A Nobody, Nobody Noticed, Part 2

When King Saul proved himself incapable of leading the nation any longer, a dramatic process for selecting a new leader began to develop. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll will examine that dramatic transition as part of his biographical series on the life of David. He was chosen from virtual obscurity to be Israel's new king. This message started yesterday and will pick up right where we left off in 1 Samuel 16. Chuck titled his sermon, A Nobody Nobody Noticed.

When our lives are marked by a change, an alteration that was not expected, nothing of God is altered or unexpected. He knows exactly what he's going to do. Look at how the Lord reveals himself to Samuel. He says to Samuel, fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for myself among his sons.

Here's Samuel coming. They don't know it, but to anoint a king, and they're fearful. Verse 5, he said, I come in peace. I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. He consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. I don't know exactly what the consecration involved. Perhaps it involved the sacrifice of a lamb or of some animal. Perhaps it involved some kind of liturgical washing to cleanse themselves.

Maybe a period of time spent in prayer, but there was some sort of preparation before there was the anointing. I take it that as Jesse and his sons stood with Samuel, they went through this Judaistic ritual to prepare themselves for what God was going to say. So here they are in the room.

Understand, they don't know what's going to happen. Not even Samuel knows which one it's going to be. They're standing around sort of on one leg and then another, looking at Samuel. He's looking at them, and suddenly we get a little bit of insight into what Samuel is thinking. See, verse 6, came about as they entered that he looked at Eliab and thought. He didn't say this. He thought this. Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.

And how practical that is. If you're single, you can appreciate that statement this evening. You've been looking and all of a sudden you're in a group and you look across the room and you say, Surely the Lord's anointed is before me.

Maybe you don't use those words, but you know what I'm saying. That's the one. Isn't it amazing how wrong you were as you think back over those days? Surely the Lord's anointed. Wait, Eliab looks like the guy you'd normally choose for a king. He was apparently tall and impressive. He had the marks of a king. He was certainly a man of battle.

He's the one that's fighting in the next chapter with Saul and the troops against Goliath. But you see, what Samuel did not see was the character of Eliab. He didn't see, as we will see in that 17th chapter, that Eliab was given to a petty vision. He was critical. He was negative. He looked down on his brother.

He didn't view God's hand in the situation. He saw everything from the flesh. By the way, you've got to be careful how you choose. And I would warn you this evening that if you choose according to the externals, you're in trouble. If that's the basis of your choice. I think it's interesting when you ask young men what they're really looking for in a wife, the very first thing most of them will say is, I'm looking for her to be pretty. Right?

Right. I mean, you don't want to marry a moose, let's face it. You want her to look good. That's all right, but what you really want is the character down inside.

That's what you really ought to want, because that's what you live with. And every pastoral pulpit committee that's represented here can tell you the same thing. When they look for a man, they don't look for a man that has, you know, all the marks from the externals. I mean, just look at the one this church chose.

It's amazing. In fact, one of the men on the pulpit committee said he looked kind of squirrely when he first saw it. Hamp Riley said that.

I'll never be able to get over that quite, Hamp. As a matter of fact, you probably was right as I was out here looking this thing over. As a matter of fact, I came across this interesting comment that was said of Paul, the apostle. This little book is entitled The Acts of Paul and Thecla, written by Onesiphorus of Iconium. And in this book, it describes Paul. Listen, a man of moderate stature, with curly hair, scanty crooked legs, large knit eyebrows, and a long ugly nose. Hamp, that guy's squirrely. Let's face it.

That's the one you'd think is squirrely. You see, I'm convinced Paul did not have on the externals what you would think he would have. That's why when he came to the Corinthians, he said, I don't come with all the suave of the Grecians.

I don't come with all that eloquent clout. I come with the wisdom of God. That your trust might not be in me, but in the living God.

But Samuel was enamored of the externals, like most of us are. And he saw Eliab when he walked in the room and he said, there's God's man. Exhibit A was not God's man. Look at Exhibit B, verse 8. Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Now wait a minute.

Here's Abinadab. He probably looked as good as Eliab. He was the second oldest. By the way, Jesse had eight sons and two daughters. The eight sons are never mentioned fully by name, only seven. In 1 Chronicles 2, there's a list of them and there's only seven of them there. Apparently one died in battle.

We're not told. But there were eight altogether. They're named. Seven of them are named.

There were two girls. And it always lists second as Abinadab. And he said, that's not the man. We're not told why. We're just told he's not the one. Maybe he looked like king material, but he wasn't king material. Here's a third.

Here's Exhibit C. He made Shammah to pass by. He said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Sounds more and more like looking for a mate, doesn't it? You just keep looking and he's not the one. You keep looking, he's not the one.

You keep looking and suddenly you come back to the principle of choice. That's verse 7. I purposely overlooked it. The Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature because I have rejected him. Why have you rejected him, Lord? Because God sees not as man sees. For man looks at the, literally the Hebrew says, man looks at the face, but the Lord looks at the heart. If there could be one thing I could change about my focus, that would be the thing I'd like to change. I would like to see people not by face, but by heart.

That's why I'd like to see them. Wouldn't that be a marvelous ability? What discernment. You could hear a person say something as he sort of blows smoke on you to make you feel great and you see right down inside the heart and you see right away. That's phony. Or you see a person that's struggling to express himself and you see down in the heart. That's real. You see a person who says, I really have a need, but they don't.

They're just trying to get you over to their side and you see that. Now, you see, we're not able to do that. We have limited focus. Only God can do that. We have to look to God to give us that kind of discernment because we don't have it in ourselves. God says, Samuel, that's the principle of choice, and that's why I've said no.

He saw Eliab as what he really was. Let's read further. Verse 10, thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. Now, they went through each son, one through seven, and none of the young men happened to be God's choice. Remember what we read earlier, I've already chosen my man. I will designate him. Way over in chapter 13, God said, I'm looking for a man after my heart.

I'm searching for that person. He knew who he was. It's highly significant to me that Jesse didn't even have his youngest son in the room. Maybe if you're the baby in the family, you can understand. It's remarkable, isn't it, how Jesse reveals two very common mistakes made by parents. Number one, he didn't have an equal appreciation for all of his children.

And number two, he failed to cultivate a mutual self-respect among them. That's easy to do. Some of you here this evening are parents.

Some of you here this evening are still under the roof of your parents. And all of us could testify how easy it is to play favorites. Let's face it, some kids are easier to love than other kids. There are some that just sort of grow easily. They love the things you love. They look at the things like you look at them. They love the Lord and his ways. Some of them do not.

And it is easy in the process of growing to cultivate one relationship and not another, because you have favorites. Let me say that if a kid knows he is a pet at school, he certainly is sharp enough to know he's a pet at home or not. Jesse didn't even bring into the house his youngest son.

Well, let's face it, he had ten kids. It's easy to forget one, isn't it? We only have four, and I'll never forget the time we left one at the church when we drove home. My youngest daughter, Colleen, we got in the car, put all our things in, drove home, got out, took all our things out, went inside, closed the door, started the process of getting together lunch, and all of a sudden, where's Colleen? Oh, I guess we left her. So I got in the car, and I drove back down here, and there was one little girl standing at the front of the church going... She was so angry. You left me!

I'm part of this family. I know it, honey. I don't even... Why did you leave me? I don't know, honey. I just did. Buy an ice cream cone.

Just be quiet. It's easy to do that, but it's deeper. It's deeper than that. If you look at how man forgets, and God remembers, verse 11, Samuel said to Jesse, are these all the children? I mean, God told me that one of them would be designated as his king, and he's not here.

And Jesse, I love this. He says, oh yeah, there remains, yeah, there remains yet the youngest, and behold, he's tending the sheep. The way it reads suggests kind of a slam, but he keeps the sheep. He empties the trash.

He's a baby. You don't want him implied. One of the finest books on self-respect and self-esteem has been written by Dr. James Dobson, entitled Hide or Seek. I really wish all of you had a copy of Dr. Dobson's book, Hide or Seek. In the fourth chapter, he says, it's high time we declare an all-out war on the destructive value systems. The destructive value systems of our society are, you must be either beautiful, or you must be extremely intelligent. If you're pretty or handsome, or if you are highly intelligent, you've got it made in our society. But God help you if you're dumb and ugly. That's the thought of the first three chapters of this book.

He says, I think it's high time that we declare an all-out war on it. Hey, by the way, if you're not careful, you'll favor the one in your family that's best looking or most intelligent. Just stop and think. Were you the most intelligent? Chances are you got the breaks in your family and in the classroom.

We operate like that. He says, I reject the notion that inferiority is inevitable. Although our task is more difficult for some children than for others, there are ways to teach a child of his genuine significance, regardless of the shape of his nose or the size of his ears or the efficiency of his mind. I love this last statement, every child is entitled to hold up his head, not in haughtiness and pride, but in confidence and security. If you were not smart, and if you were not attractive, and you today are filled with confidence, your parents did a bang-up job.

They deserve some praise. Jesse said, well, he keeps the sheep. Look at Samuel's words. He said, send and bring him in. Bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes. You see, Samuel is looking like God looks. What does it matter what he does? What does it matter how old he is? He's God's man, apparently. Go get him.

Oh, for the ability to see beyond the obvious, to see beyond the bad track record, to see beyond the age or the looks or the lack of intelligence, to see worth and value down deep inside. That's what Samuel has, and Jesse doesn't. He says, go get him of this beautiful moment. Remember, David, he's out with the sheep. He doesn't know what's going on down at the house. Probably noticed that there are a few people gathered around, but he's still keeping the sheep. All of a sudden, a runner comes and says to David, hey, they want you back at the house. Remember, he doesn't know anything of what's been going on. Verse 13, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. What?

You know, we're so familiar with it, we don't realize just how it happened. Here's David. He walks in, and all of a sudden, an older fellow walks over toward him, and he's got a horn, and he's got oil in it. He pours it on his head, and he feels it, and it drips down his hair and drops on his neck. Josephus, the historian, says that Samuel the aged whispered in his ear the meaning of the symbol, you will be the next king. Fresh off the field, he walks in still smelling like a sheep, and this guy pours oil on him, and he says, you will be the next king. And except for a few brothers who say they walk out, he's left all alone. Oil all over his head. He's going to be the king. What did he do?

What do you do in a situation like that? I mean, he doesn't come along every other day, you know. God's ways are so marvelous.

At the most surprising moment, the most magnificent things happen. You're going to be the next king. What did he do? Well, I'm happy to report he did not go down to May Company and try on crowns. He didn't have a whole new set of business cards made up saying change it from shepherd to doctor or king-elect. He didn't have a badge saying, I'm the new man. He didn't shine up his chariot and run down the streets of Bethlehem saying, I'm the guy. What did he do?

Well, I'm glad you asked. Look down at verse 17. We'll look at this later on, but just to give you a note, let me show you what David did after he got elected king.

This is why he got elected. Saul said to his servants, provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. See, Saul is depressed. He needs a good musician.

Hey, bring me somebody that can make me feel better. And one of the young men answered and said, behold, I've seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, a handsome man, and the Lord is with him. And Saul naturally sent a messenger to Jesse and said, send me your son who is with the flock.

You say, well, now that's just an unusual case. Look at the next chapter. Goliath, the battle's going on in the valley of Elah.

Drop down to verse 14. David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul. David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem. Hey, he's the king's musician. I mean, what's he doing keeping a father's flock?

Well, you do that when you've got a heart like David. That was his job. And it made no difference that Samuel came and anointed him with a horn.

He didn't bronze that horn and hang it up in his tent. He just went back with his sheep. And when Saul said, come on over here, fella. Play a little for me. He went over and played a little when he got through. He says, hey, I got to get back with the sheep. That's my job.

I went right on back with the sheep because he was a faithful man. How do you handle a promotion? How do you handle an honor? Someone sees in you the qualities and capabilities worth honoring, and they bestow on you the honor.

Does it make any difference in your character? Are you gracious enough to live right on the same kind of life that you lived before then with hardly a mention of the honor? You're getting ready to king it if you can do that. That's the kind of man or woman God's wanting to use. Sensitive to hear the whisper of God's voice, you're going to be the next king. And as soon as the big thing is over, they turn out the lights, he's back with the sheep. They had to actually pull him from the sheep to get him to do anything that was related to the limelight. Hey, you know the young need to hear that today, just like the old.

Everybody's looking for a break. Their moment in glory. How great it is to see David humble enough to stay just like David. In fact, I think that's one of the reasons he was a man after God's heart. He was always approachable, believable, authentic. I see three timeless lessons that hang in my head as I go over these 13 verses with you this evening. And here they are, one, two, three. God's solutions are often strange and simple.

Be open. We try to make God awfully complex and complicated. He isn't. His solutions are often strange and simple. As with the case of Saul and all the complications of the throne, God simply said to Samuel, go where I tell you to go. I got a simple answer, a new man. You just follow me. Don't make the carrying out of God's will complicated.

It isn't. Second, God's promotions are usually sudden and surprising. Be ready. At the time you expect it the least, it'll come. Just like his son's coming from heaven. Sudden and surprising. He splits the clouds and he's with us. Just when we expect him the least, he's there. Like a thief in the night.

So his promotions are. He watches you as you faithfully carry out your sheep-like tasks and he says to you, I know what I'm doing. In a sudden and surprising moment, you be ready. I know where I am. I know where you are. I know how to get to you. You just carry out your job. Here's the last. God's selections are always sovereign and sure.

Be calm. That applies to a mate. It also applies to the loss of a mate. I took tally of the funerals I've had.

The last 20 funerals I've had, half of them have been people 40 years old and younger. In the prime of life, the zenith of a career and of a family, many of these individuals left little children, several of them, planning on a full life and God stepped in and stopped it. Sovereign and sure. In the process of searching out God's mind, don't make it complicated. Don't confuse it.

If the year 1809 was a good year, I know a year better than that. It's when all the world is watching the Oval Office, all the world is watching the international affairs and the unbelievable events that are happening in the big broad scale we call life. God is looking up in the hills. Isn't that a great thought? He's looking for his people to say, you are mine. I want to use you there because you proved yourself faithful there. That's our calling, to be faithful in the demanding tasks of whatever.

Education, marriage, occupation, just the daily grind of life. That's where it's at. Please stay with us because Chuck Swindoll will conclude his message with prayer in just a moment. You're listening to Inside for Living and message number two in a comprehensive study on the life of David.

Chuck titled today's message, A Nobody Nobody Noticed. To learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. To make the most of this study on David, I'll remind you that Inside for Living is pleased to offer the Swindoll Study Bible. It's a wonderful resource because Chuck has written summaries for each book of the Bible, including 1 and 2 Samuel. And the Swindoll Study Bible comes in a variety of book covers.

To purchase the Swindoll Study Bible, call 800-772-8888 or go online to insight.org slash store. At Inside for Living, we're pleased to receive notes, letters, and phone calls from friends who affirm the value of this daily program. You might be encouraged to hear this one. It was left recently and said, Chuck, I've known of your ministry since I was five.

I'm now 50. Your love for God and His word is truly a gift. Thank you. I'm privileged to take part in your ministry.

Well, thank you for your kind comments. And let me add, thank you for supporting Inside for Living as well. These daily programs are made possible because friends like you who value Chuck's teaching step forward and give.

It's possible that you've been listening for many years too. And today, you're in a much better position to support nonprofit ministries than you were many years ago. We encourage you to follow God's lead. And as He nudges you to give, follow His prompting. To support Inside for Living with a donation right now, call us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888.

Or to give online, go to insight.org slash donate. To conclude today's program, let's spend these closing moments in prayer with our teacher, Chuck Swindoll. Okay, let's bow. We do thank you, our Father, for that distinctive hand, your hand on our lives. And I sense this evening in this service psalm that are just right in the crucible under the smarting rod of God. Some hurting, some confused, some delightfully thrilled with a message like this because it verifies their exact experience, almost to the letter except for geography.

And in the process of life, you are at work. I pray that you would build integrity and faithfulness, consistency in the lives of your people, represented here and those who will hear it on a recording in the months and the years to come, those who are faithful in the obscure place, the place that's not applauded, not even seen, as character is built where nobody's looking. Thank you for your love, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. 2009 and 2022, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.