Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. This guy is awesome. I mean, he stands out above everybody. He is like a warrior-looking guy.
I mean, he can put some of the other kings to shame. This is the kind of guy we can follow. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Son of David, as presented at Rinaldin Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org.
Or call 877-544-4860. Now more on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. This is not really a text in which God is saying that He doesn't bless or authorize earthly rulers. In fact, the Bible says in many places that God will raise up and bring down rulers of this earth and He is over all. It's not to say that He doesn't sanction or bless, you know, various governments and government leaders.
He's not saying that. What He's saying is that at this moment in the life of the people of God, something very decisive happened, is that the people not able to see God, not able to have eyes of faith to follow God, not able to see that God was good and that God was utterly for them, they wanted to settle for something of the flesh. The flesh craved flesh. The flesh wanted something to be like the other nations. We want to have a king like others have.
We want to have something much easier, more tangible to follow. And the Lord is just saying to Samuel, He said, Samuel, what's happening here is that they're actually rejecting Me. This isn't about them rejecting you, Samuel.
This is actually about them rejecting Me. He says, but what I want you to do is I want you to tell them that, okay, this can happen, but, verse 9, solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. I want you to tell them ahead of time exactly what will happen if they get their desire here. And so Samuel, verse 10, told all the words of the Lord to the people who are asking for a king. He said, these will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He'll take your sons and appoint them to his chariots, and he'll be his horsemen and to run before his chariots, and he'll appoint for himself commanders of thousands, commanders of fifties, and at verse 13, to take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers, and verse 14, to take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He'll take a tenth of your grain, verse 15. He'll take your male servants and female servants to the best of your young men and put them to work, and he'll take a tenth of your flocks. In verse 18, in that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer in that day. So this is just being very explicit here, that if you want a king like other nations have, if this is what you really want, I'm telling you point blank, this is what is going to happen, because the nature of fleshly kings is that they use their position in order to accumulate wealth and power rather than to distribute it, and what you'll find is that instead of this king giving to you and bringing life to you, he's going to take life away from you.
Are you sure you really want this? And the people at verse 19 refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said no, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. We want to be like the other people. See, this is the voice of shame. We feel like we don't measure up. We feel like there's something inadequate about us. There's something empty about us. There's something that's not right about us.
I want to be just like everybody else. And the Lord with grief in his heart allows all of this. Verse 22, obey their voice and make them a king. See, the ways, the inscrutable ways of God, because there are times, beloved, in which God will just say no because it's just not best, and we don't know sometimes what to ask for. This is one of those instances you want to say, God, why didn't you say no? No, I'm not going to do this because it won't go well for you, but sometimes it just still allows it. I mean, his aim is that his people would so be able to see him and his rule that we would gladly submit and surrender entirely to his rule because we know of his benevolence.
We know his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his love is so great and so pure that something within us just wants to say yes to everything God says. Years ago, my son was little, and there was something I didn't want him to do. It might have been a movie I didn't want him to see or an activity I didn't want to be a part of. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I remember saying, no, I'd rather you not do that, and Bennett said, why? And I was trying to think of an answer better than the classic parental because I told you so, and I was trying to think, but it was very difficult.
It's like if there was something that I didn't want my child to see, if I then tell him what it was that I didn't want him to see, that's tantamount to having seen it. And so I'm trying to figure this out, but while I was having these thoughts, he interrupted my thoughts, a little boy, and he said, never mind, Dad. He said, I'm sure you've got a good reason. It just touched my heart so much. I don't want you to think that my children did that every time that I asked them something to do over the years, but in this one instance.
And I just think so often our prayer life, you know, that ought to be part of our vocabulary, you know. I don't really understand this, Lord, but I'm sure you've got a good reason. Because there are times also as a parent, aren't there, in which you might just allow something even though you know it's not ideal, you know it's not best because you don't have another way for the child to learn and that if you just continually say no in that particular area, the child not knowing will just develop further distance from you and you can't just teach it in words. And so you let him, it's like, you know, I don't know, a child wants a third scoop of ice cream and you're like, no, it might make your little tummy hurt. And it keeps demanding until finally maybe you just say, okay, have the third scoop.
And then an hour later it's like, my, I don't feel so good. And you're like, this is what I'm talking about, you know. The Lord is going to give Israel a king, but He's going to give them this king just like they wanted. He looks like a great king. He has real strong prophetic gifts. He's got real strong warrior abilities. And He is extremely good looking and strong looking and tall and handsome and looks exactly like what they would be proud to have as their king. So I'm going to give you that. But the Lord is so merciful that He's only going to give them that king for a season so that they can see what this is really like.
