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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
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.
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord."
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 man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The Lord has not chosen this one either."
Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the Lord chosen this one."
Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen these."
So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; he 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 upon David in power.
Samuel then went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:4b-13
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Early on in 1 Samuel, chapter 16, we find the Lord motivating Samuel to get over his disappointment from Saul’s failure as king, providing specific guidance as to what He wanted his servant to do. Through the God’s actions, we learned that He doesn’t expect us to linger and prolong within sadness or despair but rather turn to Him for the peace, comfort, and strength needed to move on and get back on our feet again. As this chapter continues, we see Samuel do just that.
You’ll recall that the Lord had told Samuel to go to Jesse of Bethlehem with his horn filled with oil because he was going to anoint one of Jesse’s sons…the one that the Lord had chosen to replace Saul. Samuel was apprehensive at first because he was fearful that Saul may try and have him killed but God reassured him that all would be well and that He would show Samuel what to do once he got to Jesse. With this, Samuel set out to fulfill the Lord’s will.
Well, as this chapter continues, we see Samuel arriving in Bethlehem, causing a stir among the town elders who “trembled when they met him” as they were fearful that the well-known messenger of the Lord was coming with bad news for them. We read where they probed Samuel asking:
“Do you come in peace?"
They had to be relieved when he replied:
"Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me."
The town elders would have automatically breathed a collective sigh of relief for they knew sacrifices were holy sacraments, something Samuel was qualified to carry out. They required all who participated to be prepared for the occasion and so this is why Samuel commanded they become consecrated. Ultimately, the final outcome of all that was to come was the revelation of Israel’s new king.
Back to the scriptures where we read that after arriving at the place of sacrifice, Samuel was able to get a good look at all of Samuel’s sons, so much so that he began to predict who God had chosen. Specifically, he saw the eldest son, the one who would have been entitled to Jesse’s birthright, and thought:
“Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord."
As we see, Samuel was dead wrong and the Lord, who seeks and knows our every thought, addressed Samuel saying:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
You see, Samuel’s attempts at sizing up the competition were fruitless because he was making his choice based only on what he could see…on outer appearance. This was far short of what God could see for as we learn through His own words, He can look into the deepest parts of a person…and fully know what resides in their heart.
One quick question to ponder before we move on:
What would the Lord see if He looked into your heart right now?
Well, with Eliab rejected, we see a procession of Jesse’s sons come before Samuel in order of the oldest to the youngest. First, Abinadab passed “in front of Samuel” with the Lord denying him as He did Eliab. Shammah would be next only to be rejected as well and this would carry on until all seven sons present had been passed over. This led Samuel to ask Jesse:
“Are these all the sons you have?"
Well, it’s came as no surprise that there was still a son left. After all, the Lord promised Samuel that a son of Jesse would be the one who would be Israel’s next king and if all of the other sons were turned down, there had to be at least one at large. That son was the youngest, David, who we read was “tending the sheep." Samuel orders Jesses to do the following:
"Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
And so Jesse did as Samuel demanded and as David arrived, we read where “he was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features”. Samuel wastes no time making everyone informed that David was the one the Lord had chosen saying:
“Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
He (Samuel) “took the horn of oil and anointed (Jesse’s youngest son) in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power”. Israel had a new king…King David…who would eventually end up in the genealogy of the King of Kings…our eternal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Well, earlier in this book, we found Samuel delivering a stern message to Saul from the Lord, saying:
"You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command." 1 Samuel 13:13-14
Indeed, the Lord had sought out a man after His own heart to lead His beloved people…and He did so because He looks at the heart when He chooses someone to represent Him properly. David’s heart was obviously so inclined towards God that he was an easy choice. And perhaps, we get more of a view into David’s heart than any other man in the Old Testament as he provided us with a book of wonderful Psalms, many of which he composed.
Today, the Lord still looks into the hearts of people and so we, as believers, had better make sure all is in order there so He will be pleased with what He sees when He looks inside.
To that end, preparing our hearts so they will gain the Lord’s favor when He looks into them, Jesus gave us excellent guidance when He said this during His Sermon on the Mount:
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
Here, Jesus is telling us to value the right things in life because whatever we choose to treasure will be the thing that our hearts will connect to. As Christians, that one true treasure needs to be Jesus, now and forever. For if we commit ourselves to do this, making Jesus as our one and only treasure, then it’s Him and Him alone who will be in our hearts. And given that Satan, our enemy, cannot so-exist in the same space with Jesus, keeping our hearts grounded in our Savior is a sure way to drive out the devil. Or put in other words, Satan will never have a place in our heart if Jesus occupies it.
Further….when we make Jesus our treasure and place Him and Him alone at the center of our hearts, then we will embody everything that is found in Him…and as a result, our lives will begin to totally reflect Him. Coming back around full circle, this means that when God looks in our heart, He will see everything He wants to see because His Son is there and dwelling within.
Given all this, why would anyone not want to follow Jesus?
It’s completely baffling to me but we know that three-quarters of the world’s population isn’t Christian…and therefore 75 percent of the people on earth will die and go to Hell forever. It’s sobering thought but everyone has a choice…a choice as to what they treasure which dictates what the Lord will find when He looks in their heart.
My prayer is that a major shift happens in this world we live in, a radical shift towards Jesus as people open up their minds and hearts to receive Him as their treasure. We will never see things in a better place if it would only happen.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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