{"id":17400,"date":"2021-07-05T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-5th-july-2021"},"modified":"2021-07-05T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-5th-july-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-5th-july-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 5th July 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday 5th July<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 16:1-13<\/strong>
The Lord said to Samuel, \u2018How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.\u2019  Samuel said, \u2018How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.\u2019 And the Lord said, \u2018Take a heifer with you, and say, \u201cI have come to sacrifice to the Lord.\u201d  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.\u2019  Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, \u2018Do you come peaceably?\u2019  He said, \u2018Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.\u2019 And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.<\/p>\n

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, \u2018Surely the Lord\u2019s anointed is now before the Lord.\u2019  But the Lord said to Samuel, \u2018Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.\u2019  Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, \u2018Neither has the Lord chosen this one.\u2019  Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, \u2018Neither has the Lord chosen this one.\u2019  Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, \u2018The Lord has not chosen any of these.\u2019  Samuel said to Jesse, \u2018Are all your sons here?\u2019 And he said, \u2018There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.\u2019 And Samuel said to Jesse, \u2018Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.\u2019  He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, \u2018Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.\u2019  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong>
The first mention of David comes in the last verse of this passage.  He\u2019s the youngest son of Jesse and not considered worthy to join his father and brothers at the sacrifice to which Samuel has invited them.  David\u2019s been left to do the menial work of looking after the family\u2019s sheep, while the others attend the feast.<\/p>\n

Samuel, though, is on God\u2019s mission, seeking the person whom God has chosen to be anointed as king.  God isn\u2019t impressed by any of the seven brothers.  Superficially they have qualities that the world values, they present as being suitable for high office; but God is more interested in their inner qualities.  So David is summoned and in obedience to God, Samuel anoints him, while the others watch.<\/p>\n

The text states that God\u2019s spirit came upon David from that moment.  In other words the power of God was bestowed on David to equip him for the role that lay ahead of him, divine power mediated through a ritual conducted by a prophet.  In our tradition the laying on of hands when someone is ordained to ministry or eldership, mirrors this idea; it is a way of making visible in public what we believe God is enacting deep within the individual.<\/p>\n

The text is silent about how David responded to being designated as king \u2013 remember Israel already had a King, Saul.  Nothing is said about how the brothers, or Jesse, reacted to David\u2019s elevation over them either; but imagine how the dynamics would have changed.  The scene is set for power struggles at a political level and for complexities in human relationships as the story of David unfolds.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also note the location is Bethlehem; the Hebrew verb \u2018anointed\u2019 transliterates into \u2018Messiah\u2019 (and the Greek into Christ); David was introduced as a humble shepherd; and the story demonstrates a saying Jesus will utter more than once \u2018the last shall be first\u2019.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong>
Holy God, we are amazed that you choose to fulfil your purposes through the lives of ordinary people like us.  We thank you that you see the potential each has and equip us to achieve it.
Forgive us when we\u2019re blinded by the world\u2019s values and fail to recognize those whom you identify for leadership roles in church and society.  Open our eyes to see where your Spirit is at work in others and then to encourage them.  Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday 5th July 1 Samuel 16:1-13The Lord said to Samuel, \u2018How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.\u2019  Samuel said, … <\/p>\n

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