The 12^th Sunday After Trinity

SERMON

Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

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.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

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 his appearance or at the height of his 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.” So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

In Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed:

When mothers brought their littlest of children to Jesus it was a scene that looked different to different people. The disciples’ view of the situation was negative. They tried to keep the mothers and the children away from Jesus, fearing that it would be too troubling for Jesus to bother with such things. On the other hand, Jesus’ view was quite different. He looked very positively on the situation and said, “Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:14).

When Jairus, a ruler in a synagogue, first came to Jesus his young daughter was very sick. Jesus agreed to go and help, but on the way to Jairus’ home, a servant came out to meet them and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35). The servant saw DEATH and thought it pointless for Jesus to come further. However, Jesus saw the girl’s death as nothing different than SLEEP and proceeded into the home to wake her to life.

We all receive information, think about it, perhaps ask questions about it, and then finally when our “processing” is done we form a conclusion/opinion/or understanding of the situation. The results of our process are not, however, completely right. They may be incomplete or sometimes, completely wrong.

God sees and knows all things. He controls all things. He knows exactly what He plans to do. He sees and knows so much more than we do which means that He will see things differently from us. There is MUCH frustration and needless worry that will be set aside if only we can remember that what we see and know is not the WHOLE picture. It will be helpful and important to know that we might not be as good at “taking it all in” as we think we are.

Humbly recognizing our limitations and praising God for His limitless knowledge and wisdom, we can find confidence and assurance for our walk as children of God. Then, we can see everything the way God sees them—not that we would be all-knowing or all-powerful, but through the eyes of faith and trusting God’s Word we would see and believe that God’s way of directing all things is indeed the best.

THE LORD DOES NOT SEE AS MAN SEES I. Man sees events; god sees His kingdom being built; II. Man sees fear; God sees His will being done; III. Man sees externals; God sees His Spirit being followed.

I.

Samuel became caught up in the events leading to Saul’s downfall as king. At this time, Saul was still king but he had turned away from the Lord and as a result the Lord had also rejected Saul as the king of Israel. Samuel had told Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:26).

Samuel knew the Lord’s rejection and grieved because of it. Samuel’s grief was not misplaced sorrow—Saul’s rejection grieved the Lord too. HOWEVER, there were two reasons for Samuel’s grieving to stop. "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.” [v.1] Literally, God told Samuel, “I have SEEN a king among Jesse’s sons.”

Samuel was not to go on mourning for Saul because God had rejected him as king. Indeed it was very sad that Saul had turned away from the word and work of the Lord, but the work of God’s kingdom must go forward. God’s judgment was that Saul would no longer be king—it could be possible for his soul to yet be saved, but he would no longer be king; therefore it’s time to move forward. In addition, God had new plans to accomplish. He had a new king whom He would train and bring to the kingship. Samuel had work to do, God was sending him to anoint a new king who would serve God in the building up of His nation—there was no more time for mourning.

Samuel had been looking at the series of events that brought Israel to the present point. He was mourning the way Saul, who had shown such promise, became a king whom god would remove from the throne. It was depressing to Samuel UNTIL God let him see what God saw. God showed Samuel something beyond just the events he could see. God showed him the future through whom God would greatly bless Israel.

When Samuel expressed concern about going to Jesse’s house for fear of Saul, God told him to “take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’” [v. 2] Samuel would be making a sacrificial offering to God when he anointed the next king. This wasn’t simply a plan devised by God to fool Saul. It did, however, become the way by which Samuel’s well-being was protected. The reason Samuel could emphasize his sacrifice and not be opposed by Saul was that Samuel was known to travel throughout the country and worship with the people. When Samuel, a prophet, came to Bethlehem and worshipped God with sacrifices, these were not extraordinary events it was a prophet offering a sacrifice—exactly what was expected.

So, Saul, the people of Bethlehem and anyone else who saw/heard what Samuel was doing would have just seen the events, all of which appeared very natural. THAT’s how man would see it—the ordinarily events in the daily life of a prophet—GOD SAW HIS KINGDOM BEING BUILT by the selection of a new king for His people, Israel.

