What kind
of qualities would you say are necessary to become President of the United
States? Perhaps intelligence? The ability to think on your feet? According to
some research, it may not take much more than simply being taller than your
opponent.
Since 1789,
when our current Constitution was adopted, the taller of the major-party
candidates for President has won the popular vote 67% of the time.1
That means that in two out of every three Presidential elections, you could
correctly predict the winner of the popular vote by looking at nothing more
than which candidate is taller.
During last
year’s election, Google kept a close eye on what people were searching for
during one of the Republican debates. The top search had nothing to do with tax
plans or foreign policy. The top search question was, “How tall is Jeb Bush?”
As humans,
we’re inclined to form all kinds of opinions about people based on nothing more
than how they look. This tendency can lead us to hold opinions about others
that are way off base. We can come to esteem others whom we really should not
hold in high regard, and we can look down on others for whom we should truly
have great respect.
When God
announced that a teenage shepherd named David would be the next king of Israel
after Saul, he revealed to us how we should form our opinions of others. The
Lord’s declaration in this chapter is one that we should keep in mind:
Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on
the heart.
I enjoy
watching a good musical on stage. In a musical, all of the big turning points
in the drama are expressed through songs. In this story in 1 Samuel 16, all of
the big turning points are expressed through the Hebrew verb that means “to
see” or “to look.” God first announces that he has seen a king for himself.
Samuel then sees a likely candidate for the next king, but then we discover
that Samuel was not looking at the right things. Then later, King Saul must
look for a man for a certain task, and his servant announces that he has seen
just the man that Saul is looking for. Let’s look through this drama and learn
how to see other people the way that God does.
1. God sees a king for himself (vv. 1-5)
[READ v. 1]
Here is the first verb of seeing, though it’s not entirely clear in the English
translation. We could translate that last phrase “I have seen for myself a king
among his sons;” or perhaps even better, “I have seen to it that there is a
king among his sons.”
Understandably,
Samuel wasn’t sure about all of this [READ vv. 2-5].
2. Samuel sees a likely candidate for king (v. 6)
When Jesse
and his sons arrived, Samuel apparently thought, “This is the easiest mission
I’ve ever had! Eliab is the obvious choice.” [READ v. 6]
Eliab
must’ve had a very commanding presence to stand out so quickly in Samuel’s
eyes. Perhaps he had been the all-state quarterback at Bethlehem High School –
tall, strong, broad-shouldered. Apparently Samuel chose kings the same way that
Americans choose Presidents. But Samuel is about to get an eye exam from the
Lord.
3. God adjusts Samuel’s sight (vv. 7-13)
[READ v. 7]
The point of that final statement is not that God knows more about other people
than we do – although that is certainly true. The point is that God focuses on
what is truly important while we get hung up on things that really are not
important. God focuses on character while we focus on clothing; he looks at humility
while we look at height; he looks at service while we look at skin color.
If we want
to learn to form our opinions about others the way God does, we can’t get hung
up on superficial qualities. We have to look at their character – to look at
what they say, what they do, and whether those two expressions of the heart
match up with each other.
Samuel
receives an immediate lesson in this principle as an impromptu parade of
Jesse’s sons then passes before him [READ v. 8-11, stopping at “keeping the
sheep”].
Can you
feel how Jesse is almost dumbfounded by the thought of calling in his youngest
son? Jesse hadn’t even invited him to the dinner in the first place! I’m sure
he had affection for David, but this lack of an invitation tells us something
of what Jesse thought about David’s position in the family. No one will even
miss the runt if we don’t invite him!
Jesse also
offers a slight protest by declaring where his youngest son is. Notice that he
introduces it with the word behold: “behold, he is keeping the sheep.” “Samuel,
you gotta understand – he doesn’t have any cell phone reception out there, so
we’ll have to send someone all the way out there to get him, and then we’ll
have to wait for him to get all the way back. Is it really necessary to call
him in? Maybe we can just rewind the parade and you can look over my older
son’s again!”
But Samuel
was starting to learn God’s lesson, so he says, [READ v. 11b-12a, stopping at
“handsome’]. It’s kind of ironic that in this lesson about not focusing on a
person’s outward appearance, we get this explanation that David was handsome!
What this teaches us is that a person’s appearance should be neither a point
for them or a strike against them. We shouldn’t fawn over someone just because
they have good looks, but neither should we write them off for the same reason.
David was
God’s chosen man, and so we read this [READ vv. 12b-13].
David has
now been declared to be the next king of Israel, and no one less than the
Spirit of the Lord himself is now upon him. So it’s very instructive to discover
that the next time anyone goes looking for David, he’s back out with the sheep!
He was anointed as the next king, but in the absence of any further
instructions, he thought, “Well, I guess I better go make sure the sheep are
okay!”
He didn’t
surround himself with an entourage or form a transition team to prepare for his
new administration. David had a very humble response, and that’s precisely one
of the reasons why the Lord chose him for this significant position.
