A King After God's Own Heart

The reign of Saul is interrupted by the introduction of another character who will steal the attention of the narrative of God. After we’ve been introduced to the donkey herder who was demanded by the people, God wants to introduce the Israelites to the kind of king HE would choose (see Deuteronomy 17).

Once Saul has demonstrated his unwillingness and incompetence at surrendering to God’s plan and the story He’s telling in the world, God will send Samuel to go and anoint the next king. Samuel is led to the house of Jesse, who has eight sons. In a Cinderella-esque scene, the brothers are all paraded in front of Samuel, starting with the oldest. However, when God makes it clear that none of these brothers are to be the next king, Samuel presses Jesse on whether or not he has any other sons.

Jesse admits to the existence of David, but this certainly couldn’t be the next king. He’s the last of eight brothers — the runt of the litter. He is so young that he’s out with his sisters watching the flock of sheep. (In the ancient Middle East, the young girls were those who watched the flock, and their little brothers were often sent out to “help their sisters” in order to keep them out of trouble; this may indicate the age of David as being around 6–10 years old.) This kid is a nothing.

However, Samuel demands to see him and God confirms that this is the son who will be the next king of Israel. After a quick anointing service, Samuel leaves the residence of Jesse. In this quick encounter, God has shown the reader, yet again, how counter-intuitive the Kingdom of Shalom is. It is not like the Kingdom of Empire. It does not look for, measure, or build itself upon appearances or skill sets. It’s not about physical strength or prowess. In fact, time and time again, God will choose the underdog. And I believe God does this for (at least) a couple of reasons:

First, God does this so that we — and the world — would never be confused as to whose strength it is on display. He likes to work in such a way that we could never claim that what we did was by our own power alone. God seems to enjoy doing things all backwards, just to remind us of who created “forwards” and “backwards.”

Secondly, people who are chosen from the bottom of the heap just might remember their own story. And if they remember where they came from, they will always be people who see those on the bottom and help to restore that world back to God’s original intent. These are the kinds of people God uses in His upside-down economy; they make the best partners.

And we will see this play out throughout the lives of Saul and David. For quite a while, the narrative will be fixed on these two characters and how they interact with God’s great project and with each other. Saul will continue to try and build up his own empire and his own name. He will try to eliminate the threats to his throne and win back the support of his people so that he might build a bigger and better kingdom.

But that’s not what God has been up to.

And so we continually see David’s heart as Saul tries to have him eliminated. Time and time again, Saul seems to be “delivered” into David’s hands — ripe for destruction. Once David walks upon Saul in his sleep, spear at his side. When David’s companion wants to kill him, David refuses on principle. Another time, Saul stumbles into a cave to relieve himself, unaware that this cave is where David and his men are hiding. David chooses to do nothing more than cut off the corner of his robe (an incredibly loaded move, by the way; David cuts off the tassels from the corners of Saul’s robe — a stunning picture/statement about Saul’s obedience).

This is the difference between Saul and David. Saul is there to build up his own empire and his own name. David is there to do what is called kiddush haShem — or “hallow the Name.” David is there to build up God’s name and God’s kingdom. David is there to do God’s will, God’s way. And this is why God has chosen David.

Now, just like the patriarchs, David will be far from perfect and he will struggle to get things right all of the time. But the juxtaposition of empire and shalom here is hard to miss.

Trusting the story is always counter-intuitive, but we need to remember this in our own lives. There’s a kind of leader God is looking for, and it often runs counter to our ideas of great leadership. Strength is different. Success is different. Things are backwards.

God chooses Jacob, not Esau.

Jacob will cross his hands when blessing Manasseh and Ephraim.

God will rescue Israel from Egypt, the last of all the great nations of the earth.

And God chooses the runt of the litter — the little shepherd boy. The last of eight brothers.
Because he will be willing to kiddush haShem.

And he just might remember where he came from.

Will we?