Oh, Very Young

1Samuel 16:10-13

Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 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.

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Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth
For a short while

"Oh Very Young" by Cat Stevens

This is how David is anointed King. The Lord has told Samuel the priest that one of the Sons of Jesse will be the next King of Israel. This is kind of dicey though since there is currently a king of Israel. At any rate, the Lord will leave a new king in the land.

So The Sons of Jesse go before Samuel. One at a time until seven pass by and none of them are to be anointed. Don't misunderstand, they all have standing. The eldest son would have been a traditional choice. The seventh son would have been a good choice, especially among those who love the numerology. Each of the sons were handsome. Each of them were strong from work. But none of them found the Lord's favor.

Yes, there is one more. He is young and he is in the fields keeping the sheep. He is ruddy, has beautiful eyes and is handsome. The Lord picks him. From that day forward, the Lord came mightily upon David.

David lives into the blessing he receives. Not every day mind you, there are some things that would have been better left undone, but even his mistakes had holy consequences. So it's a question of either serendipity or the work of the Holy Spirit, "Oh very young, what will you leave us this time?"

When we consider what can be done, we have to remember that what we think is important, what we think is needed for success is sometimes just that much smoke. Sometimes what we think is vital is just window dressing. The skills we think are requires sometimes build walls that get in our own way. Instead, we need to be open to what God is doing in our lives and our world. Because only by the Holy Spirit, will great things ever happen.