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Sermons at Trinity Church |
1 Samuel 16v1-13'DAVID ANOINTED AS KING'1st August 2004Jonny Elvin
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All Bible references in this sermon transcript are taken from the English Standard Version. This can be found at www.biblegateway.com
This sermon was part of an all-age service. The picture references refer to illustrations of the Bible passage!
God wanted a king who would rule like him; with wisdom, love and care. Someone who loved and trusted him.
One by one Jesse’s sons passed in front of Samuel and each time the Lord said ‘no, he’s not my choice’. When seven of Jesse’s sons had passed by Samuel said to him, ‘are these all your sons?’ ‘There’s one more’, said Jesse. ‘The youngest boy, David.’ ‘Where is he?’ asked Samuel.
PICTURE 8 (page 188) ‘He’s looking after the sheep. That’s his job’, replied Jesse. ‘Send for him’ said Samuel. So they sent for David. When David arrived, Samuel saw that he was very handsome, just like his brothers. But God saw his heart. That was what really mattered. As soon as Samuel saw him he said, ‘he’s the one.’ That was a surprise! He took out some oil and anointed David to be king. At last, Israel would have the kind of king God wants.
But David had to wait to be king. Saul was still on the throne. And David didn’t want to fight against the one whom God had made king in the first place. His time would come. In the meantime he became Saul’s musician. When Saul got in a bad mood David would play songs to him to cheer him up. David was a really brilliant guitar player. PICTURE 9 (page 189) He wrote great songs. Songs praising God and thanking him, as well as songs asking for God’s help. We’ll sing one of them now… Song, The Lord’s my shepherd
But even David let the people down in years to come. So God promised a greater king. One who would rule God’s people forever. This king would be perfect. He’d rule with justice and bring peace. But they’d have to wait 1,000 years for him to arrive. Can anyone guess who that king was? Jesus – of course! David was a great king, but Jesus was greater. Let’s sing ‘Jesus is greater than the greatest heroes’ again!
0043. 1 Samuel 16.1-13 ‘David anointed as king’ – 1.8.04
PICTURE 1 (Page 180/1) The people of Israel shouted, ‘we want a king to rule over us!’ Samuel sighed. For years now Samuel had taught the people of Israel to love God and to live as God wants. But now he was old and his wicked sons were ruling the people badly. How must Samuel have felt? It was a grey day in Israel.
PICTURE 2 (page 182) ‘They don’t want me any more’ Samuel said sadly to God. ‘It’s me they don’t want any more’, said God. ‘And after all I’ve done for them!’ That made God sad too.
God said to the people, ‘listen, if you get a king like the other nations, do you know what kind of king he’ll be? He will take your sons away to fight in battle. He will take your daughters to make perfume and cook food and bake bread and cakes.’ But the people said ‘we want a king’ God said, ‘He will take your best grain, your best vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his friends and to his officers. He will take your servants and the best young men you have and make them work for him.’ But the people said ‘we want a king’ God said, ‘He will take the best of your flocks of sheep. He will take your money to pay for it all. And because of all that you’ll cry out because of what you’ve done. But I won’t answer you that day.’ But the people said ‘we want a king’, ‘we want a king’, ‘we want a king’…
So God said to Samuel, ‘If they want a king, they shall have a king. I know just the sort of person for them.’ So God gave them a king. His name was Saul. He was tall and handsome.
PICTURE 3 (page 183) One day his father’s donkeys got lost and Saul went looking for them. He couldn’t find them anywhere. And you don’t want to lose a donkey. They’re far too valuable. So he asked Samuel for help. As soon as Samuel saw Saul, he said to himself: ‘This is the man God has chosen to be king.’
PICTURE 4 (page 184) That night Saul stayed at Samuel’s house. Next morning, Samuel broke the news to him. ‘Saul, God has chosen you to be king over his people Israel.’ ‘Me?’ said Saul, ‘But there’s nothing special about me’. ‘Don’t worry’, said Samuel, ‘God is going to help you. Oh, and by the way, the donkeys are safe back home.’
PICTURE 5 (page 185) Samuel called all the people together. ‘God is going to choose a king for you’, he said. One by one the tribes stepped forward. ‘The tribe of Benjamin, that’s the one’, said Samuel. ‘Now let’s have all the families from the tribe of Benjamin’, and they all came forward, one by one. Out of the tribe of Benjamin they chose the clan of the Marmites…I mean, Matrites. Then when Samuel got to Saul’s family he said ‘this is the family’. And out of that family they chose Saul. But they couldn’t find him. He was hiding. PICTURE 6 (page 186) They looked everywhere. Then God said, ‘Look over there…he’s hidden himself amongst the bags’. What a funny thing to do!
PICTURE 7 (page 187) Saul stood up. He was so tall, much taller than anyone else. They saw that he was handsome too. And they were very pleased. ‘He’ll make a good king’, they said to themselves. ‘Here is your king’ Samuel told them. Then everyone clapped and shouted ‘Long live the king! Long live king Saul!’
It was a funny thing to do, to hide. But still, when he became king, he started out well. But as time went on it was clear that Saul was disobeying God. He offered sacrifices, which he wasn’t supposed to – that was someone else’s job. He disobeyed God’s command to destroy his enemies so the Israelites wouldn’t end up worshipping other gods (1 Sam 15). But they didn’t do as God had asked. Then King Saul went to see the witch of Endor. That was a wrong thing to do.
Saul had the Word of God, but didn’t listen to God. In the end Saul thought he knew better than God. So God rejected Saul as king. We have the Word of God in the Bible. We mustn’t think we know better than God. We must listen to him.
Samuel was upset at what had happened. He was right to be. What upsets you? When you lose your money/teddy/job. But what about the state of the world/church? Does it break our hearts when we see people dishonouring God, especially within the church? We are right to be upset.
God decided that his people needed new hope; a new king, a king who had a heart like God’s, who loved God and wanted to obey him. So one day God sent Samuel to Bethlehem. The people were worried when Samuel turned up. ‘We’re going to be mashed potato’, they cried. They thought that God had sent him to judge them. But Samuel said to them ‘don’t worry. I’ve come in peace. I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ So he got the sacrifice ready and called Jesse’s family to join him. Jesse had eight sons (8 blokes, smallest go & sit down)
When they arrived Samuel looked at the oldest son, Eliab. He was tall and handsome, just like Saul. ‘He must be the right man to be king’, thought Samuel to himself. But God said to him, ‘Don’t judge this by what he looks like – the fact that he’s tall and handsome. He’s not my choice. I don’t see things as people see them. People choose by what a person looks like. But I choose by what the person’s heart is like.’ |