Ready for the King

The message was brought by Rev. Rodger Castle.

I Samuel 15:³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. 16: ¹And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. ³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. ⁴ And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? ⁵ And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. ⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. ⁷ But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ¹⁰ Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. ¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. ¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

God allowed Israel to make Saul their king.  They wanted to me like the other nations.  We do that too.  We want to fit in.  That’s okay to a point, but we’re supposed to be different.  Saul was not the man that ought to have been the ruler.  He was from the tribe of Benjamin.  Rulers were to be from the tribe of Judah.  Samuel was disheartened over the fact that Saul was not working out as king.  God told him he had rejected Saul and told him to go to Bethlehem and anoint His choice for king.  When he got there, he went to the house of Jesse and one by one his sons were brought before Samuel.  Samuel was looking at appearances to see who would be the best.  He was sizing them up.   He looked at the eldest and thought surely he was the one.  He was not.  This happened through seven sons.  Have you ever done something you thought was what God wanted and it didn’t seem to be working out?  You wonder if you had understood God correctly.  Instead of waiting on God, you got in his way.  You got in a hurry because you thought you had to something.  Samuel could have decided to pick one of the sons anyway.  Instead he asked if there were any more sons.  There was one more out in the field tending sheep.  He was nobody, but God had taught him many things.  He knew how to kill a bear, a lion, and take care of sheep.  He was more than qualified for job of king.  He went before Samuel, and he knew David was the one.  He anointed him king; the power of God was with him.

Samuel was in Jesse’s house waiting for David, the new king to arrive.  You don’t sit when you wait for the king.  Why do we sit around when the King of Glory is on his way?  He is coming.  One day he will.  Why do we sit around doing nothing?  Is there nothing to do?  We need to be prepared.  We need to get dressed up and be ready.  I don’t want to be ashamed of the last thing I did before he comes.  Sitting around doing nothing is pitiful.  The world tells us we can do this or can’t do that, but we need to be busy for the Lord.  Jesus said occupy till I come.  There is a lot to do.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming.  Are you saved, ready to meet him?  If you’re already saved, will you be ashamed when he comes?  God has a work for us to do.  We need to get busy.