As we begin our study of David, we open in 1 Samuel 16 where Samuel follows God’s direction to find the new king. One would assume that God wants someone regal, experienced, and attractive.

And that’s clearly what Samuel and Jesse were thinking too. Son after son appears before Samuel, probably in order of importance or age, but God had not chosen any of these strong, powerful, good-looking men. Initially, David was nowhere to be found, or maybe he was simply overlooked.

As the youngest son, David performed the lowly, menial job of taking care of the goats and sheep in the fields. But when David comes before Samuel, the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him” (v. 12). While David is described as “dark and handsome,” earlier in the passage the Lord tells Samuel that He sees thing differently: “people judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7). God lets us know here that He looks for something entirely different in people than we do. While we get caught up in credentials, achievements, strength, fame, and beauty, God cares about character development, faithfulness, and dependence on Him.

“I want to be one that God chooses because He looks at my heart and sees a heart motivated to serve Him.” 

I want to be one that God chooses because He looks at my heart and sees a heart motivated to serve Him. I pray that as the years pass, I am growing in spiritual wisdom and maturity, in a way that changes my desires and motives, so that my thoughts and actions are more closely aligned with Christ’s. But when I think through this passage and examine my heart and my motives, I am convicted.

Before David was chosen, I wonder if he was content where he was. Was he fulfilled just sitting out in the fields, watching those sheep day after day, keeping them safe? Was he hoping one day to be plucked out of obscurity? Was that desire an idol in his life? Probably not, as God looked at his heart and chose him to be king. I wonder what the brothers were thinking too.  Were they shocked? Disappointed? Despairing? Watching that one chance for significance slip away.

I have not always been content where God has me. As a stay-at-home mom for twenty years, much of my life thus far has been spent in the menial, thankless, everyday role of mothering, tending my own four “sheep.” I love my kids and being their mother; each one is a tremendous blessing in my life. But truth be told, some days it’s been hard to be the one in the field, impatiently waiting for something to happen.

“But truth be told, some days it’s been hard to be the one in the field, impatiently waiting for something to happen.”

Today I am working again, and it’s tempting for me to find my value in that new role. To feel self-important and useful— more significant. I have spent much of my life searching for value and significance in many things that could never deliver. “If only I achieve things, I will have value.” “If only I become popular, I will be significant.” “If only I have the approval of others, I will be enough.” On either side, whether I believe I must strive for these things or whether I believe I have attained them, these are dangerous lies to entertain.

Will I seek my significance in what I do? Will I obtain my value from outward appearances and what others think of me? From career success or intellectual achievement? Or travels and how I spend my leisure time? Or will I be content to keep tending the sheep right where I am, day in and day out, no matter if God ever calls me from the fields to do anything else? It boils down to a matter of trust. Samuel and then David trusted God that David was the one, even though becoming king came out of the blue. But David’s time with the sheep wasn’t wasted time. It was time spent trusting God through challenges, learning God’s character, and growing in his own. I hope the brothers trusted God even in their disappointment and seeming rejection. Will I trust God’s plan for me, that where God has me is exactly where He wants me to be, and serve Him with all my heart there? Every day, that is the choice before us.