1 Samuel 16 (Part 2) Bible Study (David Anointed King) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Please, would you meet me in the book of first Samuel chapter 16, beginning in verse seven. I read a quote by the Prince of Preachers this week and it blessed me. Very simple. He said, just as the most heat is nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness closest to Christ. And if you're saved, you know that the closest you've been to Jesus is the time that you've been the happiest.

It didn't matter what you had or didn't have, you knew you had Christ and you sensed the fullness, you sensed the song on your heart. And our prayer, no matter what we learn from this, is that we would always be drawn to Christ. That whatever we hear would draw us closer to him in in practical fellowship, and that is where happiness is guaranteed. You know, as I was studying this chapter, we we covered part one, the first six, seven verses last week. I thought we would complete it and I realized it would do the text injustice.

So let's read the text, at least the first few, and there might be most likely a part three next week. But let's begin again in verse seven. 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.

Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shema pass by, and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these.

Then Samuel said to Jesse, are all your sons here? And he said, there remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, send and get him for we will not sit down till he comes here. Lord, we thank you for this bible study. Thank you that your word is rich.

Thank you for the promise that when we ask, we shall receive. And we ask Lord, that we would come closer to Christ. Not just intellectually Lord, but from the heart. In practical ways Lord, we pray that this study would magnetize us towards the person of Jesus Christ. We submit to you this study, trusting that you will help us.

You will save the lost. You will revive the saved and you will be blessed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Here we are, part two.

And if you remember, when we have come to this chapter, we are returning to a critical point in this episode found in first Samuel. If you recall, Samuel was told by his God and our God that there would be one among Jesse's sons who would be the next king that would replace the rejected Saul. And so in this moment, Samuel the prophet is in the presence of Jesse and his boys in a little town called Bethlehem. And as he is standing there, we learned last week that upon the arrival of this family, Samuel made the same mistake that the nation of Israel made when they first wanted a king. He judged the qualification of a person for this position based on outward appearance.

It was the countenance that mesmerized him and convinced him that this certainly was the choice. This is a man that when you look at him, you're like, this is a king and he did not consider the matters that truly hold substance. And so, even a prophet made a mistake and didn't align himself with God's mind, but God is extremely patient with his servants. And so the Lord, as we read in verse seven, interjects and begins to teach this prophet how they differ. How man and God differs.

And many things including in how someone is judged worthy of God's service and his favor. And we heard it. Right? God does not look on the outward appearance, but he looks on the heart. Now, what's amazing about this is Samuel told Saul earlier in chapter 13, that the Lord is looking for someone after his own heart.

And we're about to read that David was that man. That when God looked into David's heart, what he saw in that heart was one who was possessed with an inner zeal to be devoted and committed to pleasing God above all else. That's what it means. To be a man or a woman who is after God's own heart. It's not open for interpretation.

In fact, let me ask this for those who remember, in which book of the Bible are we told what it means to be a man or woman after God's heart? Come on students. Which book? Because that can mean many things. Right?

I'm a man after God's own heart. Oh, what does that mean? It means I have warm feelings about God. Really? I'm a woman after God's own heart.

What does that mean? Well, I believe God exists. Really? What does it mean to be a man or a woman after God's own heart? The Holy Spirit gave the interpretation through the Apostle Paul.

In acts thirteen twenty two, don't you ever forget it now. We are told, listen to this verse and you can mark it if you mark your bible with this reference. Acts thirteen twenty two, and when he had removed them, he raised up David to be their king of whom he testified and said, I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, and here it is, who will do all my will. So case closed, what does it mean to be a person after God's own heart? It means that you are an individual that has a conviction, that has a standard, that frames their life around, I will do whatever God says.

That is my utmost goal in this life. It's discovering what he desires for me and at whatever cost to frame and organize and structure my existence, my plans, my decisions, so that I can please him and I can satisfy his heart. Not as a means to be saved, but from a place of gratitude because you're saved. And that's amazing because it's very specific. Who will do some of my will?

No. All of my will. As we heard earlier in a mission, that you see the great commands and the least of these commands, and you are determined whatever it is Lord, that will bring a smile to your face. I want my life to do just that. I've prayed this prayer many times.

Lord, if I had 10,000 lives to live, each one of them would be yours. But would the only one that I do have, glorify your name, because you only have one shot at this whole thing. And that's a beautiful thing because you can couple it with another verse, And I want you to see another promise, another truth that Jesus uttered that will excite you because it's applicable and it is available to each and every single one of us. It's found in the Gospel of John chapter fourteen twenty one. One of the greatest promises in the new covenant.

Jesus said, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. We all know that, but do we know the next part? And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. See what Jesus is saying? Whoever has my commandments, this is the same line as, a man after my own heart will do all my will.

Whoever has my commandments and does them loves me. But we we stop there and we don't realize the reward. The reward of being committed to that cause. Such a person will actually be loved by my father. Now hold on, that interferes with basic Christianity, doesn't it?

I thought God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Now this reads like, if I love God, if I love his word, if I obey his commandments, then I initiate and motivate him to love me. Is that what's being said here? That's not what's being said here. This is a promise that for those who have determined from the place of salvation, receiving grace by faith, for those who have determined that my life will be lived to obey his word day in and day out, even in my sleep if it's possible for such people.

