? Not in the least is God ever a slave to human conventions.
The greatest of God’s confounding moves? It’s not David, but He is in David’s line, for consider what was said about the Greater David:
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
He’s nothing special. He’s just one of us.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
He’s partying too much with the wrong company!
Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
He’s not even from the right place. And still the clincher…
“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
Messiah’s don’t suffer. Clearly this is the wrong guy!
But did God heed their opinions? Absolutely not, instead:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Yes, God’s choice is often surprising, but what joy that should bring us. We rest in His will with the great understanding that what He does is both for our good and for His glory. So trust…rest…and rejoice in His surprises.
God’s Choice Is Perilous
God’s Choice Is Perilous
Samuel finally anoints David in verse 13 “and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David….” At last, victory and joy and grace and blessing. But, the gift of the Spirit was not merely gracious. It was perilous. You might ask, “In what way?”
Chapter 17 finds David in the midst of a conflict that would’ve made lions and tigers and bears look mild. And, it doesn’t slow down from there…envy, anger, and plots from Saul. Being hunted and betrayed, trapped to escape, hiding in caves, living in exile, driven to the edge of madness, all the way up to the end of 1 Samuel. The Spirit comes, and trouble soon follows.
And, this pattern isn’t unique to David. Even Christ Himself, after hearing the commending words of His Father, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased,” is immediately led into the wilderness to face the age-old enemy.
The servants of the Lord find the same truth. Even Scripture notes that we enter the kingdom “through many tribulations” (Acts 14:22).
So, then, what encouragement do we draw from this? Come to Jesus, receive His Spirit, so that you can suffer?! But here’s the deal: conflicts and trials are not a sign of sin, but of sonship. We’re not under God’s displeasure, but His discipline. Suffering in the wilderness isn’t a sign of the Spirit’s absence, but His presence. We are disciplined so that we are refined, so that He gets the glory, so that we can boldly proclaim that God is the One who delivers us from all our distress (2 Sam.4:9).
God’s Choice Is Ironic
God’s Choice Is Ironic
Now there’s the rest of the story, vv.14-23. We can’t just drop Saul because a.) he’s still alive, and b.) he’s still king. So, our attention is directed back to Saul. A brief synopsis: as the Spirit is rushing upon David, he is departing from Saul and a harmful spirit descends instead. In order to comfort Saul, his advisors recommend bring in David who is a skilled musician. Some have wondered if God does evil in the passage because of the spirit He sends to Saul. The emphatic answer to that is, “No! God is never the author of evil, though He certainly uses evil agents to accomplish his purpose.” We have to look no further than Christ on the cross to see evil agents used by God to accomplish His purpose. With that, the transition between David and Saul, shocking and sudden, provides a startling contrast.
These last verses in the chapter have at its center Saul’s call for David. We find it in verse 19:
Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
He calls David because the evil spirit torments him. And here, the irony comes into view. The rejected king Saul now seeks relief from a newly anointed king, and he doesn’t even know it. In essence, the writer says, “Can you believe it?! Takes the cake, doesn’t it. You knew David was God’s choice, but Saul chooses him, too!” What we would think of as competition, someone who was a threat to Saul, actually becomes a servant…a therapeutic instrument…a mean’s of grace.
Still, David is only relief, not rescue, and he’s certainly not the Spirit of God who has departed Saul. So, what do we make of David’s ministry? Here he is serving, and in a matter of no time at all, Saul will seek to hurt and harm David. Can we take anything from this irony — the servant will soon be sought to be slain?
When you think about, though, aren’t we the same? Didn’t Jesus Himself tell His disciples to serve the world? Isn’t that the example He set for us when He stooped down and washed the disciples feet? Yet, with this service, He also promised that because the world hated Him, it will hate us, too. Still He called us the salt of the earth, and He intends to use as at least in part as a preservative in this world. What else other than the Spirit of God and the influence of Christ’s people will hold at bay decay in society? In some regards, the followers of Christ provide buoyancy to a world that would rather drown in its own sin.
Do we do this perfectly? Far from it! Not even close. But, for all their faults, Christians are and typically have been at the front of the lines pleading for causes like hospitals, orphanages, and the unborn. Remember that the words “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound” were penned by John Newton. John Newton who captained a slave ship before becoming an Anglican minister and mentoring William Wilberforce, the man used powerfully in the abolition movement to end slave trade in England.
All this to say, there is irony in God’s purpose for His people. We will shine as lights and serve as salt, but the world will hate us for it. In response we will pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” living lives that are surrendered to His glory and preaching the gospel that saves, the only true and lasting hope for our world.
