Well, good evening everybody. My name is Alistair. As has already been mentioned, I have the privilege of being on staff here at the church and the privilege of opening this passage of God's Word to us this evening.
But before we get to that, let's pray together. Let's pray.
God, we come before you and acknowledge that we need your help with this passage.
It is long, it is full of details, but it is beneficial for our souls.
And we pray that you'd keep us attentive and that you would transform our hearts by your Word this evening.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
You might not know it, but I can almost guarantee that the majority of you will remember
what happened on Saturday the 11th of April in 2009.
I can see you all thinking. That's good. You're with me.
Well, it was the night that Susan Boyle took to the stage for her very first audition of Britain's Got Talent.
Now, as she walked onto the stage, Susan looked a little bit out of place.
She's a small 47-year-old lady from a small town in West Lothian.
And she's now standing on an absolutely massive stage, packed with flashing lights and glitter.
And as she walked onto the stage, you could see the skepticism in the judges' faces.
Simon Cowell asked his normal question,
What's the dream?
And Susan said, Well, I'm trying to be a professional singer.
Who do you want to be like?
Elaine Page.
And everybody was surprised.
You could hear whispers in the audience.
You could see that people didn't believe it.
They were judging Susan Boyle by what they saw.
Now, none of them would have thought that this little lady from Bathgate
would go from being completely unknown to the world in 2009
to having an estimated net worth of £23 million in 2018 and six albums.
The minute she opened her mouth and sang just the very first line of the song,
I Dreamed a Dream,
the whole crowd erupted with amazement and stood to their feet applauding.
Susan Boyle is now a household name in Scotland and arguably all over the world.
And that very first audition on YouTube has over 28 million views.
Appearances can be deceiving, can't they?
And the big thing that we're going to see in 1 Samuel this evening
is that God doesn't look at things the way people do.
People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
But before we dive into chapter 16,
we need to do a quick recap of what's already happened in 1 Samuel up until now.
So a lot has happened in this book so far.
In chapter 3, God stepped into the broken life of the nation of Israel
and called a prophet, a man named Samuel.
At that point, he was a boy.
He's a spokesperson for God.
Someone who would proclaim the word of God to the nation
and then call them to a right worship of their God.
But sadly, that didn't happen.
Chapters 4, 5 and 6 show us how Israel treated God as a good luck charm.
They weren't giving God the honor or the praise that he deserves.
And then in chapters 8 to 15, we see the rise,
but sadly also the fall of a king.
In chapter 8, Israel cry out for a king to fight against their enemies.
They reject God as their ruler.
And they say they want an earthly king to sit on their earthly throne.
But despite all of Samuel's warnings,
despite this so-called brave king hiding in the luggage when they want to crown him,
they still make Saul their king.
Saul was tall.
He was handsome.
He looked the part.
He looked like the real deal, and so they made him king.
But it doesn't take long before we see that he isn't the right king at all.
Saul disobeys God's commands time and time again,
and we see the end result of that in chapter 15, verse 26,
where Samuel says to Saul,
that the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.
This is terrible news.
Israel looked at Saul's physical attributes,
and they thought, yes, this is the guy we want in the head of us.
But appearances can be deceiving.
Saul looked the part on the outside,
but on the inside, he was not obedient to the Lord.
He didn't care for God's ways.
He didn't care for God's word.
And so God rejected him as king.
And it's with that backdrop that we arrive at chapter 16,
and I'd encourage you to keep that open as we walk through this passage together.
And we are told about God,
and how God, this is the God who sees things differently.
And the first thing that we see in this passage is God's chosen leader,
in verses 1 to 13.
God's chosen leader.
So in verse 1, we see the state that this ordeal has left Samuel in.
He is mourning.
The one he anointed, the one he blessed,
the one he spent so much time with,
has now been rejected.
He is mourning, and chapter 15, verse 35,
tells us that Samuel never went to see Saul again.
That's how painful this ordeal was for him.
And this presumably went on for quite some time,
because God says in verse 1,
how long will you mourn?
Now as I read, as I was reading this verse this week,
I was convicted, and I asked myself,
when was the last time I mourned for someone else's sin?