And so that's what He does. So they get Saul. Now it's interesting, the story of Saul, which we won't go into in great detail today, but just in terms of the description of who Saul is, chapter nine is where he's chosen to be king. And what we are given by way of who Saul is at verse two is all surface. Verse two of chapter nine, and he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people. Then in chapter 10, we won't go into the whole story of this, but actually in an ironic twist, Saul is here getting ready to be taken to be king and yet he's hiding.
He's hidden some baggage. And then at verse 23, they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, verse 23, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? So they wanted a king like other nations and so what God gives them is a man who everybody's like, yes, this guy is awesome. I mean he stands out above everybody. He is like a warrior looking guy. I mean he can put some of the other kings to shame.
This is the kind of guy we can follow. And then we get to the story of David and the contrast here is that God says explicitly to Samuel after Samuel looks at Eliab, the oldest first born son of Jesse and he goes, surely this must be it because probably Eliab was a good looking tall guy that also looked kingly and the Lord says, don't look upon his outward appearance. The Lord looks on the heart.
So the contrast now is drawn. The people want a king like other nations. The Lord is saying to them, what I really want is for you to be able to understand my rule in your life and to see my reign which is invisible but is real spiritually so that the spiritual person could see me and follow me. But what you want is something in the flesh and so I'm going to give you what your flesh wants.
I'll give you a fleshly king. And it turns out that Saul has all these gifts but as soon as there is adversity, the poverty of his character arises and you realize that he's insanely jealous, that he's really mentally ill, that he is unstable, that he is a terrible king. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope. As a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, thanksgiving and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.
Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. And the proof is in his life. That's what you got when you wanted to see a king that you just are looking at the outside. And so now the Lord says to Samuel, don't look at his outward appearance, but I need you to have spiritual eyes. Look upon his heart.
That's what the Lord looks at. Now this is just a side point, really, of this text, but it's still an important one and it is to say that God also invites us into a life as spiritual people of seeing one another and seeing others around us from the perspective of God where we don't look upon the outward things, the physical beauty, the outward signs of giftedness, but instead we look upon the character. The words of Martin Luther King that we celebrated once again this past week absolutely typify this beautifully that we would be measured, that we would be discerned not by the color of skin, but by content of character.
Not by outward appearance, but by who someone really is. So what this text is, and this is just a side parenthesis point of this text, but nonetheless important, is that we are invited as spiritual people not to look like the world looks on people. I read one social commentator this week who said, made this statement that America today is more obsessed with physical appearance than any culture ever has been in the history of the world.
I don't know if that's true or not. It's a very dramatic statement, but it's probably all cultures at all times, one way or another, but we truly are obsessed with the things that we see from the outside. And we tend to, without realizing it, we tend to think that we can measure something about a person based on the outward appearance. But what this is clearly saying is that you can't at all. Someone's outward appearance and even their outward skills and abilities do not tell you anything about their essential nature.
They do not. I had a lot of fun talking to Bennett. He's a freshman in college now for a year or so. He's been wearing this little beard. And so we got to talking about beards and he had looked up and found this article that told about a survey, a study that was done about what are women really attracted to. And so evidently this study they put pictures in front of women of men with beards of different lengths and men without beards. And the conclusion from the study was that women tend to think that men with beards were more attractive. And so, you know, he's kind of talked to me about this study, you know, rubbing on his beard a little bit like that, he said. But what was actually proven was that the most attractive one was about 10 days growth of beard. There is a certain point your beard gets too long and then it becomes unattractive. But the thing he laughed at most was he said that in part of the research they put pictures of men with beards and not with beards and asked the women which one do you think would be a better father. And on the whole the bearded men were coming up as being more likely to be good fathers.
And so Bennett's, you know, just laughing about this. And I said, you know, the thing that's so hokey about this is I said, I mean, 10 days growth, I said it's been in my lifetime that if a man walked around with 10 days growth the women would have thought he was a bum, that he needed a bath and he hadn't shaved in a while. You see how fickle it is what we see with our eyes and what we determine has absolutely no bearing upon the essential nature of a person, does it? I feel like ranting and raving a little bit right now, but I'm not. I'm going to move on. Oh, 10 days growth. See I'm confused by that, but see we don't really, you don't really want your pastor with 10 days growth or the president or the president of the bank or the president of the United States. I don't understand it exactly, but anyway, some man came up to me after the first service, he said, what about this? This is five days. I said, no, you're out, man. That's the wrong thing.
