Daily Devotional
LOOK AGAIN
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1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NRSV)
The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have
rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and
set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
provided for myself a king among his sons." Samuel said, "How can I
go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a
heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do;
and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name 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?" He
said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify
yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified 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 now before the LORD." 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 does not see as mortals see; they look on
the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." Then Jesse
called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither
has the LORD chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he
said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Jesse made seven of his
sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not
chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?"
And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the
sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not
sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was
ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise
and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit
of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel
then set out and went to Ramah.
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"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
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THERE they were again, those huge, shrieking, seed-greedy crows,
shoveling seed out of my new birdfeeder. For days we had contended
with each other; they drained the feeder, and then I filled it. The
minute it was filled, they swooped back and drained it again.
I was both irritated and disappointed. "Where are the beautiful birds
I asked for, Lord?" I had hoped that the birdfeeder would bring some
distraction from the dislocation I felt since we had moved to this new
place. But instead of redheaded woodpeckers, cardinals, and blue
jays, all that came were messy, noisy crows!
"Please, Lord, get rid of these crows and send your beautiful birds,"
I prayed. The thought came to me, as if God were speaking, These are
my beautiful birds. I couldn't believe it. Crows? I looked again at
them, wallowing in the mess they had made of the seed. You see, God
continued, I don't measure value by your standards but by mine.
Perhaps you meant to ask for my most colorful birds?
In 20 years I have never forgotten that moment, and often I find God
interrupting my assumptions. God doesn't evaluate people or
circumstances as we do. And for that I am grateful.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to see persons and situations as you do.
Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God finds value where we see none.
-- Armene' Humber (California, U.S.A.)
PRAYER FOCUS: Persons I find difficult to love