When was the last time that I mourned,
because someone was wandering away from God,
and away from the gospel?
Does it cut us to the core,
to know that someone is skimming off their work?
Does it hurt us to see people walking away and rejecting God?
Does it hurt us, and does it make us weep,
to know that thousands of people around the world this evening
will die without being made right with God?
It should make us mourn.
And I long that our hearts would mourn like Samuel's.
I long that we would be broken,
because people are not made right with God.
Samuel is mourning.
And he knows that God has rejected Saul,
but God goes on to give Samuel some great news
at the end of verse 1.
God says, I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.
I have chosen one of his sons to be king.
So God speaks into Samuel's grief and mourning,
and he gives him hope.
God has chosen a new king.
Samuel's commanded to go and fill his horn with oil
and go to Bethlehem.
The oil was used to anoint a king,
and so in this first verse,
yes, we see mourning, but we also see hope.
Something new is about to begin.
But it makes sense, doesn't it,
that Samuel's afraid in verse 2?
To anoint a new king whilst the current king is alive and well,
well, that's a bit of a hairy situation.
The equivalent would be Scotland deciding to set up its own king or queen
in the place of Queen Elizabeth.
calling together the government and placing a crown on someone else's head
and obeying only their rule in the land.
Now don't get me wrong,
the consequences today would be far more polite and middle class
than they would be back then.
You'd probably get taken to court or sued or maybe go to prison.
But for Samuel, treason meant death.
His life was on the line.
But God has a plan.
And Samuel will not be in danger
because God tells him to take a cow
and to make a sacrifice.
And this raises a question.
In verses 2 and 3,
is God lying?
Well, the answer is no.
Samuel is going to make a sacrifice
and that happens in verse 5.
God is protecting Samuel
and he was preparing the way for his chosen king
to rule over his chosen people.
And Samuel acts out God's command.
He arrives and says
that Jesse and his son should be at the sacrifice.
And so just picture this scene for a second.
Jesse's sons are all brought before Samuel one by one.
Starting first off with the firstborn Eliab.
He's the oldest, probably the biggest.
And he fits Samuel's ideology
of what a king should look like, doesn't he?
Verse 6.
Samuel saw Eliab and thought,
surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.
Surely it's him.
But do you see the problem?
Samuel's using his eyes.
He's thinking that this new king
will be just as tall, strong and handsome as Saul was.
He's looking for a Saul 2.0.
He's looking for the upgrade.
But Samuel's got it wrong.
See, verse 7 is the key verse in this whole chapter
and it gets to the heart of the problem with our world
and it gets to the heart of the problem
of how to choose a king.
God says in verse 7,
Do not consider his appearance or his height
for I have rejected him.
The Lord does not look at things like people do.
People look at the outward appearance
but the Lord looks at the heart.
God sees things differently.
People look at the outward appearance
but God looks at the heart.
Now when we read verses about the heart in the Bible
we need to remember a few things.
It isn't referring to the organ that pumps blood
around our veins and around our whole body day and night.
Nor does it only refer to the emotions
like we would say to a loved one,
I love you with all my heart.
But in the Bible the heart refers to a person's emotions,
a person's mind, a person's will,
a person's character and motivation.
The heart in the Bible is all-encompassing.
Now it's easy to do something nice for someone
and to have an almost saintly appearance.
People thank you for your help
and you brush it off with a comment like
I was only serving the Lord.
But inside we long for those compliments, don't we?
We eat them up and they give us the boost that we want.
Or what about the times where we don't get thanked?
Or the times where people don't show appreciation
as we think they should, we get upset.
These are all indications that our motives,
that our heart are in the wrong.
On the outside, yes, we look the part.
We maybe even sound the part,
but on the inside our hearts are just as fallen
and broken as they have always been.
That's what God sees.
God sees the heart.
He sees things differently than we do.
Now this is both a good and a scary thing.
It's good because on the day when we stand before God,
as we all will,
He will judge us based on our response to Him.
And for Christians, we will be judged,
our actions will be weighed.
God will determine the motivations of our heart.
So in this life,
if we are weak and if we're struggling,
if we are mocked and if we are scorned,
if we are shunned and cursed
because we believe in the living God of this world,
take courage because God looks at your heart.
