1 Samuel 16:1
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Well, it is always a joy and a privilege to bring the Word of God to us, to a third avenue. So if you don't mind, join me in a quick word of prayer before we jump in. Lord, we pray that you would speak and that you would give us ear to listen to you. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. The Lion King is really a Disney classic. It was so popular that in 2019, Disney decided that they was going to do a live action version of it.
Kelsey and I went to see it, and we loved it. We really enjoyed that movie. But have you ever thought, what is The Lion King about? What is it about? Well, you know the story well. It's really a tale of two kings and their dynasties. It's a tale of two kings and their dynasties. Scar and Mufasa. It's an intriguing story. But tonight, we will look at another tale of two kings. Not from Disneyland, but from Bible land.
So turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 16. 1 Samuel chapter 16. It's on page 238 on your pure Bible. 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse 1. In this chapter, we'll hear about a tale of two kings. One is rejected by God. The other one is elected and accepted by God. It's the story of Saul and David.
So read with me 1 Samuel chapter 16, beginning in verse 1. 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 gold. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. I want us to look at this text in two parts. First of all, we want to look at the rejection of Saul in the first half of verse 1.
And then we'll look at the election of David in the second half of verse 1. So the rejection of Saul, first half of verse 1, and then the election of David in the second half of verse 1. So let's look at the first point, the rejection of Saul. In this verse, the prophet Samuel received a breaking news from the bulletin of heaven. And it said, the Lord announces, look again in verse 1 with me, chapter 16, I have rejected him, that is Saul, from being king over Israel.
But why? What happens? What has Saul done? Well, let me briefly catch you up to speak about what's going on in the first 15 chapters. Remember, we're jumping into chapter 16. So what's going on in the first 15 chapters? Saul is a king chosen by the people. They unanimously elected him as king over Israel. and it's a bad choice right from the start. Why? Because first of all, he's from the wrong tribe. The king must be from the tribe of Judah but Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin And after Saul assumes the kingship he quickly becomes arrogant He consumed with pride He getting too big for himself And repeatedly, he disobeyed God's commands.
And he rejects the words of the prophet Samuel. And all that is to say, the Lord does have good reasons why he rejected Saul as king. Look again in verse 1. Look at that news. I have rejected him from being king over Israel. And this breaking news is breaking Samuel's heart. It's breaking Samuel's heart. After all, think about this. Samuel is the one who anointed Saul.
He saw Saul whole career. Saul has gone from the rising star and now to the fallen star. And so this news causes Samuel great sorrow. And if you look at verse 1 again, look at how the text says it. How long, the Lord said, will you grieve over Saul? How long? So the question how long implies that Samuel has been grieving over Saul for a very, very long time. He's been mourning over Saul.
And I think we can sympathize with Samuel, can't we? After all, again, Samuel has seen Saul's whole career. And so now, when he hears Saul's rejection from God, he's overcome with grief. This text says that he grieved over Saul. I think that's an important lesson we can learn from this. Over the course of our lives, we're going to hear breaking news about the fall of some Christian leaders. Some of them you may know very well. You may learn tons of things from them.
You may hear the news about their sin, their failure, and it is appropriate for us to grieve over them, to grieve over their sin, to grieve over their failure. There's no joy when a prominent leader falls. It is okay to be sad. It's okay to feel that way. It's okay to grieve. And if someone asks you, hey, how are you doing with that news? You can say, I'm not okay. I'm grieved. I'm overcome with grief by that.
There's nothing wrong with that. But there will come a time when grief becomes unhealthy, when it becomes too long. And this is so in Samuel's case, by the way. Samuel has become so immobilized by Saul's failure and rejection. He's probably wondering, if the Lord rejects Saul, what's going to happen to God's people? What's going to happen to God's kingdom? What's going to happen to God's plan? And the Lord has to come and wake Samuel up from that extended mourning.