In another instance, when Rebekah went to the well she was going about her daily work and chores of watering the animals under her supervision. Rebekah saw her daily chores and GOD saw a bride for Isaac. Rebekah an Isaac’s children formed the family from which Jesus would one day come—this was certainly more than just “events.”

Many of the accounts in Scripture appear only to be a series of rather ordinary events…if we consider it from the perspective of the people who witnessed them; and they all WERE ordinary events, but because God knows all that He will accomplish through these events, He sees things differently.

Scripture gives us an advantage. We know what God was seeing and accomplishing because He tells us! If we didn’t have God’s explanation, we wouldn’t see it either. If we were one of the 12 disciples we would have been just as perplexed as they were, but we have the advantage of God’s Word showing us more.

We might fall into the idea that God did dramatic things in Biblical days, but not anymore. That simply isn’t true. We are able to see God’s dramatic working in the events of Bible History because we have His Word to shed light on them. God “saw” the events of earth accomplishing His will and the work of His kingdom in Biblical times and the same is true today.

This gives us a Christian perspective on what we do. In the epistle reading we heard that our ascended Savior provides special gifts to His Church on earth to provide for the ministry of His Gospel. To the “naked eye” it could simply look like a lot of moving around and career changes—teachers moving here and there, pastors changing congregations. Different places, different faces, different styles is what it appears to be, but what is really happening is that God is moving His gifts to the place in His kingdom work where they will serve in the best possible way. He tailors His gifts to fulfill the needs of a particular part of His kingdom-work to build His kingdom.

God’s “view” of things is not limited to events in the Church. We are in the campaign and primary season for elections this fall. In our country, elections are a regular event…nothing out of the ordinary. While that is true, that is only the way man sees it, but God sees His kingdom begin built. The outcome of elections are not random, not determined by man, but by God. God says, “there is no authority except from God the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Romans 13:1).

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about a Christians perspective on government saying, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1ff). God’s desire is to bring all souls to faith and salvation. He uses “events” to accomplish this kingdom growth. Paul teaches us to view our government and leaders as more than just a necessary part of life, but to pray for them and see them as God sees them—namely, leaders who can provide an atmosphere conducive to the spread of the Gospel.

Are the elections and our whole political process a series of regular ordinary events. Yes! But let us see these events as God sees them—His tools to accomplish his will, and if that is so, what role will we as His children play? Certainly not as idle by-standers when we are “His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Similarly, the daily routine, the chit-chat with someone at the store (a modern parallel to Rebekah drawing water at the well); the ordinary events of day to day life all may look like “nothing but the usual…same old thing” but only when we look with our limited eyes. We won’t know all of what God is doing, BUT remember to see things the way God does. You can do that by faith. You may not know how His kingdom is being built with the way things are, BUT you can trust that they are being built and rejoice in that fact!

II.

When God told Samuel to go to Jesse’s house and anoint a king he was afraid. “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” [v.2a] Samuel feared the evil and danger that come from someone opposed to God against those who follow His Word. Saul would view Samuel as a threat if he found out that Samuel was anointing a new king to take his place. Behind that selfish desire for the kingdom was a will that opposed God’s will and would react negatively toward anyone doing God’s will. Nevertheless, God told Samuel to go because he would be doing God’s will and would protect Samuel.

What Samuel feared was really the same as the fears of the early New Testament church. During the persecutions, Christians were undoubtedly afraid, but also confident even if it meant losing their lives because they knew they were following God’s Word and then “His will be done.” It was God’s will to allow many of them to lose their lives, but through that He built and strengthened the Church.

In a world that is opposed to our Lord and influenced by Satan who will always work against God’s kingdom, we will meet up with fearful situations. The answer is to “stay the course” and follow the light of God’s Word. We will see the fear and maybe even see disaster, but even in disaster we can be certain that it is God’s will and He will accomplish His purpose—and that chases away fear.

When Samuel arrived in Bethlehem, the people there were afraid. “And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’” [v.4] The people were afraid because they weren’t sure of Samuel’s purpose and whether his presence would bring them blessing or chastisement. The people knew that Samuel was a prophet of God and as such He spoke on behalf of God. Samuel the prophet was in Bethlehem, would God’s Word for their town be “good news” or judgment?

