The Anointed One | Messiah: The Coming King

Sermon Transcript:

(transcribed with AI)

Well, good morning. It is good to be here with you all. Have you ever made a bad first impression? I'm sure everyone here has done it at some point, you know, you meet someone for the very first time, they tell you their name, it immediately is gone from your mind, and you say some other completely different name, and think, oh, what a fool I just made of myself, or you're spilling coffee or food on yourself over lunch, or you try and make a joke as you meet someone for the first time, and it just lands flat. Everyone has done this at some point or another, and it can feel pretty difficult to kind of overcome a bad first impression, isn't it? We judge a lot based on that very first interaction.

I remember I did a job interview at a coffee shop, and in the middle of this job interview, I spilled coffee, not just a little bit, but over the entire table, onto the floor and down across my pants. We had to stop, I had to go over, a cashier came and helped me clean up, it was a mess and a half. It was weird, I never got a call back after that. First impressions, they make a difference.

One study said that we make around 11 assumptions about a person that we're meeting in the first 7 seconds. I don't know if that's exactly true or not, but regardless, we certainly do. They looked at things like, we make assumptions about their education, their social status, even how competent a person is, just based off those first initial moments.

But the challenge is we recognize that first impressions aren't always accurate. Because we've all met someone who has made a terrible first impression, and then we get to know them and thought, man, they're fantastic, or the other way around, they make a great impression, and you get to know them and you think, that was wrong. And yet, despite the fact that we know they're not always accurate, it can be hard to change it.

So they did another study, psychologists went and they tried to figure out how does that first impression actually change? What is it that shifts us from a bad first impression to a good lasting impression? So they looked at a couple of things, they looked at how competent you were. You get the job and you think, man, I made a bad first impression, but I'm gonna work really hard and change everyone's mind. And what they found is that made almost no difference. Hardly moved the needle at all. You make a really awkward thing or awkward comment in a conversation, you think, OK, so next time I'm gonna be very smooth, I'm gonna, you know, it's gonna be a great conversation, and once again, it hardly moves the needle.

They found actually what makes the biggest difference. The biggest difference in changing someone's mind is seeing your character. It's actually when they can see your compassion, your sympathy, your willingness to help other people, your humility, that makes a far bigger impression on people than your work ethic ever will. So if you wanna get past a bad first impression, show them who you really are.

Because in one sense that makes sense to us. We know that a first impression is all about the outside, it's how someone looks, it's how they present themselves, but your character tells you something about what that person is really like. We know that matters more than just the external circumstances, and I think part of that is because that's how God made us. That's how God looks at us. It's not just about what is on the outside, that initial first impression is not how God judges us, but rather what's in our hearts.

And so as we open our Bibles this morning, that's exactly what we're gonna see. If you have a Bible, let me invite you to open to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 16. We started a new series last week, looking into the life of King David, looking at his early life. And we're gonna get into this series now, sort of for real, looking through his life and so we're gonna look at actually David being anointed king when he was first sort of commissioned to be the king over Israel, and what we're gonna find out is that God looks differently, looks at things differently than we do.

So if you have your Bibles open, let me invite you to follow along with me. It's our tradition here to stand as we read God's word. If you're able to, please stand with me. 1 Samuel chapter 16, starting in verse 1.

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. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. 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 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.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord's anointed is before 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 at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. When Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shama pass by, and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one, and Jesse made 7 of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these.

And 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 until he comes 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. And 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.

Thus far the reading of God's word, you may be seated.

Well we are starting into the series on David, the story of his life, when he is still quite a young boy. And really up until this moment, he is kind of a nobody. David, he doesn't come from an important city, he doesn't come from an important family, he's not doing an important job. In fact, he was so overlooked at this point, he didn't even get an invitation to this feast and sacrifice.

But what we see all throughout this passage, in fact all throughout the Bible. Is that God does not look at things the way that we do. If you remember nothing else, remember that God actually sees things quite differently. He's not concerned about the appearance, but the heart.

Now, if you were with us last week, you'll remember we looked at what was all going on in Israel at this time, and you'll remember that at this point, Saul is the king over Israel. And Saul is not exactly a great king. In fact, he's made a lot of mistakes. He makes very rash decisions, very foolish ones at that. He is often making problems, he succumbs to whatever pressure is put on him, and most problematically, He is not committed to actually following after God.

