Sticks and Stones: Appearances

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” ⁴ Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹ Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” ¹² So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:1-13) I want to stop here for a second. Because I think this is the key to everything in this series. When I read this passage, I learn something new every single time that I didn’t see before. Underline verse 7 because this is something we don’t pay enough attention to. In fact, it is something that we often forget in our lives. I want you to write this down: potential is about the inside bubbling out into reality. God sees potential because He makes whatever is on the inside come out into reality. Here’s what a lot of people don’t realize about themselves or about others. Just because you don’t have it now, or just because a person has it now, doesn’t mean that it’s not within them to have it later. The amazing thing about God is that He doesn’t just see you as you are right now. I mean, He does see you with all your flaws and bad moments and all that. But it’s more than that. He sees who you will become, how you will become it, and He even sees when you become these things. We have a part to play in this though—we have to live into it. We have to allow God to work us in a way that the passion within us bubbles out into the reality of us. Jesus calls us heirs to the kingdom of God. When Jesus died on the cross for us, do you think we were heirs? Of course not, we were nothing more than the crucifiers—we are the very people that made Jesus hang on a tree. He saw something bubbling out into reality, so Jesus chose to die for us. This is the beauty of God seeing potential within us. You must recognize and own the fact that Jesus sees potential. We have to be ready to unleash that potential into reality. I want you to write this second thing down: when you are anointed by God, the Spirit of God will be powerfully within you. Let me explain to you what verse thirteen means. It means that when God chooses you, even if you don’t look like you fit the criteria. Even if you feel like you are unworthy, even if you are unworthy, it doesn’t matter because God is worthy and He will be the force behind you that nothing can be reckoned with. Let’s read this story in 1 Samuel 17. Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. ³ The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. So here’s what the bible is saying, there are two hills, one side has the philistines, the other side has the Israelites and in between was a valley where they would meet in battle. The valley was home to a great terebinth tree (Elah tree). ⁴ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; ⁶ on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. ⁷ His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. Six cubits is about 9 feet. Five thousand shekels would be about 100 pounds. So here’s the thing. Goliath had three weapons on him. A javelin, a spear and a sword. You don’t know about the sword yet, but you will. This fact is going to be important in a few weeks when we talk about the advantage disadvantages, but just keep this in mind – Goliath was a gladiator.

In verse 8, they were getting ready for one and one combat. You also have to keep a note of that in your mind because that becomes very important in a few weeks. Let’s get to what is important about this story this week. ³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” ³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” I want you to underline what Saul said to David: “the Lord be with you.” Of course the Lord will be with David. God chose David only one chapter ago. In the same way, when we are faced with our goliath, that giant beast of a man that seems to have no weakness because he is in full body armor and has three weapons to kill you with, all you have to remember is that God is with you. When we realize that there is no reason to lose heart about a bad situation that seems unwinnable, then we must remind ourselves that God be with us. Not only that, but God chooses us. More importantly, it doesn’t matter what you can do or cannot do or if your experience gives you the knowledge or not. What really matters is that God is with us and that we do not lose heart over the situation because it’s not worth being afraid over. Stop the anxiety. ³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. ⁴¹ Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” ⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” Underline verses 46 and 47. Do you see potential becoming reality? Did you see that what David believed on the inside was coming out into reality? Nobody thought it was possible except for David. David saw the potential on the inside. God then turned it around and made it a reality for everyone on the outside. ⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. ⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. Look at how the story ends: David didn’t have the tools, but he had God. God acted powerfully to change the appearances of things. David was never the underdog. He was supposed to win all along. I mean, I don’t care how great and big your giant is—God is bigger. If God is as big as I think He is, but really He’s bigger than what I think, then there is never any reason that when God chooses you and is with you and within you that you ever be a loser. I want you to remember that. I want you reflect on your situation and circumstances when you could have potentially done something with God leading the way, but you didn’t because you were afraid. I want you to repent of that sin—for not believing in God’s greatness. I want you to find yourself in midst of a battle like this, and recognize that you are not playing to lose, but playing to take it all without any hesitation. Let’s pray.