Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The Unlikely Candidate
“However the Lord stated to Samuel, ‘Don’t choose by his look or top, for I’ve rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see issues the way in which you see them. Individuals choose by outward look, however the Lord appears to be like on the coronary heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)
David was a fancy particular person. He was a warrior and a worshipper. He was a lover and a fighter. He was an unknown shepherd dwelling in obscurity within the tiny little village of Bethlehem, who was handpicked by God not simply to be the best king within the historical past of Israel, however to be part of essentially the most unique family tree in human historical past, the family tree of Jesus Christ.
However there’s one factor David was not, and that’s an apparent alternative. He wasn’t the primary king of Israel. That honor fell to Saul, a tall, bodily spectacular man who appeared the half. Sadly, that’s all he did. It turned out that his coronary heart wasn’t almost as spectacular as his bodily stature.
The Lord rejected Saul and instructed the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the home of Jesse, to search out the following king of Israel. Samuel’s arrival was a reasonably large deal. Prophets of God didn’t present up in little locations like Bethlehem every single day. And when Jesse was given the chance, he took benefit of it. He proudly paraded his seven strapping sons for the prophet.
These guys have been the unique Magnificent Seven. They have been top-notch bodily specimens. The stuff of royalty, you may say. However because the prophet checked out each, the Lord stated no, no, no, no, no, no, and no. “Do you’ve got another sons?” Samuel requested.
Jesse replied, “Yeah, I’ve acquired another son. He’s out within the discipline watching his flock of sheep. He’s a bit bizarre. He’s a musician, and he writes songs about God.”
“Deliver him in,” Samuel stated.
David got here bounding in with enthusiasm and vitality. The Lord stated to Samuel, “That’s my boy. Anoint him.” So Samuel poured oil on David’s head, formally anointing him to turn out to be the king of Israel.
God defied everybody’s expectations when He selected David. He didn’t seem like a king—and that was the purpose. God wished individuals to be drawn to David’s coronary heart, as a result of David was a person after God’s personal coronary heart (see Acts 13:22 NLT). You’ll be able to’t choose individuals’s knowledge, integrity, sensitivity, humility, braveness, ardour, or management potential by their look.
That time was pushed residence centuries later when God’s promise to David was fulfilled, and the long-awaited Messiah—Jesus, the descendant of David—arrived. To informal observers, He was an unlikely Savior. He didn’t dwell as much as individuals’s expectations about what the Messiah can be like. Isaiah 53:2 says, “My servant grew up within the Lord’s presence like a young inexperienced shoot, like a root in dry floor. There was nothing stunning or majestic about his look, nothing to draw us to him” (NLT). If you wish to see how God works, you must look previous the floor—of others and your self.
When you have faith in God, when you consider that God can use you, if you’re keen to take a step of religion right here and there, then God can do unbelievable issues by way of you. One factor I’ve stated many instances over time is that God isn’t in search of means however availability. He can provide you means in time. However God is in search of somebody to say, “I wish to make a distinction the place I’m. Lord, I’m out there.” You simply watch what God will do.
Reflection query: Why does God usually use unlikely individuals to perform His work?
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King David was a shepherd, a warrior, a king—and a person after God’s personal coronary heart. Official companion to the Amazon Prime sequence Home of David, a brand new devotional from Pastor Greg Laurie dives deep into David’s life, the psalms he wrote, and the teachings we will study from his triumphs and struggles. Develop in your stroll with God as you discover the extraordinary lifetime of David. Get your copy immediately together with your present to Harvest Ministries.
