You Will Be Blest When Your Heart Is Right With God

READ 1 SAMUEL 16:1-13

MEDITATION: In I Samuel 16:1-13, we see the little boy David receiving what God had for him: that is the anointing to be the next king of Israel after King Saul. In I Samuel 15, King Saul had been rejected by God to continue as king over Israel because of his willful disobedience. So God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to make a sacrifice to the Lord and to select and to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be the next king of Israel.

Now, the reason why David received the anointing to be the next King of Israel was because his heart was right with God. And that is good lesson to learn right there. And that lesson is that if you want to receive what God has for you, you have to make sure your heart is right with God. To have your heart right with God, The Lord has to be the center and the head of your life. You have to be one who trust and obeys the Lord. You have to be one who worships and serves the Lord with all your heart, and with sincerity.

But David almost missed out on the anointing to be the next king of Israel because of what his father Jesse had done. When Jesse was told by the prophet Samuel that he had come to Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons to be the next king of Israel, he took all of his sons to meet Samuel with hopes that one of them would be chosen and anointed to be the next king. Jesse took all of his sons except one to meet Samuel. The one son that Jesse left behind was David. Jesse had all of his favorite sons to pass by Samuel, thinking that one of them would be anointed.

He had the first son, Eliab to pass by Samuel. And Samuel almost anointed Eliab, the first son he saw because he looked handsome, he looked tall, he looked muscular, he had broad shoulders, he had a clean hair cut, he was well dressed, he looked physically fit. Eliab looked like he had the potential to be a good king, But the Lord intervened and told Samuel no. God told him, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Then Jesse had the second son, Abinadab to pass by Samuel to be anointed the next king of Israel, but the Lord told Samuel no. Then Jesse had his third son, Shammah to pass by Samuel to be anointed the next king of Israel, but the Lord said no.

Jesse had all of his seven sons to pass by Samuel to be anointed the next king of Israel, and each time they passed by Samuel the Lord said no. All of Jesse’s sons looked handsome, all of Jesse’s looked cleaned cut, all of Jesse’s sons looked well dressed and all of Jesse’s sons looked physically fit. All of them looked like they had the potential to be the next king of Israel. But as they all passed by Samuel to be anointed, the Lord told Samuel no. Why? Because their hearts were not right with God. They were men who did not have the Lord the center or the head of their lives. They were men who did not worship or serve the Lord with their heart. Even though they were with Samuel to make a sacrifice to the Lord, but their hearts were still not right with God. Or we can say like this, even though Jesse’s sons were at church, their hearts were not right with God. You see, you can have everything going for you. You might be someone who have great talent. You might be someone who have good personality. You might be ever so fine, and ever so pretty. You might be someone who is popular with the crowd. But if your heart is not right with God, everyone may say yes to you, but God will say no.

That is why the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns. See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.” While Samuel wanted to say ‘yes’ to the sons of Jesse, God said no because their hearts were not right with God.

So Samuel asked Jesse if he has any other sons. And Jesse said, “Yes. I have another son who is the youngest out of all my other sons, and he is a shepherd boy.” In other words, what Jesse was telling Samuel that by age, David is the youngest son in the family. But in Jesse’s point of view, he was the least and the smallest in the family. In other words, Jesse was telling Samuel was that David was not worth looking at. He was not worth the time to be dealing with. Plus him being a shepherd boy tending the sheep, he is going to smell bad. He is going to be smelling like sheep. He is not as handsome or physically fit like his brothers. The only thing he is good at is playing the harp and tending the sheep.

You see, Jesse did not want David around nor did he bring David along with his brothers to meet Samuel because he wanted David to be out of sight and out of mind. And that is cold when your own parents don’t think much about you in a loving way. It is cold when your friends want you out of sight and out of mind. But know and believe this one thing: No matter how bad people talk about you, no matter how bad people lie about you, no matter how people may ignore or overlook you, no matter how bad people ridicule you, just know and believe this one thing: What God has for you, it is for you.

And notice what Samuel tells Jesse when he tells him that he has one son left that he had not seen: Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here. Now there is a lesson that we can learn right here. And the lesson is what God has for you, you don’t always have to look for it. You don’t have to search high and low for it. It will come to you. And when you think about it, David wasn’t even looking to be anointed to be the next king of Israel. He was minding his own business watching his sheep. And usually that is when you get what God has for you, that is, you will find yourself blessed, when you take care of your own business, doing the thing that God has called you to do, and not worrying about what somebody else is doing.

Do you think that people have relegated you to the background like David was earlier relegated by his own family? And how does that make you feel? Is your heart right with God like David’s? Will you keep believing God  no matter how bad people talk about you, no matter how bad people lie about you, no matter how people may ignore or overlook you, no matter how bad people ridicule you?

ACTION: Place in your Prayer bowl all the unprintable names that people have been calling you; the lies told against you; as well as the ridicule.