Less Than Ideal - 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Introduction

In 1513, Ponce de Leon landed in Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth. Rumors had swirled that there existed a fountain in which you could bathe and from which you could drink that would restore youthfulness to your body and mind. You’d literally be able to turn back the clock. Today, the idea of a fountain of youth seems pretty silly to us....until you stop and think about it for a second. In the past 18 years, there’s been a 273% increase in cosmetic surgery for men. At the same time, there’s been a 429% increase in women. And, the line of thinking is usually that if I look better, then I will feel better. That is, there’s a goal to turn back the clock so that you can restore youthfulness to your body and mind.

There’s long been a human pursuit to become our ideal selves. We imagine a time in which we hit our ideal weight and have our ideal faces and work in our ideal profession and come home to our ideal families which will allow us to enjoy our ideal happiness. In fact, I would propose that one of the reasons that we have our kids in every sport and every extracurricular and hire for them ACT tutors may just be because we want them to experience our idealized childhoods. We hope that we can transform our children into prodigies so that they are able to enjoy an ideal life themselves. But, here’s the thing: it’s hopeless to chase ideal in a less than ideal world. It’s hopeless to feel the need for an ideal body when ours is dying a little more every day.

God’s Word

Saul appeared to be ideal. He was exactly what Sam was looking for and exactly who Sam would have chosen. We all could’ve picked him out of a lineup to be king. But, chapter 15 is meant to drive home to us that our concept of ideal is misguided and destructive. And, chapter 16 is written to show how God works through less than ideal people in a less than ideal world to bring us ultimately to his ideal conclusion.

Chapter 15 and 16 are contrasts. 15 shows how we operate. 16 shows “How God Operates:” (Headline)

God doesn’t “worry” about the “future.”

16:1The 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.”

Verse one shows us a great example of how we operate being contrasted with how God operates.

Samuel is worried to death. Samuel cried all night when he found out about Saul’s disobedience (15:11), and chapter 15 closes by saying that Samuel is grieving over Saul (35). He really believed that Saul was the right man. He was going to protect and unify Israel. Saul represented Israel’s very hope to Sam. The kingdom is in peril. The promises seem uncertain. That is, Sam’s ideal picture of Israel was going to be unrealized. There’s a tremendous sense of loss like there is any time you realize a dream isn’t going to come true.

But, God isn’t panicked at all. That’s the message that’s behind verse one. “How long will your hope be wrapped up in Saul and not me? How long will you grieve as though you are someone without hope? How long will you act like I’m not in control?” God doesn’t panic; He provides. That’s the lesson. We panic. God provides. “I have PROVIDED FOR MYSELF a king.” Do you hear what He’s saying? “I don’t need Saul. Saul isn’t irreplaceable. I don’t need anything at all. I can provide for myself what is needed. Throughout the Bible, one of the most common occurrences is that a leader or a prophet or a king dies, and it appears that hope dies with him. But, God always raises up another one. God always carries his plan forward.

Saul’s rebellion wasn’t a surprise to God. In fact, the news is never news to God. God’s not rubbing his forehead and pacing the floor of heaven. If you’re not worried this morning, just sign on to the internet or turn on the news, and you’ll find plenty to worry about. You’ll be reminded really quickly that we aren’t living in an ideal world or an ideal country or an ideal time. But, it doesn’t matter what notification you get or what breaking news banner flashes; iit’s not news to God. God isn’t panicked or frantic about the future. God’s work always carries on.

16:2-3 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.’ 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.”

Verses 1-3 should really be seen as God confronting Samuel’s worry so that He could comfort him in it. He confronts him to comfort him. Sam is worried about Saul’s failure, and God tells him He’s raising up a new king. Then, Sam does what we do: he moves on to the next thing to worry about. It would have amounted to treason for Sam to anoint a new king; so, he’s worried Saul will kill him. But, of course, God has a plan.

Samuel was looking at all the problems. “Saul has failed. He will kill me. What hope is there?” God says, “Don’t look at all the problems. Just look to me.” “I will show you what to do. You will anoint FOR ME. I will DECLARE TO YOU.” Samuel keeps asking, “What hope do I have?” God keeps saying, “We haven’t even gotten to the good part yet!”

ILL: Towing a fifth wheel through Atlanta. You’ll get right with Jesus really fast. People are swerving and darting. Traffic on both sides of you. Road work. You feel like your 1.5” from death all of the time. It’s like I’m rubbing mirrors with people. Here’s the secret. Don’t look beside you. Look forward. Wherever your truck goes; your trailer follows. That’s the lesson for Sam and the lesson for us here. You turn on the news and see how far short of ideal it is. People are dying. Politicians are lying. Tragedies are looming around every corner. And, our hearts race. We always feel like we’re 1.5” from death, don’t we? The future seems so ominous. What do we do? Look forward. Don’t look in every direction. Look only in the direction of the LORD. Because He’s not panicked. He’s not frantic. We haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.

God isn’t “impressed” by “charisma”.

16:6-7 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 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.”

