Better Than We Deserve

1. Better Than We Deserve Leaders of God’s Choosing 1 Sam. 16:1-13

2. Background to 1 Sam 16 • The Lord is not anti-leadership and has compassion on sheep who are distressed and dispirited for lack of a shepherd (Matt. 9:36). • “Pastors” = “shepherds” = a grace gift! • God is not anti-king! His Son is King of Kings and Lord of lords! • God predicted the reign of a king before Saul. • But Israel’s motive for wanting a king was wacked!

3. Moses prediction • Israel would eventually want a king for “peer credibility” • “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me’ (Deut. 17:14). • This is exactly how things played out as Samuel neared “retirement” in 1 Sam 8.

4. 4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

5. 7The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. 8“Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

6. 9“Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:4-9). • This is a “unified request” – unity can be a “false sign.” • Samuel attempted to dissuade Israel from persisting in its request. • But Israel would not yield.

7. 19Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Sam. 8:19-20). • Motive One: Credibility with peers / Blend in not stand out • Motive Two: Back “our interests” • Core Motivation: God is not enough!

8. What NOT to look for! • Someone the world would find attractive • Someone who helps us blend in better with the world • Someone who supplies the “missing ingredient” • Better administration • Goods and services • “When God is not enough!”

9. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you” (1 Sam. 13:14). So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you” (1 Sam. 15:28).

10. 1 Sam 16 • Prior to this moment no one (except God) knows who His man is. • But that he exists is a known. • Samuel is discouraged because Saul was a failure. • Who is Jesse? • 1Now 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 selected a king for Myself among his sons.”

11. Who is Jesse? • Grandson of Ruth and Boaz • When Ruth and Boaz were married: • All the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem (Ruth 4:11).

12. 1 Sam 16 • Follow-through would be perceived as treason! • God does not promote deception but adds a second reason for travel that is benign. • Saul is already spring-loaded to protect his turf. • 2But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

13. 1 Sam 16 • Samuel is impressed with the “packaging” • As are we – stature, photogenic, brilliance, education, business sense, communication skills • “before Him” = standing before the Lord • 4So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. • 6When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”

14. 1 Sam 16 • God is unimpressed with the “packaging” • He cautions Samuel against “fixation with the externals.” • “Heart” is what matters! • Look at qualifications for an elder / pastor (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1) – they are mostly heart markers • 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

15. What to look for! • Our greatest benefit is a man with a heart for God! • No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11) • They who seek the Lord will not be in want of any good thing (Ps. 34:10). • The Lord can see this clearly – we are going to need His help. • So ask for God to give us a man with a heart for Himself in His perfect time!

16. Needed Now More Than Ever! • A heart for God is going to be increasingly critical! • 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths (2 Tim. 4:3-4). • This trend has tremendous corrosive power for a pastor – only one with a heart for God will effectively resist it!

17. Postscript • After the death of Saul • David was appointed King of Judah (2 Sam. 2:4) • Then King of all Israel (2 Sam. 5:3) • There was a delay between God’s choice and David’s assumption of His throne. (hint-hint!)