“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.” -1 Samuel 16:7
Many of us we think that God always calls the brightest and the best. In 1st Samuel, the people of Israel don’t have a king. One day, the Jewish people decide they want a king so they choose Saul. He was regal, tall, handsome, and kingly. However, he soon became a tyrant, treating people terribly. So God sends Samuel to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem to where he is going to call a new king. When he arrives, he tells the people they are going to have a party and make a sacrifice to God. Now the bible doesn’t say this, but I always believe that Samuel did this party sacrifice thing as a bit of a disguise to snoop around Jesse’s family and see who the king was. Samuel was led by the Holy Spirit and was supposed to discern by listening and feeling to find out who the next king was. So Jesse brings out his eldest son Eliab, claiming that “surely this is God’s anointed,” because he was the tall and handsome and the eldest son. But the bible says this: “God 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 at the heart. One at a time, all of these sons were brought before Samuel and he keeps thinking this is the one. But God says no to all of them, and Samuel asks if there are any more sons. Jesse scratches his head and he goes well there’s, I mean I guess there’s David. David was told to stay back and take care of the sheep during this big party. He wasn’t invited. Then, Samuel says “we will not sit down until he is here.” And when David comes, he is the chosen one because of his heart.
PRAYER: Thank you, God, for looking at our heart. Even though we may be rejected and uninvited, you choose us and use us.
REFLECTION: Do you ever feel like David?