So the Lord has seen a king for himself, and Samuel has now
received a new pair of glasses so that he can see the king, too. Now we read
that King Saul needs to go looking for someone for a certain reason.
4. Saul looks for someone to bring him relief (vv. 14-17)
[READ v.
14] There are two questions we should address after reading this verse. First,
since the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, do we need to fear that the
same thing could happen to us today? The short answer is no, because we have a
different relationship with God today than Old Testament people did – even if
they were sincere believers and people whom we will see in heaven.
The death
and resurrection of Jesus changed many things, and the ministry of the Holy
Spirit was one of them. Under God’s administration in the Old Testament, the
Holy Spirit typically empowered people only for a season. It was not a
permanent indwelling.
With
Christ’s death and resurrection however, the veil between God and man has been
torn. There is now a new freedom for fellowship between God and man, so the
Holy Spirit’s residence in our hearts is permanent. We can certainly grieve the
Holy Spirit through our sins, as Ephesians 4:30 warns us, but he will not leave
us since we have been adopted as God’s own children.
The second
question from this text is, what was this harmful spirit that tormented Saul?
It may have been some kind of psychological illness. I should note that the
Hebrew term for “spirit” and the English word “spirit” are similar in that they
can both refer to either my own personal, human spirit, or they can refer to a
supernatural, spiritual being. So it could be that the Lord sent bouts of
depression into Saul’s spirit or something like that.
I think
it’s more likely that we have a situation like what Job experienced. In the
story of Job, God did not initiate anything harmful against that man, but he
did give Satan permission to afflict him. I think that’s the situation here –
that because of Saul’s sin, the Lord gave Satan permission to afflict him.
Saul’s
servants suggest a solution which may not have been the first thought in our
minds, but it’s one that does teach us something important [READ vv. 15-17; in
v. 17 we find the verb for “seeing” or “looking” again].
I want to
talk a bit more in a moment about the power of music, but for now, notice that
one of Saul’s servants announces that he has seen just the man that the King is
looking for, and it is none other than David.
5. David is seen and comes to serve (vv. 18-23)
[READ vv.
18-23] Notice how God’s eyesight is vindicated in this passage. He had seen for
himself a king among Jesse’s sons, and now other people were starting to take
note of David’s qualities. The Lord had obviously seen very well!
Notice also
a lesson that we can take from these verses about the power of music. Music has
the power to soothe a troubled heart and calm an anxious soul. Music has a
fascinating ability to touch every part of us. It can move your body – just
think about how you feel like dancing when you hear certain kinds of music. It
can touch your mind by calling up certain memories for you. It can touch your
emotions by moving you to tears or putting a smile on your face.
Music has
such power that it should be the regular habit of every Christian to listen to
music that praises the name of the Lord and turns our thoughts toward him and
his commandments. Just as you should regularly read the Bible and pray, you
should listen to music that will lead you to praise the Lord. When you are
tempted to sin, use the power of music to your advantage. Sing or hum a hymn or
song of praise to yourself, or turn on some Christian music and allow it to
change what you’re thinking about and how you’re feeling in that moment.
Since music
is such a powerful tool, I must say this to all of you – be very careful about
the kinds of music that you choose to listen to. Music can affect you in ways
that you won’t even realize unless you stop to think about it.
Music has
the power to embed messages deeply within your mind. When I was in high school,
there were certain artists that I listened to. I haven’t listened to some of
them for 17 years now, but I’ve discovered that if I hear one of their songs in
a commercial or out in a restaurant, the lyrics come back to me immediately.
Music has
that kind of power to make a lasting impression upon your mind. When we want to
memorize something – like the alphabet, for example – we set it to music, don’t
we? It helps us remember that information or that message in a way that simply
reciting it never will.
And it’s
not just the lyrics that have power – it’s the music itself. So often I hear
people listen to trashy music, and they say, “Oh, I don’t listen to the words –
I just like the beat.” What you have to realize is that the music itself
affects you far more than you think.
For you
younger people especially, think of it like this – there’s a reason you don’t
play lullabies in pep band. The band is there to get the players and the crowd
into a certain mood, so you play songs that will put us in that mood.
If you
listen to music that has an aggressive, edgy beat, you will feel more
aggressive and on edge! If you listen to music that has a dark, somber tone to
it, you will feel somber and depressed. This isn’t rocket science, it’s just
reality, because that’s the kind of power that music possesses. So be wise
about what you choose to listen to.
Conclusion
David’s
ascent to the throne is now underway. He has been seen and noticed by God, and
now he has been seen and noticed by King Saul himself. He is now a member of
the royal court, and all that remains is to see how God will deposed the
rejected king and crown the anointed king. That drama awaits us in this series,
and trust me—it is must see TV!
Notes:
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/does-the-tallest-presidential-candidate-win-3367512.
Accessed March 23, 2017.
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