Core 52: Kingdom of God

I was in the first grade when I got my first pair of eyeglasses. They were brown and black and had Fred Flintstone’s good buddy, Barney Rubble stamped on the side. Since then, I’ve always worn glasses. There were seasons of contact lenses. I still have the vision restriction on my driver’s license. Some of you know what I’m talking about. Some have glasses to help you see far away. Others use glasses to see up close. Some have bi-focals or tri-focals or cheaters.

I submit to you today that whether you have corrective lenses or not, we all have a vision problem. Our vision problem is identified in 1 Samuel 16.7 which is our core verse for week 7 of our Core 52 journey.

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

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.”

The Lord looks differently than people look. People are focused on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

As we look at 1 Samuel 16, I think we see the answer to our vision problem. But, first we must admit we have a vision problem.

To set the scene for 1 Samuel 16, we need to know what is going on. A generation earlier in the judges, we read this refrain.

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

God’s people had a vision problem. In fact, Judges 21.25 could summarize many people today. Everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.

Israel started to look around at all of their neighbors and they had kings. So, the ask Samuel to anoint a king for them. Everyone else has a king. We want one, too. Parents does that sound like your children? Everyone has it....I want one, too.

This request for a king deeply troubled Samuel.

1 Samuel 8:7 NIV

And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Samuel, then went on to warn God’s people what a king would do. The king will take your children as soldiers and servants and our crops as taxes.

They continued in the request to reject God as their king so they could have an earthly king.

Enter Saul, who was tall and started off good, but made several poor choices bowing to peer pressure and not honoring the commands of God.

1 Samuel 15:26 NIV

But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

Since God rejected Saul as king, he commanded Samuel to fill your horn with oil and go and anoint the next king. In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel goes to the town of Bethlehem to the house of Jesse. God told Samuel, “I have chosen one of his sons.”

Samuel arrives in Bethlehem and invites Jesse and his sons to a sacrifice to the Lord, a worship gathering to honor God. On seeing Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab, Samuel thought, “Here’s the next king. This is the Lord’s chosen one to be the next king.”

Then we come to our core verse in 1 Samuel 16.7.

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

God tells Samuel, Eliab is not the one I have chosen. Pay no attention to his appearance or his height. I have not chosen him. In fact, though Eliab looks impressive, in the next chapter we see Eliab’s true colors. His little brother, David, comes with food from their father and wanted an update on the battle. Eliab replies to his younger brother, David, in 1 Samuel 17.28.

1 Samuel 17:28 NIV

When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

Much like Samuel, we have a vision problem. We are consumed with external appearances. We put on a show. Most of us have been wearing masks out in public long before COVID came around. We put on a show for people to hide scars and wounds from the past. We may look good on the outside, but inside we are hurting and wounded.

The rest of the boys pass in front of Samuel: Abinadab and Shammah. But those were not the chosen one either. Samuel asked Jesse, “Do you have any other sons?” “Yes, the youngest. He’s out tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him. We will not sit until he arrives” (1 Samuel 16.11).

1 Samuel 16:12–13 NIV

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.

David was anointed as the next king not because of his fine features and appearance, but because of his heart.

Listen to how David is described in both the Old and New Testaments.

1 Samuel 13:14 NIV

But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

Acts 13:22 ESV

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.’

So, the cure to our vision problems is to focus our attention on our hearts. While David was far from perfect, he chased after God. As followers of Jesus, we need to give more attention to our heart. In the Hebrew culture, your heart was the center of your being.

Psalm 78:70–72 NIV

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.

The interesting thing about what followed after David was anointed as the next king of Israel is that he went back out to tending the sheep. Later in 1 Samuel 16.19, David is invited to come play music for king Saul. When they go to bring David to the king, the scripture says, “David, who is with the sheep.” In the next chapter, as the battle lines are drawn up against Goliath, again, we read, “David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem” (1 Samuel 17.15).

Those examples speak to the humility of David’s heart. He could have reminded people that he was the next king. Instead, he simply went about doing his chores and following up on the small mundane things of life. Can I challenge each of us to let God mold our hearts in the everyday experiences of life? Our hearts are formed by the conversations at the breakfast table, the moments waiting at a red light, how we respond to that challenging co-worker.

Gene Edwards writes in A Tale of Three Kings, about David, near the end of his reign as king. Speaking from David’s perspective, “I seek his [God’s] will, not his power. I repeat, I desire his will more than I desire a position of leadership” (page 75).

David pursued God’s heart. You can read about in the Psalms that he wrote. You see it in his respect for King Saul’s life that he would not take revenge on the man who wanted to kill him. And still, David was far from perfect.

Mark Moore writes in our Core 52 book, “This is why Israel needed a Messiah—a king who would lead with God’s heart, not just chase after it.”

The Kingdom of God was the heartbeat of Jesus’ preaching and ministry. He announced that the Kingdom of God was here. He taught His disciples to pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done.” As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, he healed diseases and welcomed children. He spoke the truth and served the poor. Jesus’ kingdom was different than any other kingdom.

The key lesson for today is, “The Kingdom of God finds its home in our hearts.”

God’s kingdom finds its home in our hearts, the center of our being. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians to have the eyes of the heart light up. Listen to his prayer for them.

Ephesians 1:17–23 NIV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

King Jesus is the perfect king whose heart is pure. He wants to heal our hearts and dwell in our hearts as He expands His perfect reign.

As we think about this story of God’s kingdom findings its home in our hearts, what is your “I will” statement this week. How are you going to take this truth of God’s word into your life this week? How are you going to obey this truth of God’s word this week?

Maybe your “I will"statement sounds like this, “Every time I put on my glasses this week, I will ask God to open my eyes to see people as He sees them.” Another example could be, “I will take five minutes before I go to bed and ask God to search my heart.” Or, the next time I’m quick to judge people by outward appearances, I will say to myself, ‘God looks at the heart.’”

Week Seven in Core 52 by Mark Moore

(These daily guides accompany the book, Core 52 by Mark Moore.)

Day 1: Read the essay.

Day 2: Memorize 1 Samuel 16.7.

Day 3: Read 1 Samuel 15-16.

Day 4: Meditate on Judges 21.25; 1 Samuel 8.1-18; 13.14.

Day 5: Read the three fatal flaws of Saul (1 Samuel 1.8-9; 14.24-27; 15.13-14) and the characteristics of Jesus’s leadership. Ask a friend or mentor to point out your greatest strength in imitating Jesus and your greatest risk of turning out like Saul.

Overachiever Challenge: Memorize 1 Samuel 13.14.

Bonus Read: Gene Edwards, A Tale of Three Kings.

Related Media

Related Sermons