God will look into that heart, and if he discovers that kind of commitment, that kind of covenant love towards him, he promises that he will communicate his love towards such an individual in a special way. And Jesus said, I will manifest myself to him and that's the reward. Now we're not speaking of a communication in which Jesus physically appears like he did in the upper room with the disciples. We're speaking about a manifestation that is known in the spirit. For those who's like who see his commands and say, this is why I live.

Jesus assures such an individual, I will open the eyes of your heart to know further revelations of my beauty, of my glory, of my holiness, of my splendor. Listen, to such a degree that it will invite you into a certain communion with myself that will not be shared with others. Not because God picks favorites and not that he gives that privilege to some by some arbitrary law. No. Because it is in our court.

And that's why you can have two people that are born again at the same conference, at the same meeting, and experience totally different testimonies twenty years later from that moment on, simply upon this principle, one has chosen to love God's commandments without exception, whereas somebody else is partially excited about them. What is one gonna know over the other? Greater manifestations of Christ. What do you mean by that? He becomes very real to you, and that's why some Christians have a closer walk and they are so near to Christ that his fragrance rubs off on them, whereas other believers you can't tell the difference between them and the world.

So why why am I bringing a man after God's own heart, a woman after God's own heart, what Jesus said here because here's the exciting truth about these two promises. It's very simply this, to be a candidate. To be a candidate to be recruited by God for his service as David was, and to be in a position in which you can know greater and richer revelations of Jesus Christ requires one thing. You ready? A heart that's committed to God's commandments.

A heart that This is This means so much to God that it's the qualifying factor for you being used by him for his glory and then for you to know a fellowship with his son. That the nominal travel by this world, up and down Christians because they don't have disciplines in their heart will never know. And so never forget that because it's yours. It's not reserved for the apostles. It's not reserved for pastors.

It's not reserved for missionaries. For anyone who loves my commandments. And that's why a congregate can have a closer walk with Christ and the pastor of that church. And so we read here that God looks on the heart and what he finds in that heart will determine whether a man is used by God in a special way and if he knows God in a special way in comparison to others. I thank God that it's not a matter of my stature.

It's not a matter if I have piercing beauty in comparison to others. It's not a matter of how much intellect I possess and how I can articulate my words. I thank God that's not what impresses him. But it's a heart, no matter how simple somebody dresses, no matter what kind of educational background you have, it's the heart that says my life is for your commandments. I want to walk in your word.

The scripture tells us that the eyes of the Lord look to and fro in the whole earth. You know what's amazing about that statement in second Chronicles sixteen nine? The eyes of the Lord look to and fro throughout the whole earth. We're told in Job one that Satan walks to and fro in the whole earth. Satan looks for something in this world and so does God.

And what God looks for is a heart that is totally, the scripture says, blameless, perfect, whole towards him, that he may show himself strong in him and through him. So this isn't a matter of just David, this isn't just a matter of something in context that has no relation to you right now. The eyes of the Lord to this day look to and fro the four corners of the earth to find a man whose heart is whole. Who says, Lord I know I've been born again and I tell people this often, being born again doesn't mean instant perfection, but it does mean new heart direction. Doesn't mean instant perfection, but it does mean new heart direction.

And new heart direction says, I'm after your heart God. I want to obey your commandments. And so Samuel learned his lesson and he's not gonna let human wisdom now interfere with this process of election. And so we just read it. Jesse brings one son.

Eliab was in the guy, then we have Abinadab. Abinadab passes by, then Shammah. And then we are told We're being told this for a reason. We're we're trying to be built up here with suspense. It's like one guy passes by, nope.

The other guy and it's like, who is it going to be? And as the suspense is being built, strangely, all of them pass by and we read that God did not select one of them. Not one was highlighted by God. Not one was nudged by the spirit saying, this is him. Not one.

All the sun show up, none of them are selected, and this puts a question mark on this whole context. How is this? How can it be? You know already that there's somebody missing, but let's just pretend we don't know that. And what's amazing about this is that Samuel's posture in this moment, cause though he's a prophet, he doesn't understand that there's somebody out there in the field whom God has selected.

In this moment all he knows is here's Jesse, God told me it's Jesse, and his sons. He said these are all his sons, but why isn't God telling me which one? Why isn't any event that I hear? What is Samuel going to teach us in this moment? Beautiful principles about obedience.

Wonderful things to know in the realm of trusting God. And here's the first point. Samuel did not compromise because of the challenges that stem from the unknown. Samuel did not compromise because of the confusion that came from this strange circumstance. What do I mean by that?

You would think that as the number of sons pass by this prophet, that is it was trickling down to the last two, that Samuel would think, at least I would think if I was in his shoes, it's got to be one of these guys. It has to be. And as the last one comes through, you would think if it's not him, then who is it? It's gotta be this guy. Six of them already passed.

Here's the here's the last one. It has to be him. And as the the last one stands before him, Samuel tries to hear God nothing. He waits a little longer. He says, maybe turn around.

Let me see you. He's like, nothing. And he says, it's none of them. And he walks off. And what's amazing here is that the prophet still knew and trusted God said one of these sons.

But I'm standing in a contradiction right now. None of the sons are being highlighted by God. What does he do? He still honors God's word. God didn't tell him anything, so he's not gonna make a step forward.

