And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.
Acts 13:22
Sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around my own mess, and then I read about David’s. He’s the guy whose narrative is overshadowed by lust, lies, adultery, and murder, yet he is known as a man after God’s heart?
The pages of scripture don’t lie ... People make mistakes, but God doesn’t.
David’s life seldom made sense, even when he was just a runt, looking after his fathers sheep.
Samuel, who had been appointed by God to anoint the next king, went to Bethlehem and found Jesse, David’s dad, and the man from whom’s house the next king would come.
Jesse gathered all his sons together except David, and one by one he parades them before Samuel. The oldest appeared first. Eliab. He seemed like the most likely candidate to be a king …
“And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him.”
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD told Samuel, “Do not consider his outward appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORDS does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Apparently, Eliab looked like a King, and Samuel and Jesse were both ready to give him the nod. After all, he was the oldest. A firstborn. Surely he would make a good leader.
“Surely the LORD’S anointed is before me,” said Samuel when he saw him.
Eliab may have looked the part, but clearly his heart didn’t pass God’s test. Neither did his 6 younger brothers. One by one, each of them appeared, and one by one, each of them were rejected.
“Don’t you have any more sons?” asked Samuel. I can picture him scratching his, clearly confused.
“Well, yes,” hesitates Jesse. “There’s the youngest one, but he’s a runt. And besides, he’s out in the field. Tending to sheep.”
Apparently, David, the runt out in the field, hadn’t even been considered by Jesse.
Bright eyed David. The picture of health. He was good looking, even if he was a runt. God told Samuel, “Get up on your feet. He’s the one! Anoint him!”
I can’t imagine what was running through Jesse’s mind when Samuel anointed David, but I can imagine what David might have been thinking.
Me?
Really, Lord?
I’m not a King.
Samuel didn’t think David looked like a king.
Jesse, David’s own father, didn’t think he looked like a king.
Had it been left to either man to decide who would become the next king, Eliab would have most certainly been chosen; but God, who knew way in advance about the kind of mess that David would later find himself in, made it a point to pass over those who seemed to have more promise for a guy that seemed less than to everyone else.
There are days when I’m not so sure that God’s chosen right. When others look more the part than me. A better wife. A better mother. A better cook. A better friend, teacher, and mentor. Days when I feel less than, and others can make me feel even more than less than. Then I’m reminded of David. He may have seemed less than by others, but he was handpicked by God.
The pages of scripture don’t lie ... People make mistakes, but God doesn’t. God chose David as part of His redemptive plan, not because he looked the part, but because He who judges justly doesn’t see what man sees. He looks at the heart and whispers, “You are never less than. With Me, you are always more than,” and He’s willing to walk with us until we get it right.
But let it be the inward adorning and the beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God.
1 Peter 3:4