1 Samuel 16:6–13

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 on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” Then 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 till 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.” Then 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.

Jesse and David’s brothers have to be in shock. David isn’t paraded in front of Samuel because he’s “obviously” not the guy. He’s just a dumb shepherd. His big brothers have presumably been picking on him for years.

Then Samuel, who has a rock-solid reputation as a prophet of the LORD, anoints David. They can’t write this off as a mistake; prophets don’t make mistakes. (One wrong pronouncement by a “prophet” proves he’s a fake. That’s pretty much a capital offense.)

Then Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. He just walks away, leaving everyone with their mouths hanging open—and David with the Spirit of the LORD.

That spirit might come in handy right away. Just imagine his brothers asking him, “What was that?”

This kind of thing happens to us a lot. God has a way of dropping truth bombs without explanation, leaving us wondering, “What was that?” This seems to be part of His teaching style.

The big mistake in such situations is to forget God. When we’re taken by surprise by some turn of events, we’re consumed by dealing with what’s happening. That can distract us from our relationship with the One from whom all blessings flow. We underrecognize His hand in things.

But if we can keep our wits about us, and see things with clear eyes, we might glean something useful.

Still, this might take a while. Our eyes may not clear until the dust has settled. That can even take years.

However, the quicker this happens, the better. We should remind ourselves often, especially when things are calm, that God is running the show. With practice, one can be more mindful of God—to see God’s hand in all things

Be a student of life.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.