Bible 203: David

1 Sam 15:334- 16:13

 

CATCHING UP

We left the Children of Israel last week having chosen Saul to be King

They chose him by lot > by putting marked stones in a jar

            (that was how they learned God’s will before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost)

            They chose Saul as their king

                        But Saul didn’t want to be king

                        He hid himself among the baggage > hoping they wouldn’t find him

            However, when God wants you to do something > you can run away

                        But you cannot hide yourself so well that God cannot find you

                        God found Saul > people cheered > “Long live the King!”

            But Saul would not be crowned until he had proven himself worthy

                        That proving didn’t take long

                        Ammonites were brutalizing some of the tribes of Israel

                        Saul took immediate action >

Rallied the Israelites to fight off the Ammonites

                                    Right then and there > they crowned him king

Next three chapters are filled with gory details of war, of heroic deeds, of strange rituals

            Saul and son Jonathan star in these chapters

                        Saul is the pious one

He makes public sacrifices at every turn

Hoping God will notice and be favorable toward him

                        But Jonathan is the wise and responsible one

                                    Jonathan trusts God > Saul manipulates God

There is a strong message in these intervening chapters

Piety is no substitute for wise responsibility

            Simply acting religious does not cut it with God

            “All fluff and no stuff” does not impress God

                        good messages for us to remember!

Well, as you can imagine, by Chapter 15 God is pretty disgusted with Saul

            Verses 22-23 records a scathing reprimand from Samuel’s mouth

Which brings us to today’s story (1 Sam 15:334- 16:13 )

 

WHAT GOD SAW IN DAVID

Remember that God picked out Saul for the Children of Israel

God picked Saul because they wanted somebody who looked like a king

                        And Saul looked the part

He was head and shoulders above the rest

But God picked David for God’s own > because David had the heart and mind of a king

            Doesn’t mean God chose David because he was perfect

                        Far, far from it, as we will see in the weeks to come

            And it doesn’t mean God chose David because he looked like Cary Grant or Leo DiCaprio

                        But it doesn’t mean David was repulsive, either

                                    Author of Books of Samuel says he was ‘ruddy’ > red

                                    He had good eyes > translated “beautiful” > also means “excellent”

                                    Next description literally means ‘he could see well’

                                                Tradition around David is that he was good-looking > handsome

                                                Text does not necessarily support that > depends on translation

 

 

Compare this literal description of David with an equally literal description of Saul:

            David was red-faced, had excellent eyes and he could see well

            Saul was ‘a good, pleasant, beautiful, delightful young man;’

                        Text says: ‘no one better, more pleasant, more beautiful, more delightful than he’

            yet we also know that Saul was outwardly pious and inwardly manipulative

            and we also know that God regretted the decision to pick Saul as their king

                        God had to find somebody fit to be king

So God picked David > because of his heart and his mind

 

WHAT GOD SEES IN US

We call this Bible of ours “The Good News”

Knowing God’s preferences may not be good news to the outwardly beautiful/inwardly ugly people

            But it certainly is good news to people like me > it’s what’s inside that counts!

            Years ago Sesame Street ran a segment on their puppet stage

                        Little boy got separated from his mother

Cried so loudly that he attracted attention of people in the town

“Tell us what your mother looks like, little boy.”

            “She’s the most beautiful woman in the world!”

so they set out to find her

            every time they saw a beautiful woman they asked “Is that your mother?”

            always the answer was “No.  That’s not my mother.”

You know how Sesame Street is > lots of drama >

            Helpers getting frustrated and impatient >

                        “Hey, little kid, don’t you know a beautiful woman when you see one?”

Well, they looked and looked until there were no more beautiful women!

Finally they came back to their own village

            Who do you think they saw? 

                        Bent over, snaggle-tooth woman dressed in rags

                                    “There she is!  That’s my mother!

                                    “Isn’t she the most beautiful woman in the world?!”

It is this inner beauty that God sees in us

It does not matter to God if we are best-dressed

            It does not matter to God if we win a beauty pageant

All that mattes to God is how we use our heads

And it matters what is in our hearts

 

We come to this table remembering the One “with whom God was well pleased”

            The One whose life God vindicated by raising him from death

            The One in whom we can truly live

            The One from whom we can learn wisdom and responsibility and love

            The One whom we call Jesus, the Christ

                        Thanks be to God!