And so, after many warnings, after many sort of calls to turn around, God rejects him from being king. Basically says, all right, you're done, Saul, I'm going to go and choose a new king, and that's exactly what we're seeing here. And see, unlike Saul, who was the biggest and the strongest, God chooses someone no one expected, a young shepherd boy. Because God's view is not the same as ours.

And so this morning, what we're gonna see here is actually we can trust God's plans, because he does see to the heart and has sent the Messiah to give us a new heart. God's view is not like ours, and actually we are called to trust him.

And so let's just start off here by looking at Samuel. Samuel is the one who is first sent to go and anoint this king, and really, he has to place his trust in God's plan. Look back at verse one with me. I know we looked at this last week already, but just to remind ourselves.

The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel.

God has rejected him, his line is not going to continue. Saul is not going to continue to be the king. But you do have to remember he is the king at this moment. And so God is now sending Samuel to anoint a new king. End of verse one, he says,

fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I provided for myself a king from among his sons.

God has rejected Saul, he is now going to anoint this new king, and so God sends Samuel, go to Bethlehem. Now I know for us, we have read the end of the story, we know about Bethlehem because we sing about it every Christmas, Oh little town of Bethlehem, we know that's where Jesus is born, we know that's an important city, but up until this point, It's been pretty unimportant. In fact, it's not actually very significant, it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, and it's not that big, it's not that important, and so Samuel is gonna go, but what we find is Samuel is afraid to go.

Verse 2 says,

Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.

He's not wrong on this, by the way. If Saul hears about what Samuel is doing, Saul is not going to be happy about it. He is still the king in Israel, and if he hears Samuel's going out to anoint a new king, that is a very direct threat to him that he will want to snuff out. Samuel's fear is pretty well founded, and so God gives him. A bit of a cover story. Verse 2 says

the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, and then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you

God gives Samuel a reasonable excuse to go and travel to Bethlehem. He's gonna have a feast, a sacrifice is going to be made, he can invite everyone there, and God says, make sure you invite Jesse and all of his sons.

And so Samuel goes, he goes to Bethlehem, he takes the heifer along with him, and as he's approaching, the elders of the city, the leaders there, they see Samuel and they start getting afraid. Now we're not really told why that they are afraid at this moment, but you can probably come up with a few examples. We know that Saul and Samuel have just had a pretty big clash, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine that right now, Saul could be chasing after Samuel, maybe. They're about to get into the middle of this whole battle, a war could erupt there, or it could be simply that Samuel's a prophet. Maybe he's coming to declare some judgment on their town or convict them of some kind of sin. And so they are seeing Samuel and they're getting worried. Oh no, what is about to happen?

It's very interesting, in both of these cases, people are afraid of what never happens. Aren't they? Samuel's afraid Saul's gonna find out. Saul never hears. The people are worried about, well, what happens if Samuel shows up and he brings judgment. That's not what he's there for. They're scared about things that were not happening, that were not real.

See, we said at the beginning, God sees things differently. God knew Samuel was perfectly safe. The elders in in Bethlehem had nothing to worry about. And yet all this fear is because we do not see what God sees. See, if Samuel could see what God sees, he would have known there's nothing that he has to worry about, and yet the truth is, we don't.

Isaiah 55 tells us, God speaking, says,

for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God knows more than we do, God sees more than we do, and as much as we might have an idea of what's going on, yet God knows far, far more.

And so here's the thing. We are not called to try and see what God sees. We can't. Yes, we want to put things into the perspective that God has, but ultimately we're never going to be able to see exactly what God sees. Rather, what we are called to do is trust him. Trust his words, trust his leading, trust his plan for our lives. God sometimes asks us to do something that we might not fully understand, and we might say, why would God ask me to do that, and yet we can trust that God does actually see far more. God sends Samuel, go anoint a king, he's nervous and yet God knows you are safe the whole way. He had nothing to worry about.

In fact, we are often called to do the same thing. We could probably do this in a number of different ways. The Bible calls us, we are to be people of the truth, speak the truth, even should it come to our own harm, and we think, why would I ever do that? Why would I ever do that? Why would I tell the truth when I could just lie and get out of it, and yet what does God say? Trust me. Because I know where that lie leads, and I know where the truth will lead you. Speak the truth.