And that's the beauty of this principle because oftentimes the path of trusting God does not promise us clarity along the journey. When we trust and lean on God, we are not assured that everything is going to make sense in the moment. In fact, it's the opposite. Obedience will make things seem to not be favorable in our circumstances or as clear as we would like them to be. Because obedience ultimately is an act of faith.

Whenever you obey, you're trusting God. Whenever you resist temptation, you're trusting God. Whenever you do something even though you don't feel like doing it, it's an act of faith. I'm trusting that this is for your glory and for my good. And unlike this situation, he trusted God's word, but things don't seem to be coming out the way he anticipated.

This is confusing almost. This is very strange. This seems to be a contradiction. And let me tell you something, God often does that with his servants. Because what he wants to ring out of you my brother, my sister, is faith.

And if everything happened the way we think it should happen, there's little faith found in that kind of experience. And there's so many places in the scripture and my mind, because of the rearview mirrors, my mind brought me back to an incident in our study in the book of Joshua. When this nation crossed the Jordan River and entered into the promised land, here's this generation that believed God unlike their parents. And as they arrive, you're thinking, here we go. God is about to demolish these Canaanites, and they're gonna enter in, and things are gonna be glorious and wonderful.

They have stepped into the promise. It's finished. Here we go. And then God says something quite interesting in chapter five verse two. You don't have to turn there, but listen to his instructions.

So strange, so very strange. Joshua five two, God instructs, at that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. Is this a time for circumcision, Lord? We're about to go to war. We just crossed the border, we're ready to fight.

You read earlier, news is out that this nation coming out of Egypt, out of the wilderness is in our neighborhood and all for a sudden the Lord speaks out of heaven, circumcise all the men. And then you go down to verse eight and we we read, when the circumcising of the whole nation was finished they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. Why is this command concerning from a military standpoint? Does anybody have an idea? From a military standpoint, this is a terrible strategy.

Here's an example. Remember when the sister of the tribes, these men, Dinah, remember what happened to her? She was raped by one from the nation or the the city of Shechem rather. Remember that story? And then they wanted to request her in marriage and the boys, the brother said, what?

Why don't you get circumcised first and then we'll give her up to you. And then what happened? The scripture tells us that while they were healing, there was an ambush made because they were vulnerable in that condition and they slaughtered an entire city because of that. So we know that because we know our bibles and then all of a sudden we see that they're in behind enemy lines, they're in their neighborhood and all for a sudden God says, do what Shechem did. Lord, can we wait till later on?

No, actually I want it right now. And all for a sudden, in a very vulnerable place and position, they obey. Proving what? They trusted God. It didn't make sense.

And that's what obedience will do to us. In fact, onlookers will sometimes look at your faithfulness to the word of God and they will question your decisions. And they will think and maybe even verbalize, why don't you choose a different path that has a more secure outcome? Why are you doing it this way? Why are you doing it at this time?

Why are you trusting God? God is much more practical than this. And you're gonna have to make a choice in those moments because if those choices compromise your convictions, you have to make a choice. Am I gonna obey God and trust him or am I gonna do something that makes sense to the human mind? And I'm sure many people can relate to Samuel's situation here in the realm of marriage among many other examples.

Here's Samuel and every choice passes by and none of them are working out and you have many people feeling the same way in their lives today. They look at all the prospects in their lives and they can't see if any. There's a scarcity of godly people that they can feel like their hearts are drawn to and time is passing on and time is passing on. And instead of trusting God's word, instead of trusting the description in which you should pursue concerning the scriptures about a mate, you don't want to leave empty handed, perhaps like Samuel didn't want to leave without a choice. So you just make a decision for the sake of making a decision.

See how Old Testament pictures can get very real? Samuel didn't compromise with his choice just because there was challenges from the unknown. Secondly, Samuel did not compromise because there was no immediate fruit in his obedience. Think about it this way. This is another valuable lesson.

God said go among the sons of Jesse, you will find a king. And as he goes, passes by each one of them, nothing. And if I were in his shoes perhaps I would think this though he didn't think this, we know that I risked my life coming out of here. Saul is probably Saul, all he needs is one spy and he sees this, he peeks into the room and I'm finished, I'm done. I'm not leaving here without making a choice.

Somebody's coming out of this room as a king. No such thought passed through the prophet's mind. Why? Because he knew what God said and he would remain faithful to the instruction that was given to him whether it made him look successful or not. And that's important because Samuel's joy in obedience was not in the observable rewards that come from obedience.

Samuel's joy in obedience was knowing that he was doing what God told him to do. Full stop. If this is what God said, I'm gonna trust him. And whether it brings out what the world says is successful, it doesn't matter to me. My joy is in knowing this, I did what he said.

And if you want to be a successful servant in God's kingdom, there is an important ingredient that many people lack especially in this day where everything comes very quickly. It's called patience. See, Samuel had to be patient and he was patient. In fact, he was so patient, when he heard that there was another son, he says, we ain't sitting down until he comes. That's patience.

And people who genuinely want to love God and serve God and do things for God and plan things and dream about great things for God, because they lack this patience and they have a certain time frame when things should happen and how how fast their church should grow and how popular their their social media should become. Because they had these ideas, they abandoned the scriptures as their principle and they begin to invoke and start using methods that are not from the word of God, and they end up regretting it later on. Samuel would wait on God. If if God told me one of these boys is them, but none of them are in this room, then he's gonna show up somewhere. I'm not making a choice that will contradict God's word.

