Sunday 14th June 2009
Reading from 1 Samuel 16:1 - 13 NIV
1 Samuel 16:5 NIV New International Version
Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.
Those were the words which the prophet Samuel spoke to Jesse and his sons. He had just arrived in Bethlehem, and he wanted them to be present at a sacrifice. He consecrated them and invited them to the sacrifice he was performing.
In doing so, Jesse and his sons were set apart from their worldly life for worship and for the service of God on that occasion. This involved carrying out a ritual of cleansing. For example, we find in Leviticus chapter 1 that those who came to the tabernacle to offer burnt offerings were required to present a live animal without blemish, lay hands on the head of the animal, slaughter it and prepare it for burning on the altar of sacrifice. The priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice around the altar and then, methodically put the parts of the sacrifice animal on the altar to be burned in offering to God.
In such elaborate manner, Jesse and his sons were set apart from the rest of the world. They were prepared for worship and for serving God at the sacrifice, particularly for Samuel to carry out the work that God had sent him to do that day in Bethlehem: to choose and anoint one of Jesse's sons as the next King of Israel, in place of King Saul.
Sadly, after the sacrifice, none of Jesse's sons were accepted by the LORD. It was neither Eliab, nor Abinadab, nor Shammah. Nor was it any of the other promising, strong and healthy brothers present, for the LORD did not want them to judge merely by appearance.
1 Samuel 16:7 NIV New International Version
Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
Instead, there was someone else who was not there with them. He was David, the youngest son, who was still out in the field, tending the flock of sheep. And Samuel told Jesse to send for him.
Now, David wasn't yet consecrated for the sacrifice that day. He had not gone through any rituals of laying on his hands on and presenting of any animal for burnt offerings. He had just been brought in from the fields. He had not been set apart for that occasion of sacrifice that Samuel was conducting.
Instead, he had done something that none of his brothers had. He had consecrated his whole life to God. David, the youngest boy in Jesse's family, was referred to as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13: 14). In the NT, the apostle Paul spoke of King David in his gospel message at the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia in this way,
Acts 13:22 NIV New International Version
After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: "I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do".
In fact, none of the Kings in Israel who reigned after David were comparable to him, who lived "after God's own heart". For example, the LORD rebuked King Jeroboam who succeeded David thus,
1 Kings 14:8b NIV New International Version
. . . but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.
Thus, whilst Jesse and his sons were consecrated by Samuel for the sacrifice that day, leaving the youngest boy, David out of the consecration, while each of the sons were presented for Samuel's evaluation, and while David was still out in the fields tending the sheep, God had already chosen David. Little did Jesse, nor even Samuel, realise that David was a man of God, a man who was not just consecrated for an occasion but who, instead, was consecrated all his life.
1 Samuel 16:12b NIV New International Version
Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; this is the one."
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Iesus, today we are reminded likewise to follow David's example. We are chosen by God to be set apart from this world. We are a holy nation. We should live as consecrated people of God, not just for some occasion, but for life.
1 Peter 2:9 NIV New International Version
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Let us live as a people who belong to God. Like David, let us live consecrated lives.
Posted by Harold B Huang at 11:29 AM
Labels: Devotion
