January 12, 2025
Pastor John Hering
1 Samuel 16:1–13
1 Samuel 16:1–13
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I see a king for myself among his sons.”
2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the person that I point out to you.”
4 So Samuel did what the Lord had told him to do and went to Bethlehem. Trembling with fear, the elders of the city came to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?”
5 He said, “Yes, in peace. I have 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.
6 When they had come, he looked at Eliab and said, “Certainly this is the Lord’s anointed.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at how tall he is, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not look at things the way man does. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
9 Then Jesse had Shammah pass by. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?”
Jesse said, “There still is the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him, for we cannot sit down to eat until he comes.”
12 He sent for him and brought him in. David had red hair and striking eyes, and was good-looking. The Lord said, “Get up! Anoint him, because this is the one.”
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed on David with power from that day forward. After that Samuel set out and returned to Ramah.
You have been tricked many times. For instance, a card trick. (Do the card trick with 4 aces on top). Things are not always as they appear. Football teams do this all the time. The defense will line up as if they are going to rush the passers, but then the linebackers fall back and cover the receivers to cause confusion. Same on offense. The quarterback fakes a hand off to the running back and then drops back to throw a pass. Things are not always as they appear. When I worked at Braum’s Ice Cream store our manager would train us to scoop the ice cream in such a way that the middle of the ice cream would be hallow, giving the appearance of a big scoop of ice cream. Today we are observing the baptism of our Lord. If you had been there that day you would have seen what appeared to be an ordinary man getting baptized by John. But, we learn from holy Scriptures that a great blessing was taking place that day from this ordinary looking event. What we see and what God does and sees if often quite different. This was the lesson that Samuel and King David would learn as God used them to carry out his plan of salvation. God continues to use ordinary means, such as his Word connected to Water, to bring us an amazing miracle! Today may the Holy Spirit strengthen our faith that
With God Things Are often Different Than They Appear
The Lord Sees What We Can’t
Let’s walk around with Samuel and see what he saw. He was called by God to go to Bethlehem to pick a new king.
“The Lord said to Samuel, …. Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I see a king for myself among his sons.”
As we walk with him what do you supposed the conversation would be like? We would talk about how King Saul started out to be a great king, but had fallen away from the Lord and the power of being a king went to his head. Now he had been rejected by the Lord for ruling from sinful pride and rebellion against the Lord. Society was going down the tubes as well. In recent wars the Israelites were losing and people were wondering about the Lord’s blessings becoming a thing of the past. It all came to a head when Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel to worship and make sacrifices to the Lord, but he took matters into his own hands to offer the sacrifices. That’s when Samuel said,
“Does the Lord take as much pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Know this! To obey is better than sacrifice, and to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is the same as the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance is like having useless idols or consulting household gods. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you as king”
1 Samuel 15:22-23
All Saul could see was his desire to control things. But the Lord saw his pride and selfish ambition. What do you think Samuel saw? He was heart-broken and was full of misery and mourned, and mourned, and mourned….until God said, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?” Samuel saw Saul’s rebellion and Israel’s downfall and big trouble. It caused him to question the Lord and even caused him to quit working for the Lord. But, the Lord Saw What Samuel Couldn’t See. At least not yet.
What do you often see? A job that isn’t giving you security for the future? A society that is wallowing in wicked terrorism and evil? Health that is failing? An imperfect marriage? A failing friend? Then you look at yourself and you see failure way too often. But, as you look do you see a job that can’t be fixed, a world where wickedness wins, health that can’t improve, a marriage partner that is unlovable, or a friendship that can’t be restored? Yes, because like Samuel you have only seen the circumstance and anticipated the consequences based only on what you see.
It gets worse. Because of our sinful perception of events we are also tempted to give up or quit. You don’t work hard, you give up your dreams with a safe society, health and friends, and even give up working on your marriage. We all too often join the party of the pathetic! We may even go so low to react only to the circumstance that we can see and conclude that our problems are too great! Too great for whom? Too great for what you can handle? Sinfully doubting God’s abilities and denying the Lord’s promises? Have we forgotten what the angel told Mary already?
“37 For nothing will be impossible for God”
Luke 1:37
It’s time for us to remember that God’s See What We Can’t See and remember that With God Things Are often Different Than They Appear.
This is an old illustration, but it fits so well. Pick up a piece of embroidery and admire the strings that are arranged just right to make a beautiful scene. Now turn it over and what will you see? A tangled, confused mess! So, how are you going to view your life? And how does the Lord view your life? The Psalmist taught us in Bible Class,
“Look, the eyes of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who wait for his mercy. 19 He will deliver their souls from death”
Psalm 33:18,19
Sinful people like Saul, Samuel, you and me weave our own webs of sorrow and trouble and deserve to have God throw us away in hell! None of us here deserves any love from God because of our failure to believe that God is in control and can do anything!