And unfortunately, many pastors have fallen into this trap. Many ministers have fallen into this mistake that, they try to do this thing called faithfulness to God's word. They preach God's word. They have a prayer meeting. They have more than one service on a week and and it just seems like things aren't really changing.

And so now things are introduced, they're tempted and they change their methodology because they're promised if they do it a certain way, more people will come and more money will come in at a faster rate. So let it be. And they do that. And they end up walking away from that. And here's the thing, because we have an undiscerning generation, we look at certain ministries and because it's big and because there's money and because there's wonderful things about it, we deem it as blessed by God.

And we look at we say, surely they are successful when the true measure of successes isn't in the book. Did you do it according to God's way? Whether the people come in like a flood or not, whether the money is great or missing, one thing qualifies success and that's God's word being obeyed. And Samuel knew knew this because from a young age he was trained in this. His first message was one of judgment.

Talk about not starting your ministry in the right way according to the world. Your first sermon, Samuel, is going to be a judgment upon the nation including the spiritual leadership. And this is what God says. Just just listen to it. In first Samuel three eleven, Then the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I'm about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

Whenever you look up ears tingling in the Bible, it always has to do with a response to a message of judgment. You see it in Jeremiah, you see it in Kings, you see it in Samuel. I'm going to say something through you Samuel, in which when people hear what you have to say, their ears are going to vibrate. They're gonna tingle. It's gonna be a concern.

Their their antennas are gonna go up. And unfortunately, too many leaders are afraid to say what would make people's ears tingle and are instead given to things that will make people's ears tickle, like second Timothy warns about. Thirdly, Samuel did not compromise for fear of his reputation. That's very connected to the second point, but think about it. Jesse, his boys and Samuel are in this meeting because there's a choice to be made about a leader that's gonna take the place of a king.

And as this is going on, place yourself in his shoes and think about the fact that talk about anticlimactic, the thing just dies. And again, to Samuel, he thinks these are all the sons and could it be that if we were in his position, we would think to ourselves, I'm a prophet. This is a little embarrassing here. I came here with a word from God and it seems like it's missed and now everybody all eyes are on me. How is this going to play out?

But again, no such thought passed by his mind because he could care less about what people thought about him. He knew what God said. He knew what the Lord said. And sometimes obedience will make people look down on you and think you're a fool. And this man could care less because he knew what the word of the Lord was.

And it doesn't matter what man says, it doesn't matter what kind of looks I get. If God said it, I'm gonna trust it. And I'm not talking about a skeptical world that's unbelieving. I'm even talking about people within the church. People within the church that don't have a grip on the Word of God.

So when they see somebody take the Word of God seriously from cover to cover, they question them. They criticize and they may even scorn them. Go by what God says. Samuel sticks to the Word of God and what's amazing here is in verse 11 that Samuel said to Jesse, are all your sons here? What a man of God.

What a contrast to who we saw earlier in this chapter, a man who did not have such faith. In this moment, he looks to Jesse and he says, hey, you shared they're all here. I love this prophet. You know why? Because when he is facing this dilemma, he's not even tempted to question the authenticity of God's word.

He questions the integrity of man. He doesn't doubt what God says, he questions Jesse instead. Listen to me, you can come to a point in your trust in the word of God where nothing will shake you. Where you will not even have to doubt God's word when things before you challenge your faith. That want to choke your faith.

That have the ability to wash you off your feet because things don't make sense in the moment. This man is so He's so anchored in the truth of God's character and his nature That even when things seem to contradict what God said, he would never question God. And you think about the story of Job where he had a man and a wife who had the same children, who were involved with the same businesses, who had the same home, and the same tragedies hit both of them, and even the one had worse because his body was afflicted, and you get two different responses to these things. One man when he's crushed is able to worship God, and the other one says, why don't you curse him and die? What's the difference?

One had a revelation of the goodness of God and actually believed it whereas the other one, when adversity came, showed the true faith that she possessed in her heart. And that's what I want to say to you tonight. Adversity is the ultimate thing that will reveal the authenticity of what you believe. It's not when everything is going well. It's not when your body is healthy.

It's not when you come to a lovely church without problems. It's not when you have the income coming in flowing beautifully and you have a wonderful family, no issues and you have the boyfriend, you have the girlfriend, you have the nice car. Not then. It's when something crashes into your life and throws you into a whirlwind. It's when things begin to now make you wonder.

God said this, so why is this happening? Adversity is the ultimate thing that will test the authenticity of your faith. So when you're asking God for deeper faith or when you're asking God, search my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me. Don't be surprised when he sends adversity. Because scripture tells us very clearly that if you faint on the day adversity, your strength is small.

Proverbs twenty four ten. If you faint on the day of adversity, your strength is small. And this man, you can say is facing a problem. God said there's a choice among these sons, they're not there. I don't understand what's happening.

I walked all over here. I risked my life. And he doesn't for a moment say, God, you deceived me. He doesn't even turn to God in question though he had the right to. He instead looks at man and he says, did you tell the whole truth or not?

