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Introduction
Myself
Pharmacist
CVC Youth Leader
Missions
We are in week 7 of series entitled “Family Drama”
Looking to scripture to help us understand our family dynamics and create a family that brings Glory to God
Today we are going to be in the book of first Samuel, chapter 16.
Now… Important point of understanding about the OT
One long, interlinked story
Zooming in on one aspect/facet of much bigger story of God’s character
While you flip there in your bibles, lets zoom out and take a look at where we are in the bigger story:
After a season of being separate tribes (judges)- Israel demands a King(!)
“To be like everyone else” but really “they rejected God”
Intermixed in this story is the prophet Samuel: Miraculous birth, faithfully served God, served as the voice of God to the Israelites.
God graciously/reluctantly provided what they asked for: a kingly king (Saul) (Tall, handsome, none like him)
Samuel anointed Saul in private, and served along side him as a trusted advisor and the voice of God to guide Saul.
And… it didn’t work out well
Saul is ultimately disobedient and in chapter 15 and God rejects hims as king.
Important Note: Saul wasn’t removed as King- but God’s presence, guidance, and spirit were no longer with him,
Chapter 16 then serves as a big change in focus.
Up to this point, our main characters are Samuel and Saul
Chapter 16 introduces us to a new character- which will ultimately be the main character through the rest of 1st Samuel and into 2nd Samuel
My goal today is that we would look at this passage and find encouragement in whatever role we fill in our families: Whether Parent or Child or Aunt or Sibling.
We are going to pick up at the beginning of the chapter and see where it takes us.
Let’s pray first
1 Samuel 16:1-3
Reminder:
Saul is still the king.
He still has power.
He is still someone to be feared.
We will come back to this part of the passage in a few minutes
1 Samuel 16:4-6
Pause:
Put yourself in Samuel’s shoes here:
Samuel was the one who anointed (at God’s direction) Saul: A tall, handsome, warrior King
A couple of years later, you are back doing the same task and you see a tall, handsome, impressive man in Eliab…
Of course this is who you are here to anoint!
But God’s response to Samuel changes everything:
This verse is one of the most profoundly impactful verses in all of scripture.
Circle it.
Highlight it.
Memorize it- whatever works for you.
But we shouldn’t lose sight of this verse.
It holds the key for understanding so much of scripture.
So God has called Samuel to travel out to the relatively insignificant town of Bethlehem and brought him to Jesse to anoint a new King from among his sons
7 Sons walk by.
7 Sons aren’t chosen.
So what now?
1 Samuel 16:12-13
I want to draw your attention to a couple of things:
Most scholars believe that David was somewhere between 10-15 years old when these events occured.
David wasn’t invited to this party- he was completely overlooked by Jesse
His inclusion is an after thought.
“Well, I guess I do have another one… “
When I read this, I hear: “He is really far away, and pretty insignificant.
Do you REALLY want me to send someone out into the wilderness to find him?”
That brings us to the first major truth in this passage.
God Sees the Heart
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”
The truth is: It is in our human nature to judge.
And, when we say that it is human nature to judge, we are likely underselling it: It is wired into our very specific sinful nature.
I do it.
You do it.
You might be doing it right now!
We judge a person based on their clothing, the color of their skin, the accent of their speech
We value people based on their accomplishment/degrees.
Their success, wealth, or perceived influence.
We categorize people based on what they do (or don’t) post on social media.
Are they a part of us? or are they with them?
We judge parents for how their kids behave in walmart, or the church lobby.
Is that enough examples?
Any honest look into our lives would reveal that judging the external is the foundation of our culture.
Beyond that, we filter our behavior, dress, social media posts in order to look (or be perceived) a certain way
Our time lines and our snap stories are curated to make sure we look like we have it all together.
We live in a world where we are always judging, and always being judged
So what am I supposed to do with all of that, as a christian.
More than anything else, I need constant reminding that I am not God:
Everything that you and I look at is external.
Everything we judge is superficial.
And yet, these are not the things that God cares about.
Throughout scripture we see God choose the weak, the humble, the lowly
Moses, who God used to rescue the Israelites from Egypt, had a severe speech impediment
We learned in our series in Ruth, that she was a hated Moabite, and a foreigner in Jerusalem.
Jospeh was a youngest brother who was so disliked by his siblings that he was sold into slavery
and… He choses the 15 year old, youngest brother, shepherd who wasn’t even invited to the party to be the next king of Israel....
God doesn’t care about David’s age.
God doesn’t care about David’s height.
God doesn’t care about David’s birth order or family role...
God cares about David’s heart.
If we are honest with ourselves, we already know this:
If asked any of you in the room “what’s more important, appearance or character”- I am confident we would all answer the “right” way.
Yet, any objective look my life demonstrates just how poorly I do this.
Even today, I wanted to rep a CVC youth hoodie- but I was too worried that it would come across as “too informal”.
That people might judge me.
Heck: In this passage, even Samuel- a wise and faithful prophet (who’s job is to literally speak for God) falls into the trap of seeing and judging based on the external.
Looking back at David, lets do a quick compare and contrast between human wisdom and God’s:
I mentioned earlier that my wife and I have been leading high school bible studies for 10 years:
Let me tell you about 15 year old guys:
They have contests about who can drink the most capri-sun
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