Dig Deeper - Sunday 2nd March 2025
Sermon Reflection Questions - The Heart God Chooses
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 2nd March service:
In the chapters before 1 Samuel 16 we’ve seen Saul disobeying Samuel’s instruction (ch13) and lying about not carrying out God’s instruction (ch15) He was told to completely destroy the Amalekites, but he saved some of their livestock. These are Saul’s words.
‘ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’
Notice how referring to the ‘Lord your God’ indicates a rejection of God from his life. That precipitates a continuing downward spiral in his life in fact he was behaving more and more like the ‘kings of other nations’ that the Israelites had asked for in Chapter 8. Sadly Saul’s rejection of God results in the Holy Spirit leaving him.
Chapter 16 is pivotal and sees Samuel being sent out to anoint a successor to Saul even though he was still alive. God told Samuel that the next king would be from the family of Jesse. It was clearly dangerous for Samuel to do this and so it was done as part of sacrifice in Bethlehem, where Jesse lived.
Although some of the seven sons that Jesse showed Samuel looked to be excellent candidates, none of them was God’s choice. He reminds Samuel and us that ‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ (v7)
It must have been really puzzling for Samuel, to know that he was expected to anoint one of Jesse’s sons and yet none had been chosen. Had he misheard God’s call? Had he rejected one of the sons in error? Finally, he asked Jesse if there were any other sons.
When they fetch David, the youngest son, from his shepherding duties, he’s identified as God’s choice, anointed the king designate and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Finally in a touch of irony, at the end of this chapter David enters service to provide music therapy for Saul’s dark moods.
Here are three things to consider from this passage.
1. Given not Chosen. Saul was given as an answer to what the Israelites asked for whereas David was chosen.
2. Inside not Outside. Saul looked every bit the part of a king, but his heart was not in the right place. From the outside it looked God, but God is clear that he makes choices looking at the heart; what is in on the inside.
3. Service not Selfish. Saul was interested in looking after himself, keeping livestock that should have been killed. David was prepared to be a servant even though he was the king designate.
Questions to think about and discuss:
1. Thinking of Saul, when it comes to putting God first in our lives, what are the things we might need to watch out for; things that could get in the way?
2. How do we make sure that we make choices in line with God’s will? What’s the best thing to do if, like Samuel, you wonder if you’re doing the right thing or have missed something?
3. Almost inevitably we form opinions on people based on their appearance. What measures can we put in place to making false assumptions?
4. Imagine what David’s older brothers thought when he was anointed as king designate, rather than any of them. How do deal with similar situations in our day to day lives?
5. David was prepared to go into service and play his lyre for King Saul. How prepared are we to do less glamorous jobs than we might expect serving God’s purposes? Have we got a heart that God chooses to serve him?
6. Consider what role the Holy Spirit has to play the lives of Saul, David and others in this passage.