The people’s fear finds its root in the fear of a sinner when confronted with God’s holy law. It is the fear of a sinner before a righteous God. The Law of God strikes terror into our hearts showing us God’s expectations and how miserably we fail. God pronounces judgment on sin. SIN WILL BE JUDGED! This truth alone ought to be enough to send every sinner trembling in fear of “what is God going to say to me?” A sinner in this position will FEAR; but God sees His will being done because when a sinner properly fears God and His judgment because of sin, then that sinner is ready to hear and appreciate the good news that God also has put away our sin, we shall not die. Therefore, it came as good news to the people that Samuel was coming peaceably—not with a law message of judgment, but the good news of worship to God and (as we know from Scripture) to anoint a new king.

Moses was afraid to be the leader when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. He feared he didn’t have the abilities to do what God was asking. “I can’t speak well…what if the people don’t listen to me?” Moses feared his inabilities. Moses saw weaknesses…God saw a faithful man whom He would equip to do everything he would be asked to do. Likewise we need not fear our inabilities, because when God calls us to work in His kingdom, He will also enable us to overcome weaknesses and will provide what we need.

We may see FEAR because of the dangers of life as a Christian, our sins may lead us to fear, and our weaknesses may be fearful, but FEAR IS GONE when we see things—again through faith—as God sees them with the confidence that His will is being done.

III.

As Samuel surveyed Jesse’s sons, he was limited in his evaluation of the candidates for king because he could only look at the externals. “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 his appearance or at the height of his 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.’” [vv.6-7] Nor was God’s choice any of Jesse’s other 6 older sons. It was David, the youngest son, whom no one really expected would be the one so he wasn’t even there—he was out in the field tending the sheep!

A shepherd become a king? God, wouldn’t it be wiser to choose an “army man” or a “politician” someone with more “world-savvy”? Yes, I suppose it would if wisdom is based on external observation…GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART. By seeing David in the way only God can see a man, God saw in David a child-like faith and a heart of love and devotion for his Lord that would make him a truly godly king. These qualities in David’s heart, produced by the Spirit’s working in David and by God’s grace, were the qualities that make David “a man after God’s own heart” (cf: 1 Samuel 13:14) and that is what made David God’s choice for king.

After the anointing, David returned to tending the sheep. It would be some time before David would become king. There was much training that God would yet do for David. God would give David experience as a leader and an opportunity to show the people his leadership qualities (through faith in God) when he went up against Goliath. God would train David to become a seasoned warrior as he fled from Saul. In many ways, David was not ready to be king yet, and that is what anyone looking at externals would see. However, in the most important part—his heart—David was ready and that is what God saw.

God further blessed David in matters of the heart as well, “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward…” [v.13] This is in contrast to Saul’s spiritual condition reported immediately after the text, “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul…"(1 Samuel 16:14).

“All depends on our possessing God’s abundant grace and blessing” we will sing shortly in the hymn following the sermon. Having God’s grace and blessing isn’t something that will always be visible externally and may even be hidden in the most unimpressive external forms. Still, having God’s blessing in our lives through a living faith in our hearts far exceeds all things external.

The same “Spirit of the Lord” that molded David’s sinful heart into one that was “after God’s own heart” is the same Holy Spirit who has come into our hearts to create them anew. The same “Spirit of the Lord” who came upon David and led him and blessed his efforts is the same Holy Spirit who leads us and blesses us in our spiritual lives. Jesus said, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13).

God desires our hearts. He sends His Word to bring our hearts every closer to Him and to strengthen our hearts’ grasp upon Him and His love. The externals of how we look, how successful we are, how impressive of a church we are—these and so many other external considerations ultimately mean nothing. The condition of the heart is MOST IMPORTANT.

We can easily get caught up in the externals of this life. The world has a shallow outlook on life and therefore places great emphasis on external things, but not God. Following the lead of God’s Word, seeking the wisdom and guidance of the Spirit through the Word of God—these are the traits God desires. This is the beauty that pleases God. This is the “heart issue” that we will see and cherish when we (through faith) see things the way God sees them. Amen.

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt