David: Sovereign Choice of God (1 Samuel 16:1-13) :: By Donald Whitchard
Three thousand years ago, the LORD God chose a young man by the name of David to be the king of Israel. Out of all the sons of Jesse, God’s favor came to rest on David. He was the youngest son of Jesse, a poor farmer from the tiny hamlet of Bethlehem. David, on the surface, was a nobody from a family of nobodies. Yet, by the grace of God, he became the greatest king in the history of Israel, the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is listed as one of the great heroes of the faith (Matthew 1:1; Hebrews 11:32).
Throughout his life, he received great promises and wondrous blessings from the hand of God. He is known as a man after God’s own heart, a testimony affirmed by God Himself (Acts 13:22). The life of David is one of achievement for the glory of God, and it is also a lesson in the consequences of disobedience against Him. A study of his life can teach us about these aspects and how to remain faithful and focused on God during both good and despondent times.
David is certainly no model of perfection – far from it. He failed and failed big, but he kept short accounts with the LORD. He sinned but was quick to confess and manifested genuine repentance. His life has much to teach us concerning obedience, faith, and worship. Therefore, as the LORD leads, I want to venture into the life of the man who had the LORD’s focus and within the depths of his heart.
We start with the incidents as recorded in the book of 1 Samuel, Chapter 16. Beginning with verse 1, we read where the LORD has told the prophet Samuel that He had rejected Saul as king of Israel due to his perpetual disobedience. Saul had been chosen as king because the people of Israel wanted to be like the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:1-5). Up to this point, God had ruled the nation, raising up judges as the leaders that Israel needed for that time. This process had worked from the time of Moses up to the days of the Judges. God warned them that elevating a man to the role of king would bring political corruption and trouble (1 Samuel 8:7-21).
When Saul was chosen to be the king, the people were elated. He was a fine physical specimen who stood head and shoulders above everyone else (1 Samuel 9:2). But his outward appearance did not reflect his inward character. The Bible says that Saul started well but soon grew egotistical, living for the praises of his subjects and tended to overstep his boundaries, disobeying the commandments of the LORD.
Saul’s behavior and reactions to correction proved to many in Israel the dangers of a human monarch, with God eventually rejecting Saul as the king of Israel. As a result of Saul’s rebellion, God chose a new king to rule over Israel. His choice would fall upon an unknown shepherd boy named David, who lived in what we would call the “backwater” of Israel, surrounded by obscurity and covered with anonymity.
All throughout Scripture, this is a characteristic God shows to us in that His ways are the best and that we are not to look on the outside in determining the destiny of an individual. It also shows that God holds every life as precious and having meaning, even in places where we think have no benefit or purpose.
The Bible says that God is Sovereign in the affairs of His creation. He has the final say in how and when things go. He has the final word in the lives and influences of people, whether for good or bad. He raises up the good and the bad rulers to show us the futility of trusting in ourselves alone and the consequences of ignoring His will in the directions of both our lives and the destinies of nations.
It is against this backdrop of rebellion and rejection that God begins the process of choosing Israel’s next king. He worked behind the scenes during those difficult times in Israel’s history to prepare the way for His plans to be fulfilled. Here, we see both His Sovereign Providence and Sovereign Planning in action. He told Samuel to fill his horn of oil and to go where he would find the next king. God had put everything into place at the right moment in history.
If you look back at David’s ancestry, God’s hand had been moving events and people into place. One of David’s ancestors was a woman named Rahab, known as a “harlot” (Joshua 2). She had been saved out of paganism and brought into the nation of Israel. She married a man named Salmon (Matthew 1:5) and became the mother of a man named Boaz (Ruth 4:20). Boaz would marry a Gentile girl also brought out of paganism. Her name was Ruth, and they became the great-grandparents of a boy who would be named David. None of this was mere coincidence or random chance, but instead, part of a perfect plan brought into existence by Almighty God.
Because the LORD God is Sovereign, there are no “accidents” in life. Everything that occurs is part of a larger plan. Things may catch us off guard or by surprise, but not so with God. He often works behind the scenes in ways that we cannot comprehend in order to accomplish His plans and purposes (Psalm 37:23; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 4:15-17). Thanks be to God for being in absolute control even if all we see with our limited vision is chaotic!
Because God is Sovereign, He is well able to bring all of His plans to pass. He never proposes a plan that He is not able to accomplish. With Him, there is never a waste of good ideas like we would propose yet not come to fruition. Whether God’s plans include raising up an obscure young shepherd to become Israel’s greatest king, or a plan to work out His will in your life and mine, He is well able to see it through (Genesis 18:14; Job 42:2; Luke 1:37; Ephesians 3:20). God’s Sovereign choices extend to every area of life.
I am not smart enough to understand everything, but I am assured in Scripture that God is in the business of working out all things according to His will and bringing His eternal purposes to pass in time (Isaiah 46:10-11; Ephesians 1:11).
All of this comes into being as we witness the transformation of this boy David, not even considered worthy to stand before Samuel at first, yet called from the obscurity of a field to end up as not only Israel’s greatest and most beloved king, but who would be the One God chose to bear the seed of a dynasty that would last for all time with the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return of the Son of David, the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we continue in our look at the life of David, we also see God in action, forming both David’s character and the destiny of His chosen people. God’s choices are surprising, but then again, aren’t we often surprised by what He has done in saving us from our sins and making us into new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) when the rest of the world would write us off?
What does God see in you? You are not a fluke or an accident. Turn to Him today and be amazed at what He can do in your life (Romans 10:9-10, 13).
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