And you are not alone.
He sees it all.
But also be warned.
Because if all we do is look the part,
if we live out a religious life,
if we live a secret life of sin
and we lie to cover our tracks,
if we serve our own fame and glory and not God,
then we need a wake-up call.
Because God doesn't care about our religious trimmings.
He looks at the heart.
So it doesn't matter if you're a CEO or a chimney sweep.
It doesn't matter if you're young and enthusiastic
or if you're older and you're frailer.
God looks at your heart.
And you can have your head bowed
and sound your amends during prayer meetings.
But if your mind is thinking about the apples
that you forgot to put on the shopping list,
well, where's your heart at that moment?
Or maybe that time
that you made it obvious for all to see
just how much you were serving in church.
Or just how much you were giving
during the collection that week.
Or just how many hours you've spent
helping others this month.
Or what about the time you said to that person,
oh, I'm praying for you
just to make them feel better.
Or that time you shared that juicy bit of gossip,
but you wrapped it up nice and neat
in a prayer request.
what is our motivation?
What is in our heart?
Or maybe the time you didn't share the gospel
with somebody because you thought,
no, they're too far gone for God.
God can't touch them.
God looks at the heart
and as much as we try to hide our failings
and our faults,
He sees them all.
If you're here this evening
and you're serving yourself
instead of serving God,
or if you're saying the right things
to please others
as opposed to pleasing God,
if you're here
and you're just going through the motions
of living in a middle-class city
and you're happy
with middle-class religiosity,
please wake up.
because God doesn't care about any of that.
He looks at the heart.
And in verses 8 and 9,
the parade continues.
Seven of Jesse's sons
are brought before Samuel,
each one failing the test
and not being king.
And Samuel asks if anyone's missing
and he's told in verse 11
that there's one son,
but he's out tending the sheep.
Can you imagine the conversation
that they had that morning
in the Jesse household?
Jesse walks in and tells the family
that Samuel's asked specifically
that him and all of his sons
show up to this sacrifice.
But then they think,
well, who's going to look after the sheep?
And everyone turns to little young David,
the youngest brother,
the least of the lot.
Surely no one's going to even notice
if he isn't there.
This is an important day after all
and the normal worries
of sheep and cattle
shouldn't bother us.
Let's leave David behind
to look after the flock.
This sacrifice is far too important for him.
But suddenly this unimportant shepherd boy
becomes the man of the hour.
In verse 12,
David walks in.
He's glowing with health.
He's a handsome young man,
but his features are not
the determining factor
in this decision
as they were in the case of Saul.
God has chosen this boy to be king
and God says to Samuel in verse 12,
rise and anoint him.
This is the one.
This is the indication
that Samuel's been waiting for
and he doesn't waste any time.
God has chosen David to be king,
but do you see how in verse 13
God equips him for the task at hand?
Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him
in the presence of his brothers
and from that day on
the Spirit of the Lord
came powerfully upon David.
David was not in this by himself
because from that day
the Spirit of the Lord
was with him.
God has chosen him to rule
and he's equipped him to do so.
Doesn't this make your mind
wander to a greater anointed
and chosen one?
Doesn't David make you think
about Jesus,
how he too had the appearance
of the least important
of the world?
And yet he turned out
to be the chosen one of God.
So think back to the reading
in Matthew's Gospel.
Jesus too was someone
who we would never
have picked to be king.
Born in a little town
into an ordinary family,
the son of a carpenter,
nothing special
in the eyes of the world.
He had no riches,
he had no palace,
he had no throne,
but he is God in the flesh.
Jesus is the real king
of God who came into this world
to reconcile us to God.
To bridge the void
between us and God
that is caused
by his righteous anger
against our sin
and our rebellion.
He paid the price.
He bore the wrath
and now we can stand forgiven
because of him.
Adopted into God's family.
This is a far greater work
than David could ever do.
Jesus is the true king
to whom we owe
all of our praise
and our devotion.
He came into this world
and he proclaimed
that the kingdom of God
is at hand
and that people need to repent
and believe the good news.
And that is the same message
that we proclaim.
But we are not alone.
