Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What does God care the most about in people? (1 Sam. 16) | David in 22 Stories | 1 Samuel – 2 Samuel Devotions

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now we're working through the story of David's life found in First and Second Samuel. What do we care about most whenever it comes to others? Is it how they look, how they make us feel, how they make us look, how much money they make, what they have to offer, whether they're interesting or funny, engaging, fun. When Israel first asked God for a king, they wanted a king who was a lot like the kings of the nations around them, someone who looked at the part, tall, commanding.

Starting point is 00:00:46 And the results was Saul. The result, as we saw in our last episode, wasn't good. But in 1st Samuel 16, God does something new. He picks a new king to start a new era in Israel's history. So what do you think God cares the most about? Well, maybe the best way to figure that out is to actually look at the king he chose. The portrait of David that we get in the Bible is diverse. He's the measure of an ideal king in the book of kings and chronicles.

Starting point is 00:01:20 He's the sweet psalmist of Israel in the book of Psalms. He's the sire of the coming Messiah and the prophets. And in modern times, we tend to see David as kind of this pious shepherd boy, who eventually becomes a faithful king by God's grace. But you know what I think is interesting? First and Second Samuel, it won't let this simplistic vision of David fly. The portrait of David and first and second Samuel is complex. I love how one scholar put it.

Starting point is 00:01:53 He said, David is portrayed as a giant slayer, shepherd, musician, manipulator of men, outlaw, disguised madman, loyal friend, loyal subject, lover, adult. culture, warrior, murderer, dancer, merrymaker, griever, schemer, father, brother, son, master, servant, religious enthusiast, worshipper, and of course, king. David is a three-dimensional character, full the same kind of glory and ruin, truth, and contradiction that we see when we look in the mirror. So is that what God wants? You know, a mixed-up, muddled amalgam of good and evil? Well, if that's it, honestly,

Starting point is 00:02:34 God could basically pick any living person out there. But on the converse, if God demanded perfection, well, we can be sure of this. David widely, widely missed that mark, just like the rest of us. So again, what does God care the most about? Well, let's pick up the story. God sends his prophet Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem in order to anoint one of Jesse's sons and make that son the new king of Israel. In verse six, we read, when Jesse's sons arrived, Samuel saw Eliab, now that's Jesse's oldest son, and thought, surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord. This has got to be the guy, right? But the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance.

Starting point is 00:03:31 But the Lord looks at the heart. So did you catch that? Samuel is just naturally drawn to Jesse's firstborn. Why? Well, it's because of appearances. It would be very fitting in that culture for an eldest son to be the king. Even more fitting that he should be handsome and tall and strong. But just before Samuel anoints him as king, God stops him. He says, you're thinking in the exact same way that the Israelites thought when they took Saul as a king. I don't care about appearances. I care about the heart. I care about what's on the inside, not what's on the outside. Well, it's obvious that Jesse doesn't get this either, because as the story goes on, he parades all of his eldest sons before Samuel, one by one,

Starting point is 00:04:21 and each one is consecutively rejected. Finally, Samuel asks if anyone is left. Yes, there's one, Jesse's youngest son. He's the least important son, though. In fact, he's so unimportant that he wasn't even invited to this dinner with a prestigious guest like Samuel. We'll send for him, Samuel says. So in verse 12, we read this. So he, Jesse, sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, rise and anoint him.

Starting point is 00:04:55 This is the one. So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. And from that day on, the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Rama. Okay, so let's, let's, like we just pause. Isn't this just a little bit ironic? As it turns out, David is a decently attractive guy. But the narrator doesn't want that ultimately to distract us from the main point. It's not his handsomeness or his appearance that really matters. It's what's inside his heart that counts. So again, what's inside of David's heart? What sets him apart from every other muddled, mixed-up amalgam of good and evil out there? Well, the truth is it's going to take 40 chapters to answer that

Starting point is 00:05:43 question, because character is best proved, not defined. We have to see him under pressure, on the run, in temptation, in loss, in celebration, in worship, in lust, in repentance, and grief and young age and even an old age. Because the true test of character, it takes time. And of course, that's true of us too. In the end, you should know this. David does not prove to be perfect or faultless or unambiguously good. But he does prove to be one thing, one most important thing,

Starting point is 00:06:19 he proves to be faithful. It's no mistake that the final scene in David's life in 2 Samuel is him building an altar. Okay, now an altar was a place where people would have offered sacrifice. It's where they would have worshipped the Lord. And here's what you need to know. This scene probably comes chronologically out of order. But the author wants to put it at the very end of David's life

Starting point is 00:06:43 as the conclusion to David's life to make one point that at the end of the day, David's heart always remained true to the Lord. That at the end of the day, David worshipped the Lord. At the end of the day, David was faithful to him. Now, here's what I find super interesting, and it actually leads to, I think, a really great takeaway for our lives. The ending of David's story isn't a surprise ending. Why? Because right here, in 1st Samuel 16, before David's lifelong testing, we are told, before all of that, before any of that happens,

Starting point is 00:07:21 that he has anointed the king after God's own heart. Walter Bruggemann writes, David is not a human accident, but a divine intention. He's saying that the final evaluation of David's life is actually made before he even lives it. He's saying that where David's life ends, that's no accident of social or political circumstances. It's all, every bit of it, it's all divine intention.

Starting point is 00:07:49 It's all God willed. It's all God actualized. When I told you earlier that what God cares about most is what's in your heart, on some level I think that should probably terrify you. At least for me, it terrifies me. Because inside of my heart, there's beauty, but there's also horror. Because your heart and my heart, some days we're faithful to Jesus. I might be faithful today even.

Starting point is 00:08:15 But we might also be faithless tomorrow. But here's what you need to know. The ultimate destiny of your life is nethered. no human accident. It's no surprise ending. Your life, just like David's, is a divine intention. How do you know it? Well, it's because when you put your faith in Jesus, you were anointed by his spirit as a king or a queen after Jesus's own heart. You became an adopted son and adopted daughter in Jesus' family just the same way that David became God's son. Paul writes, in Romans 816, the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Now, if we are children, then we areirs, heirs and co-hears with Christ. If indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. Paul is saying, when you put your faith in Jesus, your future, your inheritance was set. Your life is a God-willed reality. Your future will be no accident. So today pray that God would bring his future purposes into your life today. Ask that in the end you would be found faithful before him and be confident that you being faithful before him, that doesn't rest in your own capacities, but in his own ability to hold you up.

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What does God care the most about in people? (1 Sam. 16) | David in 22 Stories | 1 Samuel – 2 Samuel Devotions

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