Where's the other ones? Is there more than one? You can know that kind of faith in God's word. You can trust into such a degree by the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. And what does Samuel say?

He says, is there any other ones? And he said, Jesse, there remains yet the youngest but behold he is keeping the sheep. Says a lot about how this man felt about his son. Read it again, there remains yet the youngest but behold he is keeping the sheep. Doesn't sound very excited, does he?

And so the invitation was clear. Jesse, bring all your sons. I want to make a sacrifice and I want you to join. And you know what Jesse does? He leaves out one of them on purpose.

He leaves him in the field. He doesn't even consider him as a candidate for this. He doesn't even think that there's some kind of qualification that is worthy. And it's not that David had some sinful habits that would bring shame to the family name or would disqualify him, nothing of the sort. Just because in his father's eyes, he wasn't worth it.

He he didn't have anything that possessed any king like qualifications. So he kept them there, but it's more than that. The guy doesn't even mention his name. He didn't say, yes, my youngest, David, is out in the field. He doesn't even mention his name.

Yeah. There's the youngest one out there. He's busy. He's keeping Yeah. Don't worry about him.

And it's not until Samuel the prophet pressures him does he even think, let me bring him. Samuel says, well, we're not gonna sit down till he comes. And he's like, oh, maybe I should get him then. He doesn't think, oh, yeah. There's one missing and I'm gonna fill in the blank.

Maybe this is the one that God wants since the other seven weren't chosen. And we have the perfect recipe here of a pretty clear concept that this father didn't think very highly of his youngest. And if we thought that Samuel missed God on the criteria of a king, we must include Jesse now, his own dad. And the very thing that made David seem insignificant and unfit as a prospect for the role of a king was the very thing that God was looking for the whole time. God wanted a shepherd.

The father didn't think that this shepherd boy, this farm boy, the one that would play with these sheep and chase him around and and smell like animals as he come home every night, he didn't think that person would be king. And God said, you know what? That's exactly who I want, to be a king. That's not my opinion. That's what Psalm 78 says, verse 70.

We are told, he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the nursing ewes. He brought him to shepherd Jacob his people. Israel his inheritance. I want a shepherd because David being a shepherd and not just a shepherd, a right kind of shepherd. He did it with an integrity.

He did it with a skill. He did it with a commitment that so attracted God that he says, I'm gonna take you in this menial task and graduate you to a greater responsibility. Don't you ever dare despise the days of small beginnings. I'm talking about those who feel like they want to do great things for God and that's a wonderful aspiration. But you might be in a certain season, a certain moment, even a stretched out period of time where you think, this seems like I'm not being affected.

This seems like there's not much training here, there's not much experience I'm getting out here, I know that there's more in me. And though other people like Jesse may look down upon the thing that you have given yourself to, whatever thing that you're committed to, God himself sees it completely differently. And I challenge you next time you read your Bible, find me a man that God calls that was doing nothing when God called him. Find me a man that God calls that he wasn't doing something, whether it was small or big, before he he used them in a different way. Every time you find God calling somebody, you will find him doing something.

Even his own disciples were fishing. Amos, Moses, Samuel, every single person you will find. God doesn't call lazy people. Now this is this is especially relatable to those who are in David's category of life. This guy was under the age of 20.

You want to be used by God? You want to be used by the Lord in this generation? Well you might not have a pulpit, you might not have a great voice, but God is not looking for that. He just wants to see you faithful in the small things. He just wants to see you committed to something.

He doesn't want to see you sitting on your hands, draining all your time scrolling through your iPhone. God is not going to find a prophetic voice with somebody that is familiar with TikTok trends and not the scriptures. And so this young man was called by God. He was found as a shepherd for sheep and he says, I'm gonna use you as a shepherd for a nation now. Verse 12, and he sent and brought him in.

Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him for this is he. Now hold on for a second. We just heard for two weeks in a row that God doesn't look at the outward appearance, That God sees the heart and not the height or the beauty of a man or a woman. We we just finished being convinced of that.

And now all for a sudden, David, the actual choice of God, steps into the room and guess what qualities are highlighted by the Holy Spirit. He's ruddy, beautiful eyes, and handsome. I read this and I thought, why is that important to mention? Lord, you just said in verse seven that you look on the heart that is not about the hair length or the strength of the muscle or the voice or the It's not those things. Your point perhaps would have been stronger if you had left out these details.

But instead now we have an apparent contradiction. I have a question. Why is this mentioned? Wouldn't it have been more consistent in our I idea if if he just walked in and here's the man after God's own heart, arise and anoint him. No, we want it His eyes were gorgeous.

He was a good looking farm boy. That's what we're told. Any ideas of why this is being given to us as an insight about David? Interesting interpretation. Okay.

That's interesting. Okay. Okay. So both interesting perspectives. Yeah.

Okay. So for those who haven't heard, we heard that because he came from the field, perhaps he wasn't that attractive, but God saw him as attractive and beautiful. Another person said, well it's not because God is against beauty. That there's not that just because God looks on the heart that he dismisses aestheticism and and and things of outward, things that attract us from the eye point of view. We heard also that even though he was beautiful, he was doing dirty work.

And that's a good point as well. Okay. Interesting perspective. So the good looks might give more confidence to Samuel. I never heard that interpretation either, but that's interesting.

