Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13
We come today to the anointing of the greatest king of Israel, David. We again pick up the family line of Jesus with Jesse, who was referred to in our reading from yesterday. Today let’s consider just one verse and how it points us to Jesus.
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 (1 Samuel 16:7). Samuel was caught up in outward stature and looks as a sign that the oldest was the chosen one, but God turned Samuel away from this form of discernment. Isaiah says much the same in his prophesy of Jesus. … he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2). Jesus did not have great looks or anything else on the outside that made him look impressive. He was born in obscurity in a lowly manger, and nothing about him made others assume he was great.
As Paul writes (1 Cor. 1:28), God has the practice of choosing the lowly and despised. Why does he do that? God does that so that we cannot boast in ourselves but in the Lord. The anointing of David, the birth of Jesus, and Jesus’ death on the cross all occur in lowly circumstances, planned by God to teach us to rest our faith and hope on God and his power in our lives.
I Commend Joy! 