Five days just looks sloppy. All right, where am I in this? Don't look at the outward appearance, this is part, but there's something much deeper and much richer that is taking place in this story that the Lord is pointing us to. Now watch the ironies pile up on top of one another. Irony number one, Samuel is probably arguably the most spiritually sensitive and mature man in Israel at that time. And he saw Eliab and thought surely this is the Lord's anointed. Now part of the irony then piles up on top of that, that Samuel couldn't identify of those seven sons which one was the anointed because David wasn't even there to be seen. The seven sons that parade in front of Samuel, they're all the ones that Jesse's thinking of and nobody's even thinking of David so David's not even there. So the fleshly people can't see, but here's Samuel, a spiritual man, he doesn't see it and then these seven sons go by and it's not any of them so he wouldn't have been able to recognize one of them anyway because it was not any of them.
You can see how the irony of this just keeps piling up here. I want to point out something else that is absolutely intriguing and that is that you need to know that at verse six when it says surely the Lord's anointed is before him, that that word anointed means literally anointed one. That is the Hebrew word Messiah. That is the Hebrew word Messiah which is in Greek Christ. You are aware that Christ is not the last name of Jesus, right? Jesus is his name. Christ is his title. Christ is, it's not his last name.
Some of y'all wouldn't have gotten it. It's Jesus the anointed one, Jesus Messiah. Messiah is the Hebrew word that therefore the Old Testament written in Hebrew. Christ, the Greek translation, the Greek word that is used for Messiah. So when we say Jesus Christ, we're saying Jesus anointed one. This word here, Samuel looks in Eliab and says surely this is the Lord's Messiah.
That's what this says. It's not the Lord's Messiah. It's Eliab. The anointed one, the one who's going to be anointed is out in the field with the sheep. Seven sons come by. This is a very important number in Israel's mentality, the Hebrew culture seven. It's the number of how many days there are in a week.
It means complete. So it's like Jesse has sent seven sons and like in the story it's like he's saying you have completed all of the possible candidates that could be king. They all come by here and he says is there not another one? Do you not have another son?
Well there is one other. He's tending the sheep. He's doing a menial chore. The next irony of this is that it says bring him here. They bring in David and I don't know if this surprises you like it does me but after all this talk about don't look on his outward appearance, as soon as David comes verse 12 they sent and brought him in. What are we told? He was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
What? You know you're almost setting us up for like David's going to come in and just be this ugly guy you know with less than 10 days growth and instead he comes in and it's like David's better looking than all the others. He's ruddy and we don't know for sure does that mean he's like bronze from being in the sun so much or did he have reddish hair? Beautiful eyes can be a symbol for just overall beauty. He was very handsome. What we find out also about David later is he was extremely skilled. He was an amazing poet. He was incredibly prophetic. He had the amazing gifts and instincts as a warrior.
A great leader. So it's odd. It's like he doesn't bring in this person that was not handsome and had no gifts. It's just that they hadn't thought of David. Why had they not thought of David? Well part of it is that this word of there remains Jesse said there remains yet the youngest. The youngest is not just referring to the youngest. It's also a pejorative term that meant like there's the leftover, there's the runt, there's the there's the for whatever reason David had been looked on in this family as the one who didn't have any potential.
What? And so David is forgotten because David is a shepherd. What's a shepherd doing? A shepherd is in an obscure life heralded by no one tending to creatures that have little worth and little intelligence. Alan Wright.
In today's teaching The Forgotten Son Who Became King of All in the series Son of David. Alan's back with us in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day. Stay with us in a world that often feels overwhelming. We all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries. We're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio to share Alan's parting good news thought for the day. And in thinking about this message and what we've just heard, if I have been told that I have no potential and maybe I feel that I have no worth, where's the good news? Yeah, there's an amazing theme through the Bible of the younger son who ends up that everybody forgot or thought would never be the one who ends up receiving the great blessing. And I think all of this, Daniel, points not only to encourage us when we feel like we're forgotten, but to lead us into where we're going tomorrow with this. Jesus is the ultimate forgotten son. He hung on the cross and he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And he took this place of complete agony, isolation, and obscurity of a Roman cross on our behalf so that he would save us all.
And so he's the forgotten son who now is on the throne. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