When you read the Bible you can’t help but see how often the people saw one thing, but God saw so much more. Israel saw the Red Sea, God saw deliverance and the destruction of Pharoah’s army. Israel saw snakes in the desert and God saw deliverance and strengthening of their faith by providing a Bronze Snake to save them. The crowds at Jesus’ trial saw a beaten and defeated man, but God saw his Son on the path to the cross to be the perfect substitute for you, and the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty of all our sins. Can you see it? It’s not usually what we can see that saves us, but what we can’t see. Let us find great joy that With God Things Are often Different Than They Appear and praise God That He Sees Things We Can’t.
Abraham servant couldn’t see the Lord escorting Rebekah to the well to become Isaac’s wife, and we can’t see the Lord matching up our marriages today. The armies of Israel couldn’t see the legions of angels fighting against Israel’s enemies, and we can’t see them fighting against terrorists for us. Naaman couldn’t see the healing hand of God cure his leprosy, and we can’t see his hand caring for our health. The apostles in the early Christian church couldn’t see the ascended Jesus paying attention to their prayers, and we can’t see him paying attention to ours. So in our baptism we can only see water, but God sees the Spirit’s cleansing action in Baptism. We can’t see the righteous robe of Christ we wear. We can’t see the mansions of heaven waiting for our arrival. But it’s not what we see that counts.
“16 Therefore we are not discouraged. But even if our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 Yes, our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. 18 We are not focusing on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal”
2 Corinthians 4:16–18
Dear Friends, the Lord doesn’t want you to see and conclude, he wants you to see and believe. When Samuel stopped trying to figure out for himself and listened to God’s instructions and promises, everything went just fine. Close your eyes to what you can’t control, and open your heart to believe With God Things Are Often Different Than They Appear and praise God He See Things We Can’t to bless us and then
The Lord Does What We Wouldn’t
How did your family Christmas Eve celebration go? Did you get to go to someone’s house and all be together? Good for you! We started out being with our Church family and some members of our family right here in God’s house. Then everyone went home, or to the homes of their in-laws are whatever. Leading up to Christmas Eve my wife and I were thinking about having to spend Christmas Eve all alone. Her reaction and my reaction were different because each of us wanted something different…..wink, wink!
When the Lord sent Samuel to anoint the next king, Samuel had his hesitations about going.
“4 So Samuel did what the Lord had told him to do and went to Bethlehem. Trembling with fear, the elders of the city came to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?” 5 He said, “Yes, in peace. I have 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.”
Samuel was all too ready to choose one of Jesse’s fine, older sons to be the next king, but God did what Samuel wouldn’t think about doing:
“6 When they had come, he looked at Eliab and said, “Certainly this is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at how tall he is, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not look at things the way man does. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
And what heart did God choose? A heart with confidence in the Lord to face Goliath, to be compassionate to a king who was trying to kill David, to be a spiritual guide and shepherd God’s people with God-centered leadership. We probably won’t have picked David either, but we all know which son of Jesse the Lord picked.
“10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse said, “There still is the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.”
The Lord Did What We Wouldn’t Have Done—He picked the least likely son—David.
Like David, Jesus seemed the least likely to deliver anyone from any enemies. The people gathered around the Jordan with John and Baptist were looking for a deliverer like mighty David, to free them from the Romans.
“21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. While he was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you”
Luke 3
Who would think water could do such a thing? But, connected to God’s powerful Word we see God send his one and only son, have him baptized as he begins his ministry of salvation, and see him receive the blessings of the Holy Spirit. We wouldn’t think about baptizing Jesus to face the great enemies of Satan, sin and death, but God did and it saved us all!
As we recall our own baptism we can’t help but rejoice that God did what we wouldn’t. God promised faithfulness when we fail. God gave us forgiveness of all our sins. Our identity is in Christ as God’s own dear child. Also, God gives us a glorious reason for living! As baptized children of God we have hearts filled with thanks and are able to choose to do what God wants us to do. We get to work at our jobs, because Jesus loves us so much. We get to enjoy peace even with terrorists and death affect our lives, because Jesus loves us so much. Take care of your health, work on your marriage, avoid sin and addictions, live what God has made you in your baptism—a child of God who chooses from a thankful heart to follow God’s will because Jesus loves us so much.
We need to be reminded of Jesus’ baptism for us as we are clothed in his righteousness because it is the armor we need against the continued attacks to the ungodly world, our sinful desires and the devil. Everything around us will want us to act and react to events in our life based on what we can see. But, today we learned the lesson well. In Christ Things Are Often Different Than They Appear! This becomes a huge comfort when we lose someone in death. To our eyes death is the end, but The Lord Sees What We Can’t & Does What We Can’t Do—one of his own dear children leaving this world to live in heaven—what we can’t see, but we can believe. So, today see yourself the way God see you—a dear baptized child of God! Amen!