Okay. So there's I mean, I'm getting two things here. I'm getting some people are saying, he wasn't actually attractive. He wasn't that as as attractive as this, you know, the descriptions we're getting. There's a different type of beauty that he is possessing.

Whereas others are saying, no, there is an actual physical beauty about David, and that God is not against that. This is what I'm feeling here. Okay. So we're told when we're introduced to Saul that he was beautiful as well. But what's the difference between Saul and David concerning their outward appearance?

Hi, sure. But it's even more general than that. The eyes, sure. I mean we're looking at the details but what was said about Saul's handsomeness? He was the most handsome in all of Israel.

So when you saw Saul, you were like, wow. When you saw David, good looking guy. Good looking guy. But not like Saul. Now, that's funny but you're gonna see the point that's gonna be made from that in in just a few moments.

There are a handful of times in the scriptures thank you for everybody who answered. You make bible study interactive. Thank you. There are a handful of times in the scripture that the Holy Spirit goes out of his way to give insight about specifically a man, a man's looks. Can you give me a couple examples?

Absalom? Sure. Joseph? Sure. Good looks?

Well his looks, but his handsomeness. That's okay. You got I I know you're just saying. You're saying about looks. Yes.

His outward appearance, he had the camel skin, he had the leather belt. I'm not sure if it says he was good looking, but his looks are mentioned. Jacob, I'm not sure if Jacob is mentioned. Sarah, now we're going to woman. I'm talking about men though.

There are plenty of women that we're told of their beauty, but men. Solomon maybe, Samson maybe, I don't think so though. Okay. We get the idea. When I look at these examples and whenever I read that, whenever I see a person, specifically a man that's mentioned about the layman and woman, I always wonder, Lord, why do you bring this up?

What's important about this? Especially verse seven, you don't look at outward appearance, but you look on the heart. And I believe there's one place that gives at least one possible reason for why the Holy Spirit would mention it. And the place where I believe has the strongest case for this is found in Joseph's story. And I want you to see it in Genesis 39 verse six.

And it goes to show that God wants to speak on this issue of beauty. Genesis 39 verse six. So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. Now look what we're told.

And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie with me. Here's what's interesting. We are told about his built. We are told about his looks. We are told that he is handsome and then immediately the text transitions to Potiphar's wife, a very powerful woman and possibly very beautiful woman, seducing him.

So the connection here between Joseph's looks and this moment is to deliver this point that Joseph's appearance opened up a new world of temptation in his life. Joseph's looks attracted seduction in his life and had it not been for his build and his appearance, perhaps this would not have been such an obstacle in his life as a young man. So you see what I'm saying here? That he was the object of seduction because of how he looked and there is no debate about it. And what's very important is that that's what beauty can do.

People think of beauty the same way they think of money. In what way? They think the more they have it, the more happy they will be. But in reality, if you are a person who does not have their soul saturated in the fear of God, just like money, if you have more beauty or if you're a beautifully, naturally beautiful person, that can bring more danger into your life than anything else. It can actually be more destructive to you than it could be a blessing to you.

And people don't understand that and I want to prove that to you from the scriptures. So you have your Bibles. I read this in Ezekiel and I thought to myself, wow. I began to make just a mental study about the same dangers you find with great wealth is found in great beauty. Ezekiel chapter 28.

Let's go there together. I want you to see something quite interesting. Ezekiel 28 is a prophecy. It's a prophecy against the prince of Tyre and it's a word of judgment. And he speaks to this human prince, this leader of this of this nation, and he he says something in verse five that reads, by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth and your heart has become proud in what?

In your wealth. In your wealth. So because of his great achievements, his great accomplishments, his great prosperity and materialism and acquirements, he became proud. He became arrogant. Perhaps because he thought he did it in his own strength.

Now we've talked a plenty concerning how money, the dangers of acquiring it, pursuing it, can bring about pride in someone's life. That's clear and I hope that's obvious to all of us. But when you read on in this chapter, you realize that there's a transition. And that transition takes place in verse eleven and twelve. From verse two, we are told that Ezekiel speaks to the prince of Tyre.

But look at verse two. Son of man, raise a lamentation over who? The prince? What word is used there? The king.

Right? Ezekiel twenty eight twelve, son of man raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him. Now what's amazing is when you read on, you get the impression that the description of the king of Tyre is beyond human. When you read on, you see things like look at verse 13, you were in Eden, the garden of God. And then verse 14, you were an anointed guardian cherub.

I placed you and you were on the holy mountain of God. How is this a human? How is this a person? He alludes back to the beginning. He even talks about God's presence and them him being a cherub, an angelic creature.

So many people believe that what's happening here is, in the first few verses, he targets a real person, the prince of Tyre. But then he begins to now speak to the king of Tyre who's not a human king, but a spiritual being. A spiritual being who occupies a certain rank in the spiritual realm. And why is that being said? Because he is now speaking to the very thing that influenced the Prince of Tyre.

The very source, so to speak, of the pride that was found in the prince of Tyre was found in this angelic creature, namely who? Satan. And if that is foreign to our thinking, when you have time, go to the book of Daniel chapter 10, when he's fasting for twenty one days and the angel comes to him to bring him the answer to his prayers, he tells Daniel, you were heard from the moment that you prayed but there was a fight between me and who? The Prince of Persia. That's not speaking about a physical actual ruler in Persia.

