First Samuel chapter 16 is a fascinating tale of the prophet Samuel's search for the next king of Israel. The story starts with God asking Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint one of Jesse's sons as the new king. Samuel does as he's told and arrives in Bethlehem, where he's greeted by Jesse and his seven sons.
Samuel Seeks
As Samuel examines each son, he thinks to himself, "Surely, this is the one." But God keeps telling him, "Nope, not him." Samuel is starting to get frustrated, and he's getting tired of the whole process. Finally, after seeing all seven sons, Samuel turns to Jesse and asks, "Do you have any more sons?"
Jesse replies, "Well, there is one more, but he's just a shepherd. He's out in the fields tending the sheep."
Samuel says, "Bring him here."
And when David arrives, God tells Samuel, "This is the one. Anoint him as king."
Now, if you're like me, you're probably thinking, "Wait a minute, God. You're telling me that out of all of Jesse's sons, you picked the youngest, scrawniest, most insignificant one?" I mean, it's not exactly what you would call a "winning strategy."
But that's the thing about God. He doesn't always pick the biggest, strongest, or most impressive person for the job. He looks at the heart, and he sees something in David that the others don't have. And as we all know, David goes on to become one of the greatest kings in Israel's history.
What Have We Learned?
So, what can we learn from this story? Well, for one thing, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just because someone looks like a long shot, that doesn't mean they can't do great things. And secondly, we should trust in God's plan, even when it doesn't make sense to us. After all, he's got a pretty good track record of picking winners.
In conclusion, First Samuel chapter 16 is a funny and inspiring tale of how God can use anyone to do great things. So, the next time you feel like you're not good enough, just remember David and his humble beginnings as a shepherd boy. Who knows, maybe you're the next David in the making!