David: The Heart of the Matter

God judges by what we can’t see, not what we look like.

Last week we talked about how Saul was rejected as king because he was not obedient to God. We discussed how partial obedience is really disobedience. When God tells you to do something, complete the processes.

We also talked about how sacrifice that is not directly related to obedience may not please God as much as we think it does. God doesn’t want us to sacrifice just so we will be without, He wants us to obey and obedience requires sacrifice.

This week we are going to meet David, we will see how God goes about choosing Saul’s replacement.

1 Samuel 16:4–7 NIV

4 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?” 5 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. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 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.”

Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes things look really really good on the outside but are rotten on the inside. Not that David’s brothers were bad people, but they were not David. God chose David.

Saul looked like a king. 1 Samual 9 says he was a head taller than everyone and very handsome, he is what you would expect a king to look like. So when Samuel sees David’s brothers, tall and handsome, he things “oh, they look like Saul...” But God is not looking for another Saul.

It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we have it all figured out and that God only sees what we want Him to see. The truth is, God knows when aren’t really obeying Him. He hears the words that we say really quietly when we walk away from people that we think no one else can hear. He sees our thoughts and knows why we do what we do.

Jesus talks about this in Mark 7. The Pharisees want to know why His disciples ignore some of the washing customs before they eat. Jesus answers them...

Mark 7:6–8 NIV

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

God is not looking for people to just say things about Him, He is looking for people who will live for Him. Back to David.

Samuel meets all of David’s brothers and each time God says, nope, not him… Samuel is probably a little shocked. Here are a bunch of guys who look qualified, some of them were even warriors.

1 Samuel 16:11–13 NIV

11 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.” 12 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.” 13 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.

David is anointed king, but he does not become king, not yet anyways. But The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. We see this all throughout the book of Judges, the period right before this era of Israel’s history. God would rise them up to rescue Israel from their enemy and The Spirit would come upon the person and work through them.

This isn’t the Spirit as we know Him, this is a different sort of experience. This was more of a resting on than an indwelling. The Spirit comes upon David…and leaves Saul.

And now we wait. There is a lot that happens in the time between when David is anointed and when he actually becomes king. David has a lot to learn, and God is not going to waste this time. David is going to be tried and tested and the differences between Saul and David will become very clear.

In the same way we saw last week where sacrifice that is not directly related to obedience isn’t worth very much, we see this week that saying we love God doesn’t mean very much if we don’t live like it.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew 21 about a man who had two sons, he went to the first son and said go and work in the vineyard today, but the son said I will not, but later he changed his mind and went to work. The father then went to the second son and said go and work in the vineyard and he said I will sir, but he did not go. Which son obeyed?

The son who actually went and worked in the vineyard. Each son had a different answer, but the son who went and did what his father asked is the one who obeyed. It is important to talk about God and to tell people that you love Him, but if you aren’t obeying God then your words do not matter. God loves it when you tell other people about Him, but not when your life does not match your words.

Your actions determine your belief more than your words do. Its easy to say things, but actually obeying with your actions comes with a cost. And you act out what you truly believe. So pay attention to your heart and think about why you do the things you do. Because why you do what you do is just as important to God as what you do.