1 Sam. 16:6-13
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ 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 does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’ 11Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: I wonder how the brothers felt? Do we, as God's people, ever "look upon appearance or on the height of his stature" when looking for someone to lead God's people?
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8 comments:
i think that the brothers may have felt some disbelief. the traditional process for this kind of thing would have been supossed to go to the eldest, or at least the most favored child. and David was the youngest and obbviously not the most favered since he was the only one working far away. the fact that God look inside is a comforting idea knowing that most with little good on the outside are the most hummble.
They likely felt as the elder brother in the Prodigal son parable.
We not only look on outward appearances, we even are guilty of deciding what is in the "heart" of others. These verses are a good reminder to let the "Lord look on the heart".
What happens to people when the "spirit of the Lord comes mightily on humans from that day forward"? The sentence at first read might mean "no more troubles". This too will prove to be good news for us all.
This is the other part of KevKat... I feel the brothers probably were jealous. Is that not what many of us find thinking when we are not chosen to do something so important? I could also agree with the 1st KevKat response this morning in them also feeling some disbelief. And YES! We find ourselves looking at appearance all the time! No matter if it is for a position to lead God's people or not. This is something that only with God's help can we over come because this world tells us so many times to look at the appearance 1st. Think about an interview and how they look at first impressions. It not only has to do with what you say, but also the way you are dressed and present yourself! Praise God He looks at the HEART!!!
Saul was chosen by the people because they loved his height and handsome looks. Not Gods choice. Samuel had a twinge of the same thing. God told him fast that it must be His choice or your going to get it wrong once again.
Are we talking a political leader of God's people or a spiritual leader for God's community of believers?
I hope that as we looked for a spiritual leader a couple of years back that we were not looking at stature. Otherwise there was a very fine man of God that we have been blessed with that was not 6' something.
I would hope that all would do their best, with the help of God through prayer, look for all leaders within the community of Christ based upon what God sees in the heart not what the outward appearance is.
And I strongly believe that at that time, God allowed us to see the heart of the man that was chosen to shepherd us
.
P.S. We have had the privilege of having another man of small stature shepherd us along the path of Christ also.
I wonder why this text records the appearance of David after the Lord told Samuel not to look on his appearance or height of his stature??
David may not have been tall, but was apparently good looking. (Ruddy, beautiful eyes, and handsome). Immediately after describing his appearance, Samuel said, "This is the one". Nothing is mentioned that excluded Abinadab and Shammah.
This bit of the David story is a good reminder to all of us that "our ways may not be the Lord's way".
I grew up playing a lot of sports...baseball, basketball, and football....in a pretty big high school. As I look back at the guys that I played with, I can honestly say that there were quite a few athletes who were some of the meanest guys in the school....putting people down, muscling their way around, insensitive to the struggle of life that some endure.
On the flipside of things, I also did well academically and so I found myself with the crowd that is generally named "the nerds". As I look back at that crowd, I remember very few of them who were cruel and mean to others.
There's a lot of breaking the 5th commandment that goes on in the halls and cafeterias of school, even today. But not only there....in workplaces, in Wellness Center hot tubs, and unfortunately even within the church.
Maybe as Samuel found out, the question to ask is not what do I value in any given person, but rather what does God value in any given person....even David!
interesting though rjq about David's "good looks"....mmm....maybe a sign of how deep the problem is for us!
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