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“God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.” II Samuel 16:7 Seven sons pass. Seven sons fail. The procession comes to a halt. Samuel counts the siblings: one-two-three-four-five-six-seven. “Jesse, don’t you have eight sons?” A similar question caused Cinderella’s stepmother to squirm. Jesse likely did the same. “I still have the youngest son. He is out taking care of the sheep.” (v. 11) The Hebrew name for “youngest son” is haqqaton. It implies more than age, it suggests rank. The haqqaton was more that the youngest brother- the runt, the hobbit, the “bay-ay-ay-by.” Sheep watching fits the family haqqaton. Put the boy where he can’t cause trouble. Leave him with woolly heads and open skies. What caused God to pick him? We want to know. We really want to know. “The Lord does not see as a man sees: for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v.7) Those words were written for the haqqatons of society, for misfits and castouts. God uses them all.
Jonah ran from God, but God used him. Rahab ran a brothel, Samson ran to the wrong woman, Jacob ran in circles, Ruth ran to a distant land, Elijah ran into the mountains, Sarah ran out of hope, Lot ran with the wrong crowd, but God used them all. And David? God saw a teenage boy, serving him in the backwoods of Bethlehem, at the intersection of boredom and anonymity, and through the voice of a brother, God called, “David! Come in. Someone wants to see you.” God saw what no one else saw: a God-seeking heart. Others measure your
waist size or wallet. Not God. He examines hearts. When he finds one
set on him, he calls it and claims it. |
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