“I have found David, my servant.”
How did the Lord find David? Why did the Lord choose David? The Lord did not send Samuel to Jerusalem, which was the important city in Israel. The Lord sent Samuel to Bethlehem, an unknown and little town taken for granted. From that taken-for-granted-town, David, the king of Israel would come.
How did the Lord find David? How did the Lord choose David? The Lord did not go to a governor’s family. The Lord went to the house of Jesse, a warrior. The Lord went and chose not the warrior sons of Jesse but the shepherd son. In fact, Jesse himself was surprised. He presented his sons and he just said: “These are the likely sons who could become king.” He did not even include David for he thought to himself that David was a baby. David could not be king. Jesse thought: “He is handsome but what we need is not a handsome man, what we need is a warrior king. David is a shepherd and he does not know how to rule.” Jesse did not present him for he was a baby. And yet, God chose David not from Jerusalem but from a small town of Bethlehem. Not from a ruler’s family but from Jesse’s stem. Not the best nor the eldest from the family of Jesse but the youngest, the most inexperienced.
This brings us to the reality that when God chooses, it is not because we are worthy but because God has chosen us in spite of what we are. God has chosen us in spite of us. I am a priest not because I am good but because God has chosen me in spite of me. You are a Christian not because the Lord knows that you are good. I know that you are good but you are chosen not because you are good. You are chosen in spite of your sins.
The choice of God is in spite of our choice of each other. Our love for each other should not be because the other is handsome or pretty. Or because the other is brilliant or wise. It should rather be because “I love you in spite of you.”
NOT AS MAN CHOOSES
Ps 78:70
Jesus In My Heart