It's speaking about a spiritual being. And Ephesians and different parts of the scripture testify that in the spiritual realm, even in the kingdom of darkness, there are ranks in Satan's army. And so you see here that the king of Tyre very much speaks of the description of Satan himself. And it begins to describe the fall of Satan. And it's found here and in another place.

Does anybody else know the other Old Testament place that mentions the fall of Satan? Not Genesis. Isaiah chapter 14. We don't have to turn there, but I want you to notice something. As God begins to speak about the pride of the king of Tyre, notice what he mentions in verse 17.

Ezekiel twenty eight seventeen, your heart was proud because of what? Your beauty. Your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Wealth and beauty both possess the same detrimental effect upon someone who possesses one or the other or both and it is this, pride.

Pride. And we've heard a lot about money but very little is spoken about beauty. And you see beautiful people are not only in danger because they could draw more suggestions or invitations to sin. Beautiful people are in danger because they are aware of their beauty and they use their outward appearance as a means to other ends. And that is seen all over in our society.

You have people who are just born naturally beautiful and there are those who who do things to themselves to look more beautiful and then they go into the world and they use their bodies to climb the ladder of success and positions. That happens a lot. Or you have people who are so consumed with their beauty, they think that their beauty, their eyes, their figure, their hair, their beauty justifies the lack of godly character. Because all it is is about beauty. Right?

And you can talk how you want to talk and you can treat people the way you want to treat people and you're not going to associate with people who look less beautiful than you. Why? Because you're just so beautiful. And beauty, listen, just like how pride is so subtle, beauty can affect somebody in ways that they don't even understand is actually destroying their souls. Let me give you an example.

There are those who are handsome and there are those who are gorgeous, both men and women, that would never dare commit adultery or have physical relations with someone that they're not supposed to, like Joseph did. But at the same time, because they are so convinced of how they are and who who they look like and what they look like, they will instead manipulate people's emotions. And they will try to hook people and they begin to play a little game, because they ultimately want to feed their ego and so they become extremely flirtatious and they become manipulative in their behavior. And what they really want to do is that they'll never do anything. They'll never get into a relationship with you or do anything sexual with you, but they want to win your heart.

And as I want to get as many eyes on me as possible. And I want to be the most prized and I want to be the most beautiful and I want to be the most loved. Even though I'm not gonna be with you, I just want to make sure that I can get all the attention I can get, whether from guys or from girls. And if you have any doubt that that's a temptation for people, we live in a generation where we experience dopamine dumps based on how many people like our pictures of our selfies. It's true.

And so you have people who understand how they look and because of that they use it to their sinful advantage and ambitions. Saying, what does that have to do with the fact that David was mentioned as a ruddy, handsome, gorgeous eyed farm boy? Could it be that by mentioning the appearance of certain men and women, that the Holy Spirit is trying to show the world how such individuals chose to glorify God instead of giving to the pressures that beauty can create in your life. That instead of using their bodies and their eyes to advance their personal agenda, they instead have dedicated themselves to live for the glory of God. And even if that means my looks will glorify you, then Lord let my looks glorify you.

Beautiful people have more trouble and difficulty living holy and separated for the cause of Christ, just like people who have a lot of money have that same problem. And I think that's why David is being mentioned here with his looks. That here's a man who was handsome and caught people's attention. But more than anything else, he was a man after God's own heart. You have a choice here today.

Every single one of us, especially in a day where we are being crippled by comparison. Some of you, I want to tell you, some of you will be set free from depression if you just do one thing. Not read more of your Bible. I know that's shocking. Delete your Instagram.

Delete the stupid thing because every time you scroll through it you leave more depressed than you did when you got on it. And there are so many people, even within the church, that have more ambition to be like Saul than like David. In what sense? They want to be known as the prettiest and the most attractive and the highest, and the most wanted, when they fail to realize that God evaluates men differently. And though David wasn't the most gorgeous in all of Israel, you know what Samuel told Saul?

God found somebody better than you. So you have to make a choice. Either you're going to give yourself so that everybody can praise you as the most this and the most that, or that you will have God save you, you are the most in my eyes. Make your choice. Let me give you a hint.

If you do it for God, you'll be much happier. You'll know a wholeness and a satisfaction that whether you have 40 likes on your last picture or 4,000, it won't mean a thing. So I believe that's why the scripture tells us about certain men and women, about their beauty. Because like Absalom, who had his bows in his hair that led to his own death, Or like David who was handsome but was a man after God's own heart? We are looking at a person that could have gone a different avenue in life but instead was saying, I want to live for the glory of God.

Think about that. You might disagree. It would make a great conversation after the Bible study. So we come back, first Samuel verse 13 of chapter 16. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward and Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

If you haven't been impressed by Samuel's heart posture and his pursuit of obedience, Surely you would be now, at least I am. I see an example by this man's posture as he continues to trust God. Because we are told that when David steps into this room, God speaks and says, this is him. And we're told specifically that Samuel arose and anointed him where? In the midst of his brethren.

In the presence of his other siblings. Samuel chooses to anoint this person. Now what's interesting is, we just learned that the father didn't have the greatest estimation of his son, and you read the next chapter and you get a hint that at least some, if not just one of his brothers, didn't think very highly of David either and we'll leave that when it comes. But yet Samuel did not really consider the illegitimate feelings of others as he sought to obey God. Samuel wanted to advance God's program and if people's feelings were gonna get in the way, it didn't matter to him.