Jesus has called us
to himself
and he's given us,
given his people,
the Holy Spirit
who lives within us,
who helps us
and who transforms
our hearts
and makes us more
into the likeness of Jesus
every single day.
God sees things differently
than we do.
And I thank God
for that every single day
because if he didn't,
you and I
would still be cut off
from God.
Because we don't deserve
his forgiveness.
And yet God saw fit
to send his son
so that we can be
reconciled to him.
Is this true for you?
Remember that God
looks at the heart
and he knows the truth.
Don't go another day
without being sure
that your heart
is right with God.
The second thing
that we see
in this passage
is the rejected ruler
in verses 14 to 23.
The rejected ruler.
So if the first half
of this chapter
focused on God's
chosen king
and it ended up
with the wonderful news
that the spirit of the Lord
was with him
from that day forward,
the second half
of this chapter
focuses on the rejected king
and we see devastating news
in verse 14.
It says,
Now the spirit of the Lord
had departed from Saul
and an evil spirit
from the Lord
tormented him.
Now I find myself
asking two questions
of this verse.
How
and why?
So how can
the spirit of the Lord
depart from somebody?
Now it's important
to make a distinction here
between the Old Testament
and the New Testament.
In the Old Testament
the spirit of the Lord
came upon people
and they fulfilled
certain tasks.
So you see that
with Saul himself
in chapter 10.
The spirit of the Lord
comes upon him
and he prophesies.
But the way that Saul
has been living
in these previous chapters
indicate that he isn't
really following the Lord.
He doesn't seem
to want to obey God
and so the outward
appearance is great.
I mean he is king
after all.
But on the inside
he's not great.
He's not fine.
He's not walking
with the Lord.
Saul is no longer
divinely empowered
to act as God's
anointed king
over his people.
He has rejected
God's guidance
and words
time and time again.
And now God
has left him
for good.
For us today
the most important
thing to know
is that the Bible
says if we put
our faith in Jesus
then we will have
the Holy Spirit
within us.
In the Bible
people are given
opportunities
and time to repent
before God's judgment
comes.
And that day
will come
when those who are
not in Jesus
will be judged.
But until that day
there is time
to repent.
God does not
cut people off.
He doesn't enjoy
sending people
made in his own
image
into an eternity
without him.
And the second
question that I
was asking
is why would
God send
an evil spirit
to torment
Saul?
And the truth
is that we
haven't been given
much information
by the author
regarding this
spirit so therefore
we don't actually
know much about it.
But what we do
know is that
this evil spirit
whatever that may
have looked like
was sent by God.
It was a form
of God's judgment
on Saul
for his rebellion
and rejection
of God.
But this does
not mean
that God
did something
evil.
Throughout the
Bible
we see God
sometimes
using evil
people to
accomplish his
good and
sovereign will.
For example
the Babylonians
capturing Israel
or the sinful
people who
condemned Jesus
to death
and shouted
crucify him.
Each situation
seems to be
under the control
of the evil
party
and yet we
know that God
was working
out his purposes.
Now if you
have questions
about this
I'd love to
chat with you
afterwards about
it.
We don't know
exactly what
took place
and what all
of this means
but we know
that this evil
spirit was sent
by God as a
result of Saul's
rejection of God.
And for some
of you maybe
this is a new
topic and
you've never
come across it
before or maybe
this is something
that you're
struggling with.
Please come and
speak to me
afterwards and
I'd love to
speak with you
about it.
I'd love to
pray with you
about it.
But what we
need to remember
is that this
passage is not
about us.
And it is not
here to make us
look behind every
bad situation and
see an evil
spirit sent by
God.
But this
passage is
encouraging us
to see that
God sees things
differently than
we do.
So whatever
this spirit was
it was obvious
to those around
Saul when it
tormented him.
So even his
servants knew
what it was and
they knew that
God sent it to
him.
And in verse
15 Saul's
servants say to
him, see an
evil spirit from
God is tormenting
you.
Let our
Lord command
his servants
here to search
for someone who
can play the
liar.
He will play
when the evil
spirit from God
comes on you and
you will feel
better.
Saul agrees to
this and them
to find someone
and a servant
suggests David.
And notice the
attribute that
this servant uses
to describe David
in verse 18.
He is a brave
man and a
warrior.
He speaks well
and is a fine
looking man and
the Lord is
with him.
The Lord is
with him.
Something is
different about
David and
everyone can see
it.
His anointing as
the king had
been done privately
so Saul doesn't
know about it.
But now David
enters the palace
and he's liked
and he's trusted
so much so that
in verse 21 he
has made Saul's
armor bearer.
And whenever
Saul was afflicted
by this spirit
David played his
instrument and
the spirit would
leave him.
The irony is
that Saul was
becoming dependent
on his successor
and he didn't
even know it.
But this favor
would not last
long.
In just a few
chapters we see
Saul wanting to
kill David out
of jealousy and
rage.
But look at
David in this
whole situation.
he's been
anointed king.
He knows what
his job is.
He knows that
the throne is
rightfully his
as God's chosen
king and yet
what does he do?
Well he willingly
and humbly
serves.
He doesn't get
frustrated and
annoyed.
He isn't itching
to sit on the
seat of power.
But the Lord
is with him and
he goes about
his normal life
waiting for God's
time to come
to completion.
David can wait
patiently and
serve because
God is with
him.
Now contrast
that with
Saul who's
been rejected
by God.
He doesn't
care about
anything else
other than
himself in
this passage.
Even when his
servants observe
that this evil
spirit is sent
by God,
we don't see
him arguing,
we don't see
him repenting,
we see him
looking for a
quick fix to
his problem.
Appearances
can be deceiving.
People can
look the part,
they can say
and do the
right things,
but at the
end of the
day God
sees things
differently.
God looks
at the heart.
How is your
heart looking
this evening?
Are you
with God
or are you
against God
because there
is no middle
ground?
If you're
trying to work
your way into
God's good
books by
filling your
time with
church meetings,
by filling
out your
religious CV,
but your
motivation is
not the glory
of God,
then I
encourage you
to think
about that
truth,
that God
looks at
the heart.
Serve him
for who he
is and not
what he
gives,
because God
knows your
motivation.
This passage
is a wake
up call for
us to think
about the
reasons behind
our service
of him.
And it
encourages us
to think about
where we
stand before
God,
because friends,
that is the
most important
thing in the
world.
If our
heart is not
right with
God,
then we are
under his
righteous wrath
God,
and we
deserve it.
But if our
heart has
been made
right with
God through
Jesus,
then we
stand free
and forgiven
because of
him,
and that
is what
God sees.
So just
as we
draw to a
close,
think back
to Susan
Boyle,
how she
stepped onto
that stage
in 2009
as your
average
Scottish
lady.
The judges
saw a
47-year-old
woman and
everyone was
apprehensive
when she
said she
was going
to sing
I Dreamed
Dream.
But looks
can be
deceiving.
Don't judge
a book by
its cover.
And thankfully
we serve a
God who
sees things
differently.
He looks
at the
heart,
he goes
beyond the
skin,
and he
looks at
our
motivations,
our
desires,
our
wills,
and our
characters.
So as
God looks
at your
heart this
evening,
what does
he see?
Will he
find a
heart that
is filled
with
unforgiveness?
A heart
filled with
resentment,
anger,
and pride?
Will he
find a
hardened
heart that
has become
numb to
all of his
promptings?
Or will he
find a
repentant
heart?
Will he
find a
heart that
longs for
God,
and a
heart that
wants to
serve him?
God sees
things
differently.
What does
he see when
he looks at
your heart?
Let's pray
together.
And just
in the
quietness for
a moment,
take the
time to
reflect on
your state
before God,
and how
your heart
is in
relation to
him.
our
loving God
and
heavenly
father,
we come
and we
confess that
without you
we are
broken.
Without you
we are
lost,
and without
you we are
cut off.
But we
thank you so
much that you
looked beyond
our sinful
state,
and you
chose to
send your
son Jesus
Christ to
make us
whole,
to make us
right with
you, and
to make us
your sons
and daughters.
We can
never say
thank you
enough.
And we
thank you in
the name of
your son and
our saviour,
our rock and
our redeemer,
Jesus Christ.
Amen.