We see that in regards to God's view on sexuality. You're saying that sex is to be reserved for men, a man, a woman in marriage to the exclusion of everything else. I mean that seems so restrictive, why would we ever do that? And yet what does God say? I can see more than you can. Trust me.

Now I'm grateful God gives us hints, he gives us clues, he shows us his plans, but there are times in which we are called to obey, to follow what God's called us to do, even when we can't see the end. Because by the way, that's exactly what Samuel has to do. See, for as much as Samuel is afraid, he is also obedient. He goes. He doesn't stop, he doesn't try and get out of it, he simply goes. And even though God hadn't told him all the details of what was going to happen, all he said was go to Bethlehem and find a guy named Jesse, it's one of his sons. Now in one sense, couldn't have God said, you're gonna go find a shepherd boy named David. God had already chosen, God knew who this was, and yet he doesn't tell everything to Samuel, simply calls him, go, trust me, I will take care of you.

In many ways, that's exactly how we are called to follow God as well. We might not know all of the plans that God has, and yet we can trust him through all of them. That even if difficulties arise, we know God is with us.

2 Corinthians tells us,

God is the one who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Even should God bring us through trials, he does not leave us, he comforts us and then uses that for even greater purposes that we can be used to comfort others. Just as God comforts Samuel when he is afraid, now Samuel goes and comforts the elders of the city. We can trust God's plan because we know he sees even more than we do. God's view is not restricted to just what we can see, rather, God sees everything and he sees to the heart. God, it is the heart that God sees.

And so Samuel goes and he goes to Bethlehem. He calls the city, he says, I'm gonna make a sacrifice, I want everyone to consecrate yourselves. This would have included all kinds of sort of washings, they would have got new clothes, they would have avoided touching anything unclean. It takes some time, but finally everyone's ready, and Samuel makes sure that Jesse's there along with all of his sons.

And so verse 6 says,

when they came. He looked on Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him.

The sacrifice is going on, and we meet Eliab. We assume the the firstborn of Jesse, he's tall, he's handsome, he looks like a leader, and Samuel looks at him and goes, that's the guy. I mean, that's gotta be him, just look at him. Obviously I've been sent to find this guy. And you can almost see Samuel just starting to get his anointing oil open and God just goes, no, wait. Verse 7.

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 God looks on the heart.

So here is really the centerpiece of this passage. We wanna understand David's being chosen, we wanna understand what's going on, we need to understand God is not looking at the external, but rather looking at what is inside. God's vision is not limited the way ours is. When I meet someone, all I can see is what's on the outside. God sees what is on the inside. God looks to the heart.

Now we should remember whenever we're reading the word heart in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, it's more than the muscle that pumps blood, it's more even than than sometimes we think about our emotions. Our emotions come from our heart. Actually in the Bible, it is the seat of our mind. Our emotions and our decision making, our will. Essentially, when the Bible talks about the heart of a person, they're talking about the innermost core, what defines them as a person. God is saying that is what I am paying attention to. God sees our innermost being, and hear me, that is both really good news for us and really bad news.

It's really good news because it means that God is not that concerned about the clothes that we're wearing. He's not so concerned if we are looking a bit shabby one day as if we cannot pray to God when we've got bedhead. Hardly, that's not the point. It means no one is excluded based on their clothing, based on how they smell, what their hair looks like, what their skin looks like. No one is excluded for those out external things.

First Peter, we are told, says

do not let your adorning be external. The braiding of hair, putting on of gold jewelry or the clothing you wear, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Now Peter there, he's talking to wives, but the point applies to everyone. What does God really care about? It's not what's outside, it is what is inside. And so the question we need to just even face right off the bat is, is that what we care about most? Are we most concerned about our heart? Because the truth is it can be really easy to get caught up in appearances. We can spend a long time thinking, worrying, planning, practicing, working on what we look like. It can become an idol that we are worshiping, this idol of our appearance, because we imagine that if we can just change what goes on on the outside, it'll start to work and we'll be changed on the inside. If I look like I have everything together, well, I'm sure it will happen. If I look like I have everything together, everyone will assume that I do, and it'll be OK. We begin to put the opinions of other people above the opinions of God. The approval or validation of others matters more to us than what God can see. We control our appearance because we want to control our lives, obsess over this because we believe that our worth is found in how other people see us, so we hide our problems and make ourselves look like everything is OK. If I only looked like that, well then I'd be happy, wouldn't I?

Now I know some of the men here are thinking, well, that sounds probably like something. That a woman might struggle with, but I don't. So let me ask you, what kind of car do you drive? What kind of phone do you have? How big is your TV? What kind of golf clubs do you use? Hear me, it's the same disease, just different symptoms. Do you exercise cause you wanna take care of your body or because you want to look a certain way? How much debt are you willing to go into in order to keep up appearances? To make it look like you have everything together, like you don't have any problems.

Now hear me, please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying it's wrong to take care of how you look, want to present yourself well. In fact, you can do that in a good and right way. I'm wanting you to ask the question, where does that priority sit in your life? Have the external factors of how other people perceive you become more important than the approval of God in your life.

See, this affects everyone. I know parents, you're gonna struggle with this. Because at some point, your child in the middle of a grocery store, in the middle of a park is going to do something. And you are gonna be struck with a moment that says, do I correct this right now, and if I do, what is everyone going to think about me? Again Are we motivated by what's best for our child, what would honor God, or how others might see me? God looks at the heart. God's not fooled by the appearances.

And therein lies our greatest problem. Because God doesn't look at the outward, he looks at our hearts and our hearts are not always right. Often it's the very thing we are trying to conceal with what we put out to the world. The Bible tells us God in fact even will judge us based on what is going on in our hearts.

Hebrews chapter 4. Tells us

no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

We'll have to give an account of our entire lives before God on judgment Day, and on that day there is no hiding. Every part of who we are, every thought, every deed, every desire, every action, everything that we've ever done in secret or in public will be on display for all to see. God already knows all of it. You cannot hide, you can look like an amazing person here on Earth, but before God, no one is fooled. The good news, God doesn't look at our outward appearance. The bad news, God doesn't look at our outward appearance.

See, for me, this was actually one of the biggest turning points in my life. See, I grew up as a pastor's kid. And I'm not sure if it was a real expectation placed on me or just one I thought, but I certainly had this feeling like I needed to live up to the reputation of being a a pastor's kid. Someone who was perfect, always made all the right choices, knew all the answers in Sunday school. It's not that hard that it's Jesus, alright, the answer's always Jesus. But I also knew that I was giving answers I didn't actually believe. I was giving answers and I knew it was the right thing to say and I would do it to keep up the expectation, but it wasn't what I actually believed, and as soon as I was alone, well great, I don't have to follow any of that anymore. It was a lie And it was easy to just put out that sort of expectation to those around me. And I very much kept on doing that. I was until my uncle was killed in a car accident. He was going to the grocery store to pick up some groceries, and he was killed in a moment. I realized at his funeral that that could be me at any moment. That I could stand before God and before God. None of my lies would hold up. None of the false appearances that I could fool everyone with would hold any weight. God would know exactly what I actually thought, believed and did. That's why I realized I had a problem. I had a problem with God because he would see the sinfulness of my heart. And I came to realize my only hope on that day is not to cover it up more, but to find forgiveness.

See, God sees to our heart, he is not fooled by the external things, the front or the masks that we put on. It is both the best and the worst news we've ever heard, and that's why it is so good the story doesn't end here. Because we are continuing on to see God's Messiah.

Look back with me at our passage. God tells Samuel he has rejected Eliab. We then get Abinadab, Shama, and 4 more, all get rejected by God. None of them are chosen, and you can almost imagine Samuel starting to kind of panic at that moment. That was all your sons. Verse 11,

Samuel said to Jesse, are all of your sons here? He said, well, there remains yet the youngest, but behold, he's keeping the sheep.

The youngest of Jesse's sons wasn't even invited, he was too little, deemed too unimportant to be invited by everyone except God. God saw things differently.

And so verse 12,

they call him, and he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.

I don't know about you, I find that such a bizarre description. Because we've just been talking about how God doesn't care about the external things, and then the first description we get is how beautiful the guy looked. And you're going, why? But again, notice the description, because it's not exactly the way that we would describe a king. No, in fact, David is a boy, probably 1316 at the most, and he looked like it. He didn't look like a full grown man. In fact, in contrast to his older brothers who looked like a guy who should be in charge, in contrast to King Saul, I mean this kid looked like a kid.

Look at the difference between how we're, how Saul is described. 1 Samuel chapter 9, we read, it says

that he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upwards, he was taller than any of the people.

Saul was literally the tallest, most handsome man that they could find in the nation and said, great, he is gonna be our king. But God's not concerned with looks. And so he chooses David. Verse 12,

the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

Maybe even a shock to the people there who didn't quite even realize what was about to happen. Here is the new king of Israel, and we need to realize just how significant that moment would have been. See, the oil that that Samuel is bringing with him was a very special thing. You can go back to Exodus, they have a whole recipe on how to make this particular oil and to keep it reserved only for the priests. Only priests, and now a king, is to be anointed. with this oil, it is to set someone apart as holy for God's service. This was an incredibly unique thing that was happening in Israel, and everyone would have recognized, oh, this is not just something ordinary. Actually, no, God is setting this man, this boy here in front of us apart for his service to serve as our king. This anointed one would now carry on God's purpose, and see, verse 13 ends by telling us,

the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.

Now, we're gonna look more at what it means for the spirit of the Lord to be active here in these passages next week. But just notice one thing. This is the first time we actually get the name David. It's the first time that he is actually named, up until this point, it has just been the man after God's own heart or a son of Jesse. It's not until he has been anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit that we hear his name for the very first time. It's almost as if we are intended to see David is only important to the story because God had chosen him and appointed him king. He is now the Messiah, Messiah simply means anointed one, set apart for God's service, empowered to carry out God's plans.

And see, here's the point that we're meant to see in all of this. We're meant to see this is how God would establish his kingdom. That the kingdom that God would establish through David would not be based on the external factors that we so often look at, but rather, the kingdom of God would be established on the foundation of a heart devoted to him. That is what we're meant to see. God has looked to the heart, found a man who is willing to follow him, as opposed to Saul who was very much unwilling, his heart was far from God. Here is David, devoted to serving God.

But hear me, please don't misunderstand either. David is not chosen because he is a perfect person. Now we're we're gonna see all throughout this story, David makes mistakes over and over again, but God here is giving us this foundation, what matters in his eyes. It's not the external, but the internal. It is a heart devoted to following after him, and every one of the successes that David shows us is going to point us to what it looks like to devote ourselves to follow him, and every one of his failures will show us our need of a perfect king.

Because that's what David is here to do. He's here to show us the future king that is yet coming, to this coming Messiah who would follow God from the heart, be devoted to him every day of his life, and more than that, this Messiah who would make our hearts pure before God. In fact, this is exactly what the prophet Ezekiel tells us that is coming. He says,

I will give them a new heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.

See, the problem of God seeing our hearts is not solved by adjusting what we do on the outside or covering it up, but rather in a new heart cleansed by God. What we need is a king who is fully devoted, what we need are hearts that are fully devoted, and that longing is only fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the one who came, he is the one who lived a perfect life before God, He is the one who died on the cross to pay for the sins of our hearts. So that he would rise again, that we might be given new hearts with him, Hearts devoted to following after God, cleansed inside and out.

Paul writes in Romans, he says,

because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

God gives us a new heart so that we might place our trust in Jesus for eternal life. Hear me, if God is working on your heart, tugging on your heart, do not turn away. The answer is not to try and avoid it, the answer is not to try and cover it up, but go to Christ. He is the one who can deal with our sins before God, because on that day when we stand before him, nothing else matters. As David is anointed king, we're given a picture of what Jesus will do. Of his heart and how he will deal with our hearts before God. Jesus died to pay for our sins, rose that we might have eternal life with Him.

And so this morning, even as we close, we're just reminded God sees things not the way that we do. We look at our circumstances around us and we begin to panic, forgetting God sees everything. We put on appearances, forgetting that God sees our hearts and is not fooled by our act. But do not forget that Jesus Christ has come to deal with our hearts before God. The answer to our sinful hearts is found in God's Messiah, the anointed one who has come to give us a new heart for everyone who trusts in Jesus. We need to remember that when God looks, he sees the heart of Christ. Let's pray together.

Oh heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the way in which you work in our lives. Lord, we thank you that we are not held out because of the way that we look, because of our appearance, because of anything on the outside, Lord, that we are free to come before you, to come to Jesus Christ, who has forgiven. Our sins, that we might be with you, that we might know you, that we might have a new heart. Father, I pray, would you do that work in our hearts, continue this renewal that we might be more like you, not on the outside, but from the heart. We ask all these