“Then Thou spakest in vision to Thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.” (Psalms 89:19)
The paslmist is talking about David. God spoke to the prophet Samuel to choose another to be king. Saul had disobeyed and sinned. “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.” (1Samuel 15:11) Samuel searches for Saul until he finds him. “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king. (1Samuel 15:22-23) It was then that the Lord chose David.
God speaks to Samuel to choose another to be king. He tells him specifically where to go, even to the family, but Samuel doesn’t know which of Jesse’s sons God has chosen. “And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.” (1Samuel 16:3) When Samuel obeyed what God told him, then He revealed what to do next until he got the full revelation of which of the sons of Jesses was to be king.
Be it a vision, a word, an open door, God takes us step by step to His Will. Our nature is to know the end and to know where we’re going, but God wants us to believe Him and to trust Him. He was us to obey Him at each step, like Samuel obeyed the vision. Obey the word. Walk through the open door. Take the next step by faith.
Samuel looked at each one of Jesses’s sons that Jesse presented to him, listening for the Lord to indicate which one to anoint. Samuel doesn’t anoint any one of them. Eliab looked kingly, but the Lord tells Samuel He looks at the heart not physical appearance. The Lord doesn’t indicate to Samuel that any of Jesse’s sons is the chosen one. (1Samuel 16:6-10) “And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.” (1Samuel 16:11)
David is not kingly physically, but God knows his heart. The kingly things he did, were between him and his God. He communed with God. And God helped him miraculously kill a bear and a lion. (1Samuel 17:34-36) He had a king’s heart, a king’s faith and a king’s love for God. Luke in Acts writes about David. “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfil all My will.” (Acts 13:22) And there it is. What pleases God? Faith in Him and obedience.
Sometimes we wince at God’s choices and ask ourselves, “Why was that one chosen? Or that other one? Their appearance to our natural eyes finds nothing special. They haven’t done anything extra ordinary. But God sees the heart. Just like he chose David, an unseemly young person to be king, God chooses the inferior ones, the plain ones and the ones rejected by the world’s standard who have a heart toward God. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1Corinthians 1:26-29)
Any accomplishment and any gain in the kingdom of God is because God has done it. Man has nothing to glory in. God chooses and God does the work when we obey by faith what we don’t see, nor understand.
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