1 Samuel 16:1-13 on October 19th, 2025
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
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David is a pretty popular guy in the Bible. His story takes up most or all of first Samuel, second Samuel and first Chronicles, the longest story about any one human being in the entire Old Testament. It is also one of the most theologically important. As David's life progresses, he gets one huge promise from God that one of his heirs will reign forever. And as David's personal story unfolds, we wrestle with what that promise actually means. As the one kingdom splits into two, as prophets come preaching promise and repentance as Jesus of Nazareth is born as the Messiah, all of it, all of it comes back to David and the promises that God made to him.
Last week, we left a young boy named Samuel in the temple called by God to be a prophet. And part of that call was to anoint a new king. Now Israel already had a king, Saul, but it wasn't long before power went to Saul's head. He was supposed to meet regularly with Samuel for instruction and sacrifice, but instead he decided to go it on his own. When it confronted, Saul denied and deflected and blamed everyone else. Words got heated. Samuel turned to leave and Saul grabbed his robe tearing it. The two never met again.
And right after this incident, God tells Samuel to anoint the next king. And all Samuel knew at this point was that it would be one of Jesse's sons, which narrowed it down to eight people. So Samuel took the trip up to Bethlehem and asked Jesse to meet his sons. And one by one, they walked in front and Samuel thought, surely this is the one, but he was thinking with his eyes. He was supposed to go and listen to God, picking up on the theme from last week. Speak Lord, your servant is listening. Seven sons later and still know yes from God. Then they sent for the youngest son David, who was out tending the sheep.
And here light bulbs should be flashing on in our heads. Even if you don't know that David is the one to be anointed king, there are two big clues. First, shepherd is one of the oldest and strongest metaphors for king in the Bible. This is because at their best, a king should do what a shepherd does. Protect, feed, provide for, gather his people. What was David out doing? Shepherding. Second, David is the youngest of Jesse's sons. And while normally it is the oldest who gets all the goods, God has already displayed a fondness for the youngest or the least likely. Abel instead of Cain, Isaac instead of Ishmael, Jacob instead of Esau and now David instead of everyone else.
Young David, the shepherd boy comes on the scene and Samuel is told to anoint him as Cain. God inverts the usual order. God chooses the youngest, the smallest, the least likely. And God explains the choice. The Lord does not look at the things mortals look at. The Lord looks at the heart. And yay, God, you don't look at the outside. It's what's inside that counts. Which is actually terrible news. At least it's terrible for those of us who have thoughts and feelings. I mean, sure, it's bad to do bad things, so we don't do bad things. But what about those things that we don't do or don't say? The stuff that stays tucked away right in here. The things that we probably wouldn't want made public. God looks at that. The revenge and the anger, the greed and desire, the judgment and selfishness, the wishing for harm for them, yet coveting goodness for us. I mean, it's not so pretty when we get honest about it. And God sees that. That's what God looks at.
Of course, we try to wiggle out of it. We say, well, I didn't mean it. It was just a passing thought. That's not really who I am. Nice try. In Hebrew thought, the heart is not separate from the mind. And what's in the head all started in the heart. And pretending otherwise is just our little loophole to try to help us sleep better at night. And we can keep avoiding it if we want to. Honestly, that's probably the easiest route to take. But avoiding it doesn't fix anything. To fix something, to change something, takes honesty. First, we've got to admit that there's a problem. We have to admit that something isn't working the way it should.
And this is where David can give us a positive example. See, David did some pretty bad things, both inside and out. If you know the rest of the story, you know that he was an adulterer, a schemer, a murderer. And when he was confronted with his actions, he admits it. He repents. He knows he needs forgiveness. And more than forgiveness, he needs a clean heart, a new spirit. David could admit his failures, his own doings, his sins, his heart. And sometimes we can't. Hence all of our excuses and parsing what really counts. But as we sometimes confess, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But David gives us an example in Psalm 51. He doesn't try to hide his heart or even fix it himself. He asks God to do it. Create in me a clean heart, oh God.
And for us admitting that our hearts need changing is hard. But as we do, as we begin to open up to God's creating work, we grow into the renewed spirit that God puts in us. The thing is, God already knows. God already knows our outward appearance and God knows our hearts no matter how hard we try to conceal them. God knows us through and through, and even in the face of that, God loves us. And that is where the good news lies. Not that we can hide our bad parts so that God will love us, the good news is that God loves us despite our bad bits and our fake facades. And it can be a true turning point to realize that. It's not what we do or don't do. It's not how well we hide or rationalize it. We all fall short of the glory of God, and yet God still gives us grace and love despite it.
God loves us so much that God creates in us new hearts. God creates clean hearts through forgiveness, assuring us that we are loved and we are free. We don't have to be afraid of God, scared of what God might find out about us. Fearful of that one thing that we forgot to confess. God already knows it and God is not going anywhere. And in that love, we are free to be truly upfront about ourselves, about our needs and trust that God indeed loves us enough to create us a new. We can live boldly in that love, free to grow, free to serve, free to become more and more the people that God already sees when God looks at us.
And we can see God creating those clean hearts in ways that we can actually actually touch through water, poured out in baptism. God claims us and calls us beloved. Through bread and wine Christ feeds us with forgiveness and life. Through the gathered community, God surrounds us with grace that we can feel. A reminder that we do not walk in this journey alone. Through songs that lift our spirits and words that speak truth, God keeps shaping us, restoring us, sustaining us from the inside out. God creates clean hearts. God puts a new spirit within us. God draws us into His presence. God sets us free so that we can be renewed and restored. God sees us for who we are inside and out. And still, and still, Christ promises to restore to us the joy of salvation. God welcomes us into the kingdom with a king who reigns as was promised forever and ever. Amen.