Have You Been Overlooked?
Email: David Benrexi
11-24-02:
When the prophet Samuel came to the house of Jesse, seven of Jesse's eight sons were in attendance. The only one who was missing was the youngest, David. He had been overlooked. It had to be a major event for THE prophet of God to come to your home. I suspect there was quite a buzz in the household concerning why God would send Samuel to the house of Jesse. Of course, someone needed to tend to the flock, and who was a more logical candidate than David? He was always out there with the sheep. In fact, as far as his older brothers were concerned, he was just plain "out there!" Remember the time he came home boasting of stopping a marauding bear dead in his tracks. "Yeah---right!" Eliab remarked sarcastically as the other brothers made caustic remarks that David must have put the bear to sleep first with his monotonous harp playing, or more probably, David's first burst of singing must have so sickened the bear that he immediately ran the other way. Then there was the story of the lion. David told them some cock and bull story: "I went after him and whacked him good, and rescued that lamb. Then when that lion tried to attack me I grabbed his beard and banged his head with my sling 'til he was dead." This time, he even had a lion carcass to prove his story, but all the brothers wanted to know was where he bought it. All the brothers agreed the last thing the family needed was for Samuel to meet their little brother and hear one of his tall tales!
One by one, starting with the oldest, Samuel examined each of the brothers. He was impressed by their athletic appearance, grooming, and good manners. But God told Samuel, "Never mind how he looks. I don't look at a man the way you do. You see the appearance. I see the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)
It must have been exciting for sons #6 and #7 as Samuel moved down the line. When the prophet rejected #6, it must have been like in the Miss America pageant. #7 is celebrating in his heart while trying not to gloat--"It's me. I won. Yeah!!!!!!" Then Samuel said to Jesse, "It's not him either. Do you have any other sons?" And the older boys are all going, "Oh, no, this can't be happening. I don't believe this. This is not possible."
In verse 13 of chapter 16, we're told that when Samuel anointed David, he did it in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.
You might suppose that his brothers all began to treat him with respect after that, but this was not the case. He remained low man on the family totem pole. When the older brothers were in a standoff with the Philistines, being mocked by Goliath, who challenged them 40 days and 40 nights to a one-on-one winner-take-all death match, David arrived on the scene with bread and cheese, and he was treated with less respect than if he were the pizza delivery man. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be watching the sheep?" (Samuel 17:28)
So David was still scorned and overlooked by his brothers, even more so, but they could not see the work of the Lord in him, blinded as they were by pride and jealousy. David had become a member of King Saul's court because one of Saul's servants recommended that they seek out a skilled musician to minister to the king who was troubled daily by an evil spirit. When Saul asked the servant who did he know that could do this, the servant said, "I've seen one of Jesse's sons who is a dynamite musician, a valiant warrior, and good-looking and smart to boot, and on top of all that, God is with him!" (I Samuel 16:18). So, even though his brothers couldn't see who David really was, God gave one of Saul's servants eyes to see. The servant saw the most remarkable thing about David, that God was with him. It was the presence of God in David's life and the anointing of God on him that enabled him to confidently face the challenge of the Philistine giant the same way he had faced the bear and the lion.
David is remembered as a man after God's own heart, a great king, prophet, musician, warrior, wise man, but to his brothers he was an annoying little punk. Have you been overlooked? What is the inside of your heart like? Is God enthroned, glorified, and exalted in your heart? If He is, someone will see it when God wants to establish you on the path He has chosen for you. It is good to ask ourselves, also, who have I overlooked? Has pride or jealousy distorted my view of who a person is and what God is doing with their life?
David (Benrexi)
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