In fact, the question how long is a rebuke? It is a rebuke. Samuel has yet to realize that God's plan and God's kingdom doesn't stand on the feet of Saul. That's what he needs to realize. And brothers and sisters, even in our grief, we must remember that God's kingdom doesn't stand on the feet of man. Amen. God plan does not stand on feet of clay God is still going to advance His agenda regardless of what happens Despite the fall of Christian leaders God is still going to advance His own agenda So don't give up hope on Christianity because you see the news that some Christians lead their fall.
God's plan is not on crutches because of that. So grieve over their failure, but don't grieve without hope. Don't grieve without hope. Remember Jesus promised that I will build my church and the gate of hell shall not prevail against it. Trust that promise. Cling to that promise. Anchor your soul and your trust there. So far we have seen Saul's rejection. Now let's look at David's election. You know God takes away but he also gives.
And that's what we will see in the second half of verse 1. Look again in verse 1 with me. The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Now listen to this. 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. Back then, oil is an essential element in an anointing ceremony.
and as the head of the NPA, the National Prophetic Association, the Lord commissioned Samuel to go trap a king for Israel. And you know the story well. This verse doesn't tell us who it is, but as you read the rest of the story, you know it's David. And what's interesting is that David wins, untrapped in the first round, but then he got first pick, second round. Isn't that amazing? The most unlikely trap pick story ever. And unlike Saul, who is a king chosen by the people, guess what?
David is a king chosen, elected by God. And if you do a background check on David, you're going to find out which tribe is he from. Judah, that is the right tribe for kingship. So David will be Israel's new king. Israel will not be without a king after all. You see the point here? God's kingdom will not fail because of Saul's failure. It will not fail because of Saul's failure. God's plan will not be jeopardized by Saul's sin.
God's people are not going to be the mashed potatoes of history. God will take care of them. God will provide for them a king. Look again in your verse. He said, I have provided for myself, that is, I have handpicked for myself a king among his sons. What's interesting here also is the timing of it all. Think about this. Saul is still king. And the Lord tells Samuel, go anoint a different king. Why Saul is still in office?
What a mystery. Why would he plan it like this? In fact, no human mind would have it play out this way. So I think this is another lesson we can learn from. Earlier we learned that God's plan doesn't stand on the feet of man. Now we see that God plan doesn come from the head of man It doesn come from our head because his plan is bigger than ours His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are deeper than our thought And sometimes you may ask, you may look at the news and you may ask, what is God doing?
What is he up to? What is going on? And sometimes you just have to say, I don't know. I don't know. And it's okay to say that. You know why? Because God knows exactly what he is up to. He knows exactly all he's up to, and that's all that matters. Put your trust in him. Trust his plan. God moves in mysterious ways. He does move in mysterious ways as the hymn reminds us.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace behind a frowning providence. What do we see? In 1 Samuel 16, 1, he hides a smiling face. Now David is a good king for Israel, but from David will come one who is greater. In fact, this will not be the last time that Bethlehem is associated with something good. This will not be the last time. About a thousand years after this event, on an evening in Bethlehem, the shepherds received another breaking news from the bulletin of heaven.
The angel said, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. God did provide for His people a king, but you know what's better? He's also provided for us a Savior, a fully human and a fully divine king. In fact, from heaven, King Jesus came down and conquer sin and death for us.
He was crucified, but on the third day he was raised again and he will soon come back to judge the living and the death. So if you are not a Christian, come to King Jesus and have life. Give up the throne of your life to him. Surrender your heart to him. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. So far we've looked at Saul's rejection and David's election and we learned that God's kingdom doesn't stand on feet of clay and that God's plan doesn't come from man's head.
He is in control. So grieve over the failures of some, but don't grieve without hope. Judge not the Lord Jesus by feeble sins, but trust Him for His grace. For behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Brothers and sisters, the ultimate future of the church is bright. And one day, we will see His smiling face. So join me in a word of prayer. Father, we pray that You would help us to put our trust in You and not on the rise or the fall of any leaders.
We pray that no matter what happens, that You would help us to trust in Your providence. for indeed one day we will see your smiling face and the gate of hell will not prevail against your church. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.