David Is Chosen By God Bible Story Summary, Study and Lesson

When David was chosen by God as king of Israel, why did God make him wait so many years to sit on the throne?

The Search for a King

When it became apparent that King Saul failed in his duties by disobeying God (1 Sam 15), God told Samuel that He was going to appoint a new king for Israel.   God spoke to Samuel and said “I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (1 Sam 16:1b). At that time Samuel “consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice” (1 Sam 16:5b) but “When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam 20:6-7).  Finally “Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”  Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep” (1 Sam 20:1011a).  When the least likely, at least in the eyes of man, came before the Lord “the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah” (1 Sam 20:12b-13).

God Ways are not Our Ways

When the people saw Saul, he looked like a king…he was strong, tall, and at the time, humble and this is what people might expect a king to look like but “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit” (Prov 16:2) and “A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart” (Prov 21:2).  When God saw David, He decided early on during Saul’s reign that David would be king over all of Israel.  The least likely in Samuel’s eyes was the perfect man for God because He saw David as a man after His own heart.  After God removed Saul “he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22).  Why was David a man after God’s own heart?  It was because he would “do all of [God’s] will.” God told Saul through Samuel that “the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you (Saul) have not kept the LORD’s command” (1 Sam 13:14).  To God “rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam 15:23).  Samuel told Saul “You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!” (1 Sam 15:26).

Why Saul Was Rejected

We have already read why Saul was rejected as King.  He took things into his own hands and sacrificed before the Lord, knowing full well that this was only permitted by the high priest.  Saul rejected the Word of God and his rebellion…and in fact all rebellion is just as wicked of a sin as divination is and divination was punishable by death.  Samuel went on to describe rebellion as “arrogance like [that] of idolatry” because when we decide to make our own decisions, we are really worshipping ourselves and rejecting the Law of God which says “You shall have no other Gods before me” (Ex 20:3).  David was said by God to be a man “who will do all my will” and not just some of it like treating the Word of God like a buffet and picking some of this while rejecting that.  God cannot use a man or a woman who does not take the whole counsel of God and live it out in the whole.

David’s Wait

Even though David was already anointed king of Israel, he would have to wait many years and run for his life from wicked king Saul because Saul knew that David was God’s anointed and he didn’t want him to live so that he might reign over the kingdom.  Some Bible scholars believe it was between 7 and 10 years that David lived in caves, surviving on what he could find to eat and he never had much time to rest from his being pursued.  Why did David have to wait for so long before he became king and why didn’t David kill Saul when he had the chance?  Was it David’s conscience that prevented him from killing Saul?  In part yes, but David himself answered this question when he said “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord” (1 Sam 24:6).  David trusted God enough to take care of Saul and that is a lesson for us.  We must wait on God’s timing for those who hate us and persecute us and never taken vengeance into our own hands for vengeance belongs to God alone (Rom 12:19). As for David’s long wait, it may have been to increase David’s faith or trust in the Lord for as has been said, a faith that’s never been tested can never be trusted and God wanted David’s faith strong because he would need it in the future because he was going to unite all of Israel for the first time and the kingdom would reach its apex under his reign.

Why God Makes us Wait

God may also make us wait on Him to see if we will remain faithful and rely on Him and learn to trust Him even when our eyes tell us differently.  God’s Word says “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chron 16:9). He is still seeking those who will be obedient to Him, those who will keep His Word, those who will obey His commands but His rewards are not like what the world demands which is instant gratification or nothing.  God richly rewards those who sow today because they will reap later.  We often reap what we sow but most of the time we reap much later than we sow.  God is not fooled though and Paul reminds believers, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7).  You will likely not reap immediately but obedience to God always brings in a joyful and most abundant harvest at a later time.

Conclusion

If you have chosen a time where you have repented and put your faith in Christ, God tells us to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:9-10) because “the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:8b) “but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18b).

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon