A Nobody, Nobody Noticed

1 Sam 16:1-13

1809 was a very good year. However, most people at the times would have disagreed. Napoleon was on the march and every eye in Europe was focused on him. As he continued his bid to conquer Europe, history was being made elsewhere. Babies were being born that would impact the world of the future long after Napoleon was dead and gone. William Gladstone, one of the greatest Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of our greatest statesmen, Alfred Tennyson and Edgar Allen Poe, two incredible writers were born, and in a little cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln drew his first breath.

Incredible minds of the future were simply nobody babies of the present. No one knew or expected their wondrous potential. No one saw these babies as the great minds they would become. All eyes were focused on Napoleon.

As you will see in a few minutes, it was the same for David, and it’s probably the same for you. You are a nobody, nobody noticed. Yet, this is a very good year.

PRAYER

I. David Recognized By God

A. Prelude

1. It wasn’t long ago that Saul was found hiding in the baggage. He was an incredible physical presence. Scripture tells us he stood a head taller than any other man in Israel.

2. He looked the part of a King.

3. Tall, strong, good looking.

4. He was the people’s choice.

5. But he wasn’t God’s choice

a) As his reign progresses, Samuel sees what God saw from the very beginning.

b) Saul was a shallow man, rash, compromising, and even openly disobedient to God’s will.

c) Finally God has enough and rejects him.

6. He sends Samuel to anoint a new king

B. Man’s measurement

1. Samuel comes to the house of Jesse to see his sons.

2. The first one comes in to see Samuel.

a) He was much like Saul, warlike, strong, physically imposing.

b) In a nation that is surviving by constant fighting he was the kind of man you would look for to lead your people.

c) Samuel thought “this is the man”

d) God had a strange answer for him. READ vs 7

3. Then comes Abinadab and he too was rejected.

4. In fact 7 sons were rejected.

5. Samuel asks, “are there any more?”

6. Well, there’s David, but he’s just a boy. He’s the runt of the family. We left him in the fields with the sheep because he really isn’t at a point to be considered for anything. Maybe someday, but not now.

7. In comes David, a redhead among black haired people. A pretty boy.

8. You’ve seen them, nice looking kids who MIGHT grow up to be nice looking men.

9. God says, “this is the man I want to be the next king”

C. God’s measurement

1. What about David set him apart from his brothers?

2. Why would God choose the boy from among the men?

3. Why would God choose the runt?

4. God measures the heart, not the outward appearance.

5. God saw in David the man he would become

a) He saw faithfulness.

b) He was strength of character.

c) He even saw his flaws.

d) But more than David’s flaws was his deep abiding love for his Lord.

6. That’s what God was looking for.

7. That’s the type of man God would use to shape a nation built on following God Almighty.

D. Just like any other day

1. For David, this had to have been quite the shock.

2. He got up that morning to do what he always did.

3. This was a day just like any other day.

4. Yet it was this day that changed his life forever.

5. He went back to fields to do his father’s work, but would soon be called upon to another field to do his heavenly Father’s work.

II. We Are Recognized By God

A. Man’s measurements

1. When we think of great men and women what do we use to measure that greatness?

2. Great warriors, articulate statesmen, incredible physical talents, minds that contain genius.

3. These are what we would deem as important for being great.

4. Our minds always seem to focus on the externals.

a) Tall people are more like to be promoted than short.

b) Physically attractive people succeed more easily than unattractive people.

c) We like the pretty people. We admire the pretty people, and we listen to the pretty people.

5. Our political leaders are chosen more by how they look on TV and if they have an appealing personality rather then their stances on issues that matter.

B. God measures us in a different way

1. Rev 2:10 – Be faithful until death and I will give you a crown of eternal life.

2. The world saw the man Saul as an up and coming Pharisee with education and training to be one of the Great Jewish Leaders. They couldn’t believe he would give all that up.

3. God measured the man Paul by his willingness to give all that up to live as traveling missionary.

4. He uses men like mentally challenged trash man in TX. This man loved God with all his heart and in his stammering way, told people about Christ, left tracts and lives a godly life. At his funeral 3000 people including the mayor and other dignitaries of the city came to pay respects. Many of them Christians because of this man’s faith.

5. The world saw a cast off, God saw a wonderful saint

6. He uses women like Helene and Lisa who used their teaching talents in our preschool to plant seeds of eternal hope in the lives of the families they deal with on a day-to-day basis.

7. The world looks at them as “just preschool teachers” who make very little money. God measures them in a different way.

8. The world may write you off as someone who doesn’t measure up.

a) Too fat, too skinny.

b) Not popular, not wealthy, not powerful.

c) Too old, too young

d) Too simple

9. God measures you in a different way

a) Have you given your life to God?

b) Do you serve him faithfully?

c) Are you sharing your faith with others?

C. Conclusion

1. A shepherd boy no one noticed became God’s choice for a king.

2. A man, woman or child sitting in the pew of a small rural church that no one noticed became God’s choice for….

3. Don’t sell yourself short. God doesn’t