David Anointed King: Does God Use Young People?
Shared on August 11, 2024
Can young people be servants of the Lord and lead within the church? Join Pastor McCrary this week as he takes a look at the selecting and the anointing of a shepherd boy to be the king of Israel.
Introduction
This week’s lesson will begin the first unit of lessons for the summer quarter. For the next three weeks, we are going to be focusing on young people of faith. What will once again become clear over these next weeks is that God can and will use anybody according to His will. This will also continue to raise the question: who are we to say who God can or cannot use?
God’s Desire for a New King
Our lesson this week opens with the Lord asking Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul?” This Samuel, is the same Samuel that learned about earlier this quarter who was born to Hannah. Saul was the first king of Israel. He was anointed king after the people shared their desire to be like other nations and have a king over them (1 Sam. 8:5).
Saul became a man that lacked serious faith and patience in the Lord. Because of his lack of faith and patience, the Lord rejected Saul as Israel’s king (1 Sam. 13:7-14; 15:7-26).
So, Samuel was sad over Saul’s wickedness, I believe, because he was fearful a king of Israel would be like Saul. Samuel never agreed with the idea of Israel having a king but followed what God permitted (1 Sam. 8:6-7). Now, while Samuel was sad, we’ll see that the Lord was the opposite.
God asked Samuel how long he would mourn, in a sense that it was OK for him to be sad but he had no reason to dwell in sorrow over Saul. I think we do this a lot of times when things don’t go as we planned. There is nothing wrong with us being sad, frustrated, or even upset when things don’t go as we wish. However, it is not healthy for us to let such emotions dwell in our heart.
Something we must learn to understand is that what may not work out for us is still a blessing from God. As Paul wrote, “all things work together for good to those who love God (Rom. 8:28).” David said that weeping may endure for a night (for a short time), but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).
Rather than being sad over Saul’s failure, there was work to be done! God called on Samuel to fill his horn with oil. The oil being spoken of is that oil that would be used for anointing. God instructed Samuel to go to the home of Jesse the Bethlehemite as He had provided for Himself a king.
Now, here is something else that I want to briefly touch on – God providing Himself a king. Does this mean that God needed a king? Absolutely not. No, Israel wanted a king to rule over them and they had rejected the Lord for someone like Saul. In his sinful way, Saul would have eventually led Israel further away from the Lord. So, God desired for a king to be over the people that would not lead them away from God.
David Anointed King of Israel
So, Samuel did as he was instructed and went to the little town of Bethlehem (1 Sam. 16:4). Upon his arrival, the elders of the town trembled and asked if he had come in peace. Here is where I remind you that Samuel was both a prophet and priest. So, those elders saw his coming to town as no coincidence, especially since Samuel was an elder himself.
Keeping with God’s instructions (1 Sam. 16:2-3), Samuel told the elders that he had come to offer sacrifice (1 Sam. 16:5). As he went to make sacrifice, he invited Jesse and his sons to come with him. For Jesse, all of this would merely be a coincidence as he’d have no idea what was really going on. Jesse, I want to remind you, is the grandson of Ruth and Boaz. I want to share this reminder with you just to reiterate that this was no coincidence.
Man after God’s heart
As Samuel watched Jesse and his sons come along. Samuel took a good look at Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, and said to himself, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him (1 Sam. 16:6).” However, there was a problem with Samuel’s train of thought. The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance … because I have refused him (1 Sam. 16:7).” Samuel, we should understand, was making the same error that the people had made with Saul.
God said to him, “for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is such an important statement for us to understand. God does not care about what any of us look like! Yes, the Lord sees our outward appearance but that is of no concern to Him. What God most cares about is the soul.
This was a reminder to Samuel that they had gone the route of the guy that had the look of a king. Scripture tells us that Saul had the good looks and stature of a king more than anybody in Israel (1 Sam. 9:2). Again, the Lord desired for a leader that would be of faith to rule over His people.
A young leader chosen
With this in mind, Jesse brought forth seven of his seven sons before Samuel (1 Sam. 16:8-10). We don’t get Jesse’s perspective of what was going on in his mind but I’d be curious to know what he was thinking. I have to imagine that he was wondering why he was being asked to present his sons.
Samuel, after seeing Jesse’s sons, said, “The Lord has not chosen these.” So, Jesse, would have had some inclination that God desired to use a son. Now, for what purpose, Jesse would not have known, but he’s bringing who he thought would be best suited to be used by God. Jesse, not necessarily going by appearance, was going from oldest to youngest.
Jesse going from his oldest son down to his youngest is actually the central topic of discussion in this week’s lesson. Question: Does God only use those who are oldest or are elders? I feel this is a really good question to ask. What are your thoughts?
I truly believe that every generation – elders to the young, and to the little children – have a role to serve in the faith. God has never only used elders for the purpose of His will. Joseph was the youngest of his brothers when he had dreams of greatness. Moses wasn’t an elder when he began to lead the children of Israel.
When Jesse brought forth his youngest son, David was ruddy (youthful), with bright eyes, and good looking (1 Sam. 16:12). The Lord said to Samuel, “this is the one!” Samuel immediately arose, took his oil, and anointed David to be king in the midst of his family (1 Sam. 16:13). So, scripture makes it clear that the Lord doesn’t just use elders!
In fact, I believe many people would be shocked at how elders are used in scripture. Elders were considered the wise ones who would be sought for their wisdom and not necessarily to lead in the manner by which we think of leadership. Yes, when they were younger, they served in such roles but as an elder, they sat down and helped guide. James wrote about how the sick would be brought to the elders for the elder to pray over them (Jas. 5:14).
Age Crisis Today
Today’s church suffers from what we see going on in politics and jobs. There is a crisis where those who were once young and now have become elders won’t take on the role of the elder. This will sound mean to some, but yes, there comes a time when one must rest from their work. There should be a sense of humility when it comes to such matters but that has seemingly gone missing.
Today’s local church is seemingly only made up with elders – the 65+ crowd. I want to say that this is not healthy for the local church in the long run. Going to church in the 90s was very different compared to today’s church. How so? Well, in the 90s, there was a very broad age range in the church from those 90+ on down to babies. Now, maybe it’s still that way in megachurches but the average local church doesn’t enjoy such a diverse age range anymore.
Why have the younger generations left the church? Some will simply say it’s because the younger generation doesn’t believe in God. I’m of the belief this has always been the case no matter the time period. So, my answer looks deeper to the point of who is doing what in the local church.
I served as superintendent over Sunday School when I was 16 years old. There were frowns but I put energy, care, and effort into that position and saw attendance numbers grow. We had a young choir director over three choirs and the choirs were all really good sizes and sang wonderfully. My dad, when he began pastoring, was 48 years old and his enthusiasm led many to joining the church.
Back in the day, I don’t remember too many 70+ year olds filling nearly as many roles in the church as today. Sadly, those who were once young have become elders and few can pick up the slack. Why? Because they were slow to turn over a role to the upcoming generation.
Sure, someone can say that younger generations didn’t want to fill any roles in the church but I disagree. I do believe there were many young people like me who wanted to fill a role but were pushed out because they may have not done things a certain way. So, those that felt unneeded began to leave and still haven’t come back because now church service is accessible anywhere.
So, there is a crisis in the average local church today when it comes to age. Something that must be accepted for the local community church to remain is the acceptance of young people in the church. Again, God can and will use anybody for His will – this must be accepted.