Sam is sent to Jesse’s house and told that one of his eight sons would be the next king. Samuel’s eyes are immediately drawn to Eliab. He’s probably relieved that it’s going to be such a short search. He’s found another stud! You can almost imagine the relief that came over Samuel when he noticed Eliab because he’s described in the same way that Saul was described. God had replaced him with someone just as good!

Saul: 9:2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Eliab: 16: 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.

God seems to kind of roll his eyes at Sam because he’s not learning how foolish it is to follow your eyes. He’s searching for a king the same way as last time which is going to produce the same results as last time. He wanted the charismatic king that LOOKED like a king. He wanted the guy that all the other nations would be jealous of. Sam was convinced they only needed a more ideal version of Saul! Samuel trusted his eyes too much. This is our way, isn’t it? It makes me think of the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast. Mark Driscoll is remarkably charismatic and compelling as a preacher. The church grows and grows and his podcast grows and grows. I remember listening to his sermons every week when I was younger. But, behind the scenes the guy is just a wreck, and then over time, his character is so poor than the act can’t be kept up even for appearances. And so, he falls, and then we all pile on to him. And, what do we do? We go and find us another super preacher, someone with perfectly white teeth and the smoothest delivery at the biggest church, and we repeat the cycle. The problem is not all Mark Driscoll. We’re a big part of this equation. How do churches find pastors? The create a profile of the ideal pastor, and then go try to find him like a robot. How do Christians seek to find churches? The discuss the ideal church with all of the religious products they want to consume and without any of the warts, and then they set out on a mission to find them. But, none of it lasts, does it? Why? Because it’s not real! The LORD rejects such shallowness! We trust our eyes too much!

The LORD doesn’t evaluate based on charisma, but character.

16:7But 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.”

See the intended contrast between how God operates and how we operate. We become enamored with polish and degrees and resumes. We drool over the five tool player who has it all. Personalities attract us. Intellect astonishes us. Accomplishments impress us. But, the LORD doesn’t evaluate based on charisma; He evaluates on character. He isn’t impressed by how fit we are or how accomplished we are or how well-educated we are or how well-spoken we are. He’s concerned only with whether or not your heart loves him and wants to honor him and obey him. He’s concerned only with the character of your faith. God can’t be impressed, and He can’t be fooled or manipulated by a good presentation.

The tragedy of this is that so many of us are spending all of our time and energy and money focused on what God doesn’t care about. That is, we’re spending our lives trying to look like Saul, and Saul is the exact type of person that God rejects. God rejects the person who says, “Lord, lord” on the outside, when inwardly their hearts are far from him. How much time are spending to develop the part of you that only God sees?

God doesn’t “need” a “prodigy”.

This probably sounds like a bad news sermon at this point, but it’s not. It seems like bad news that God sees past our words and smiles to our hearts, but it’s not. It could feel like I’m saying you have to be an even more ideal person. That you have to be ideal on the outside and on the inside. But, that’s not what I’m saying at all. You don’t have to be an ideal person; you have to be a real person. God already knows everything about you. He already knows what you love and what you hate. He knows the character of your faith and the nature of your motives. He already knows, and his judgement is the only judgement that matters. The pursuit of being the ideal person is a death march. Some make it farther than others, but eventually everyone dies from exhaustion. But, what we learn from David is that God offers grace to overcome all of our weaknesses and blemishes and sins, all of our less than ideal qualities, IF WE GIVE HIM ALL OF OUR HEARTS. If we walk in love and humility and repentance, David’s testimony gives everyone of us hope because if God will choose David, He will love us, too.

David is the weakest candidate.

16:11-12 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.” 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.”

“youngest” = “tiniest”

“keeping the sheep” = lowliest, smelliest, least revered job

He wasn’t even invited to the dinner. He didn’t have a seat at the table. He was totally marginalized within his own family.

He didn’t catch Samuel’s eye. He wasn’t recommended by his dad. He wasn’t respected by his family. BUT, HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD.

He’s opposite of Saul in every way. Here’s why that matters: You can’t become David by pursuing the path of Saul. Why? God doesn’t need a prodigy. God has every resource. God has every ability. So, God’s plan is not to identify the best people so that He can have the best and brightest does his work. God’s plan is to do his greatest work through his weakest servants.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 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; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

You can’t be too weak for God, but you can be too strong. You can be too strong to admit your not ideal. You can be too strong to admit you can’t make things right. You can be too strong to willfully cast all of your cares and sins upon Christ. That is, you can be too strong to find real freedom.

David and Paul only intend to point us to Jesus. Jesus came as one who was weak and ordinary. People wondered why everyone was following the carpenter, Joseph’s son. Mary sent his brothers to go and get him before he got into too much trouble. When He healed, people wondered if there was anything that come from Nazareth. And, as he laid there nailed to that cross, the soldiers mocked him for being so helpless. But, the resurrection was proof of God’s operating system. God doesn’t need prodigies. He doesn’t need earth’s thrones or capitol buildings. He does his best work through his weakest servants. A cross does all that God needs it to do. And, that’s how we can know that his grace is sufficient for all of our weakness. You don’t have to be an ideal person; you just have to be a real person who repents of your sins and places your hope in Jesus alone.