It's not speaking of a lack of sensitivity or lack of wisdom, but it is speaking about the fact that Samuel could care less about who thought what as he said what God told him to say. It's another principle that's just hammering the same point. You're the man, I'm gonna do this in front of you. I wonder if there was frowns in that room. I wonder if there was nudges.

I wonder if there was growls. I wonder what people felt. I wonder what the brothers thought. I wonder how Jesse's pride was stricken as he left his own out there and realized, oh, this is the one that actually God wanted. But Samuel, like many prophets, proved to us that you obey God at any cost.

And it continues because it says the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David. Rushed upon David. You know why? Because that's the true anointing. The Holy Spirit would equip him to be trained and tailored for the kingdom.

Though, listen, he was anointed privately, but it wouldn't be for many years before he would occupy the throne. David from that day forward and look look at this. This is how it ends. This is how we're ending tonight. Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

I love that. Because here's what the mission is. Go and anoint the one that I'm calling to be king. So he does it. He trusts God, he obeys God, but there's a huge obstacle here.

There is an insane man who's occupying the throne right now. How is this little farm boy going to get from here to that throne? You know what Samuel does? He anoints David and he goes home. You know why?

Because even this prophet realized that there are some things only God can do. I've done my part to obey the Lord. Now how is this going to play out? I'm not very sure, but guess what? That's okay.

God will take it from here and what's interesting is, you and I are only gonna see Samuel appear one more time before his death. He just falls in the background. He falls in the background and then God's providence steps in and will take this little shepherd boy and find his way to the throne in Jerusalem. And so I see a faith just as much as the faith to get him to Bethlehem, fearful for his life. That took faith.

It took just as much faith to say I'm going home. I'm not gonna sit down and wring my hands and say, how are we gonna get this kid there? How are we gonna deal with Saul? How is this going to happen? He just I'm going home.

And obedience is often like a relay race. You know those races where there's three, four people on the track and you have a baton in your hand and you run your pardon and you give it to the next person, they take the baton and they run on. That's very much how it is like obeying God. God tells you to obey. You have your obedience in your hands and you only run a certain amount before you place your obedience in his hand, and he continues and you just watch it unfold before you.

And so I'll give you a practical example. Let's use the example of this church. You know, the church is growing and we need things to be done. We need a new building, whether it's this building expanding or a new building. We don't know.

But what can we do? I can't build a building. He can't build a building. Can you? I don't know.

So what do you do? You you can only do so much. You can only you can only pray, continue to minister, continue to serve, and just believe that as you obey God and you place your obedience in his hand, he'll take care of the rest. And he'll unfold it and his providence will kick in and you just sit back and watch as you do your part. And that's exactly what Samuel is doing.

And that's what David is going to learn because from this moment on, this story places David on center stage. And instead, you know what the Holy Spirit could have done? We could have read this last verse and then we could have in the next part or the next chapter, we could have just read and David became king of Israel and then we just read his reign. No. We're gonna see everything necessary between this moment as a teenager to the time that he would become king because the Bible wants to teach us, the Holy Spirit wants to show us something about process and waiting on God and the school of God.

What he often has to do in a man or a woman before he brings him to exactly where he wants him to be. And so I'm excited and I hope you are too. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for this Bible study. We thank you, Lord, that your word speaks, though it is ancient, it is so relatable, so relevant, it's so prophetic.

It can pinpoint small things in our lives. Lord, we we sit back tonight, marveling at your wisdom. And in this place, Lord, you know exactly what it is that needs to be strengthened or removed from our hearts. Perhaps for some, they received fresh fuel in the path of obedience. They're not seeing the fruit that they thought they would see at this time.

They even might be facing a confusing scenario that doesn't doesn't make sense because their hearts have been set on trusting you with with their days. But Lord, may the posture of Samuel inspire us. We don't want to question your word. We will question everything else, even ourselves before we question your word. Lord, for those who might be dealing with the temptation of beauty, whether or not they think they have it or they long for it, Lord may may you sanctify us in that area.

And show us Lord that you consider other things more valuable and better. We might be the best in fashion. We might be the best in all these different things, but Lord you consider David better because he had the heart after your own. And Lord, we just ask that as you continue to take us on this journey, let it have a true effect on us. We want to change.

And Lord, in this moment we want to worship you because you look on the heart. We thank you that you don't judge us as man does. We thank you that you don't include us in your circle because we have a certain style or a certain amount of money or a certain position in society. The one thing you look for is that heart that says I love thy commandments. Your word is my delight.

My life is for your glory. And from that place, Lord, we position ourselves to be recruited by you. But even greater to know your fellowship, You will manifest yourself to us. May you find that heart in our bosoms tonight. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. You can sit if you'd like to. If you're dealing with an issue with God, if you wanna pray something off of you or pray something into you, just stay there and seek God. If you want to stand, you can stand, but let's just worship God in the spirit of faith and gratitude and believe that through this Bible study we didn't just get information, we got revelation of who God is, what he wants from us, what he can do in us, and we can change from this place. So worship team, if you can lead us, just seek God tonight as we close in a moment.