Bible
Study: 1st Samuel 16, 1 to 13.
And Mark 2, 23 to 28.
Having rejected
Saul as king of Israel for his refusal to trust and obey without excuses, God
instructed Samuel to go to the House of Jesse and anoint a new King of Israel.
At first, Samuel is scared that if Saul gets to know a new king is being anointed
while he is still alive, Saul might look for a way to kill him. But then, God himself
assures Samuel asking him to simply pretend that he is going to offer a
sacrifice in Jesse’s house. Once again Samuel showed the depth of his trust by
obeying God. Samuel was not more afraid of Saul than he was of God. He did not
mind if Saul gets to hear later, he obeyed, carried his horn of oil and went to
the House of Jesse.
On getting
there, Samuel again showed the depth of his trust in God by refusing to be
carried away by appearance. He was attentive to the voice of God all through.
Jesse presented his sons one after the other to Samuel. They were all looking
tall, handsome and well-built but God was not interested in externalities
anymore! But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do
not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have
rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16, 7.
God is not
so interested with our external looks and appearances or the things we do to
get the attention of people. As we shall see Jesus and his disciples were
walking through the fields and were picking heads of grain and it was a
Sabbath. When Pharisees accused him of doing something unlawful, he said: “the Sabbath
is meant for man and not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus and his disciples were
hungry and he knew picking grains to eat was not a sin, he refused to pretend
just make himself look good before anybody. Jesus was not concerned about
externalities or what people were saying about him, he was only concerned about
doing what is right before God.
It takes
trust on our part to serve God wholly with our heart rather than try to look
good before others. It takes trust in God to seek God’s perfect recommendation
rather than seek the recommendation of people. We tend to become people pleasers
rather than God-pleasers, we do things not because it is right but just because
we want people to rate us high. This was the attitude Jesus condemned in the
Pharisees and the very reason why God did not pay attention to the other sons
of Jesse.
In fact, Jesse
presented seven sons to Samuel, and God rejected all of them. Samuel asked, “Are
these all you have?” It was only then they remembered David. Imagine, they knew
something was happening, and none of them even bothered to call David in. He
was so insignificant before their eyes but not before the eyes of God. He had
won God’s favour and he would become the greatest king Israel ever had, so great
that Jesus Christ himself would call himself Son of David.
Despite
the fact that David looked small and did not have the stature of a king able to
fight a battle, Samuel trusted God enough to anoint him. He knew it is God who
will make up for the obvious physical defects. We must trust God like Samuel
and let our reason take holiday at times.
Let us
trust God and not be carried away by external appearances. Things may not look
so good but continue to trust God. You may be out there like the disciples in a
storm and You see Jesus walking on water beckoning on you to step into the water
and walk towards him. Just do not let your trust be shaken. Do not carried away
by the storms you see, God truly cares about you, he loves you deeply and he
wants only the best for you. Trust and obey his voice.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to trust more and obey completely. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
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