An Unlikely Leader
Leadership under the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted
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Handout
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
A new series following mostly David but some other personalities in the Book of Samuel
Leadership under the Spirit
This morning we will be looking at the moment when David became king
Context
Context
So to understand our passage we do need some context for us this morning
Leaders of God’s people
Leaders of God’s people
For God’s people there were a few key leaders
First of all there was Abraham
Then there was Isaac - Abrahams Son
Then Jacob who’s other name was Israel
Jacob had 12 sons (and one daughter) including Joseph who was sold into slavery by his own brothers and through a turn of events became Prime Minister of Egypt. There was a famine in Canaan where his brothers and his Father Jacob was and they actually ended up in Egypt because Joseph was so in-tune with God he’d saved food for the famine.
So the people of God are in Egypt now.
Fastforward Jacob and Joseph have died.
There’s a new Pharoh who doesn’t know Jospeh or the Lord
and God’s people are now slaves
God raises up a new leader who’s name was Moses
Moses then leads God’s people out of Egypt and back towards the Land
But just before they get there he dies
So then someone called Joshua takes over who leads them into the land and he leads for quite some time
Now what is significant about all of these people thus far is that none of them were the king.
Why is that?
Well there is sense that The LORD was supposed to be their king
One place this is more explicitly stated is
English Standard Version Chapter 23
He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
And so for all that time God raised those leaders up from Abraham to Joshua and none of them were kings
Now when Joshua dies we come into the time of the judges. There’s no king remember. We have more of the same thing.
God raising up leaders, judges, and they were quite a varied cast of people.
It’s repeated over and over in the book of judges that, this was the period when there was no king in Israel and everyone did what they thought was right by themselves.
Now that’s important for us today because during that time God knew the people really wanted a king to bring some order but he warned them of the consequences of this
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
It’s stern stuff. Don’t do it. Don’t ask for a King it will go wrong.
But the people are insistant
But the people 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 all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Now I think the part that broke God’s heart more than any of it is not so much the request for king. But the request to be like all the nations, and for a king who will fight their battles.
You almost want to go back in time and tell them off!
The LORD isn’t good enough for you?
Who lead you out of slavery in Egypt?
Who raised up Joshua and other military leaders to fight your battles in the face of your enemies?
But God isn’t good enough for you?
You want a king like the kings of all the other nations?
Saul
Saul
Enter Saul.
Saul was made King and he was not a good king.
He publicly disobeyed God twice
The first time he was told to wait for Samuel to do a sacrifice.
But Saul got bored of waiting and so he, not being a priest, decided to make the sacrifice himself
Just as they’re finishing up Samuel comes over the hill and he’s like what have you done!
It’s the arrogance of the whole thing. “Wait for Samuel”. No I’ll do it my way.
Well congratulations Saul. Well done on your creative thinking because that’s just cost you, your throne
And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.
Saul you wanted to do things your way. Well God is only interested in a leader who will do things his way
He’s found someone else.
So anyway Saul remains king for a bit longer and that’s where we get to just before our passage for this morning.
Saul is told by God to fight a battle and to utterly destroy these bad people.
So what does Saul do he goes off has a bit of a scrap with them and forms a trade deal
Meanwhile whislt he’s been fighting this battle Samuel is told Saul is out by God.
God say I regret making him king.
Anyway after this battle Samuel and Saul meet up
And Saul is all proud of himself
He’s like I have done what God has told me to do. Well done me!
But Samuel is like yeah that’s great but why can I hear sheep
Saul’s like “funny story I was going to destroy them totally but they agreed to give us stuff if we spare their king”
Samuels head is in his hands at this point.
