DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART

"Now the LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite.  For I have provided Myself a king among his sons'  …. So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, 'Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him!'  But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at the appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' " (I Sam. 16:1, 6-7)

 

Saul had failed as king of Israel.  He started well but pride got the best of him and God rejected him as the leader of His people.  Samuel mourned this turn of events, but God told him to quit grieving and anoint a new king.

So Samuel came to the family of Jesse, as God had commanded him to do.  The sons of Jesse came before Samuel.  The first was Eliab. As the eldest he would have been the natural and logical choice.  But he was not God's choice.  So seven sons of Jesse came before Samuel, but each was rejected.  But wait.  There was one more.  He was the youngest of the clan and he was out tending the sheep.  When David stood before Samuel, God said, "This is the one.  Anoint him as the future king."

God did not choose David because he was good-looking or had a pleasing personality.  In fact, he was handsome, ruddy, with bright eyes (vs. 12), with a reputation as a skilled harpist, a valiant warrior, and a good speaker (vs. 18).

But these things did not impress God.  God was looking for a man with a heart after His own heart.  And that man was David.  This is what the Apostle Paul said about David:  God " 'raised up David as king, to whom He gave testimony and said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will" ' " (Acts 13:22).  

So often I find myself judging by the outward appearance of a person instead of looking at their heart.  People may be as ugly as a mud hen, but they have a beautiful spirit.  David was such a man.  That is what I want to be. 

Love, Dad