https://vimeo.com/126935541

Hi. Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host of the daily challenges. Today is Tuesday, the day we study the Bible together.

Last week we studied the story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz.  Ruth and Naomi were both widows with no future.  A man named Boaz married Ruth and gave them both a future.  Today we’re going to read the story of one of their descendants, a boy named David, and how he found out he’d become king of Israel…which no one expected.

For one, there was already a King, named Saul.  He was the kind of king you’d expect – powerful, good looking, had directly disobeyed God and lost God’s endorsement as king, but was still around even while God was grooming his replacement.  So, God sent his prophet Samuel to go and find the new king and anoint him with oil, a sign that he was God’s choice for king.

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Jesse gets his sons together, and there’s a clear choice among them – Eliab.  Something to do with his appearance and height, or even just the way he carries himself.  He seems like a natural leader people will respect, who can lead them in battle, and so on.

But Samuel’s immediately told, no way.  He’s not supposed to look at outward appearances, but God will look in on their hearts, and show Samuel which one should be king.

Question: What kind of “heart” do you think God wanted to find in his new king?