He is done with Saul and this was like the final straw he isn’t going to be king anymore
Take a breath that was a lot of history but it’s all relevant to where we’re at this morning
The new king
The new king
If you’ve got a bible open it to 1 Samuel 15.34
We’re going to just track through this new leader, this new king, that God is raising up
Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
That’s where we pick up the narrative Samuel is devestated he in himself was a very commited and godly leader
He tried his best with Saul but is left so disappointed and is grieving, he’s broken
But then
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
or
God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”
1 Samuel & 2 Samuel Commentary
The God of biblical revelation is a God who, time and again, and in amazing ways, turns disappointments and human failures into the advancement of his Kingdom and the accomplishment of his purposes.
J. Robert Vannoy
I don’t know who needs to hear that this morning but with God there is always grace. Samuel in his utter grief about Saul is brought good news.
How long are you going to mope over former disappointments? God turns disappointments into the advancement of his kingdom.
So off you pop Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem. Bethelem… such a shame that nothing of interest ever happened their again
But in all seriousness this is the place where Rachel is buried, where David is from and of course where the descendant of David -Jesus Christ will be born.
Now at this time it’s probably a decent size settlement.
But you get the impression that as Jerusalem which is only about 6 miles away grows in influence Bethlehem becomes less prominent.
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”
Samuel needs a cover story because Saul is really beginning to show his true colours we see that later he’s always trying to kill David. He becomes very bitter and angry after he loses the throne. Samuel needs a cover story
Lets read on
Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
Notice they are frightened of Samuel.
We don’t really know why.
Samuel is an old man.
He’s not a warrior
But what he was, was someone who was faithful to God
He spoke God’s word with authority even when it wasn’t popular
Even to Saul he’s this old man telling of this absolute warrior king
I think they’re worried that Samuel is here to give them a telling off.
But no he’s here on a mission and he finds Jesse and his sons
Then the odd parade of sons begin
First up Eliab
and Samuel thinks this is the guy.
Isn’t that interesting? Even Samuel. Who was so faithful to God. Who was so wise. Even he falls into the trap of looking at appearances
But God is so kind. Samuel could have made a big mistake right here. Could have been - bad king round 2. But the voice of God comes to him
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Remember from earlier when God rejected Saul
1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV)
The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart
God does not look at outward appearances. But he does look at the heart.
I’m sure Eliab was impressive to look at, nothing wrong with that. David as we will see was strong and tough himself.
But that’s not what God is interested in primarily
1 Samuel & 2 Samuel Commentary
The Lord’s warning to Samuel, however, should not be misunderstood. Even though humans can only look at outward appearances, this does not mean that outward appearances are of no consequence. Certainly good appearance, competence at specific tasks, or any other outwardly attractive personal qualities may be of great importance in connection with a person’s ability to accomplish what the Lord has called a person to do. Thus while on the one hand, if someone’s heart is not right, attractive personal qualities in themselves do not qualify that person to serve the Lord, on the other hand, they do not disqualify that person either
J. Robert Vannoy
And of course Samuel being faithful listens
And so they continue
Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
Samuel is a bit confused clearly at this point. He was so sure this was the place to come. He’s already turned down who he thought would be the right choice.
1 Samuel 16:11 (ESV)
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?”
You can almost sense the confusion. Ive come here with my heifer. Am I having an off day>
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”
I’ve been reading this week From Lament to Action which is a report from the Church of England’s anti-racism taskforce which points out that 15% of the worshipping community of the Church of England is of GMH
But it also points out that 3% of archdeacons and Deans (Senior clergy) are from GMH
and 4% of Bishops
Who are the people we keep out of leadership based on outward appearances?
Ethnicity
Gender
Disabilities
Age (like David)
Who will be like Samuel and say
1 Samuel 16:11 (The Message)
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get [them]. We’re not moving from this spot until [they’re] here.”
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Yes David was attractive and strong.
But in many ways that’s not the point.
1 Samuel 16:12 (ESV)
“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
This is the one. The one after God’s heart.
Overlooked by his own family. The runt out with the sheep
Application
Application
Samuel who listens
Saul who really doesn’t
David who seeks God’s heart
How will you lead?