We know that the kingdom is being taken from Saul and they are looking for a successor and the Lord speaks to Samuel.  We won’t go through all the rigamarole of the other brothers that were turned down.  He said, “Is there another?” and 1 Samuel 17 as you start reading through that chapter in Samuel 16.  You begin to see, “Well, there is one more.  He is a young man, he’s a shepherd, he is out there minding the flock.”  Some great truths: Man looks on the outward and God looks on the inward.  It’s not what your stature is physically, how big you are or how strong you are, how intelligent you are, how gifted you are, it’s whether you are called of God or not; amen?  Has God called you?  Has God separated you?

Here is this young man watching the sheep, which is a stinky, nasty job.  If you’ve ever been around sheep—thankfully, I only was on one occasion and that was sufficient for me.  I’ll never forget having to deal with those sheep and load those stupid things on the truck and take them down to this auction.  Man, you’re just full of dirt and itching from that wool—ornery and wanting to wander off.  David, the shepherd boy, who spent his nights worshiping God.  Let me encourage you, get out with the stars sometime.  Get alone with God.  I love it when I’m in my backyard.  Where I live can have long periods of time where there is actually no noise.  It’s quiet.  We’re at the cul-de-sac, we have common ground behind us, and if people happen to be gone or whatever to where you can sit there and as I’m studying and praying and hear the wind just blowing through the leaves.  That is all you can hear, and listening for the voice of God in that breeze.  “What do You have to say Father?  What is next for us, as a fellowship?  What’s the course for us today?  What do You need to do, now, in our midst to prepare us for six months from now should you tarry?”  Trying to hear “This is the way, walk in it.”  Looking for Him to speak through His Word. 

David had that luxury.  So many of us want to be promoted into the highways and byways of this world and be shakers and movers.  What a treasure to be alone with God and some sheep in the wilderness.  The commitment to that job, he didn’t see it as a lowly job, he saw it as a blessing and treasure of God.  I don’t want to digress too far on this, but we know that in the story as he was watching those sheep and they came under attack, he was able to bare-handedly kill a lion and a bear.  I’m just trying to envision this young man just grabbing that bear by the beard and slapping him upside the head.  The anointing that came on Samson, came on David.  That supernatural power is available to everyone of us who will walk humbly before God and be faithful over those few sheep that He has given us.  Fathers, do you understand that?  Husbands, do you understand that?  How precious that flock is in the eyes of God and He will give you supernatural strength and wisdom to protect them if you’ll trust Him; if you’ll spend the preceding days worshiping Him, making Him big.

Fast forward, He’s faithful there.  Samuel comes out and begins to fulfill the call of God in bringing about the fulfillment of this call on his life.  First Samuel 16, verses 12‑13 is the anointing of David by Samuel.  It’s done in secret.  Can I share something with you tonight?  This will take you a long way.  You don’t need your call and anointing to be seen of men.  God secretly separated him to be king and nobody knew it.  He wasn’t like Joseph going around saying, “Guess what, one of these days you all are going to be bowing down to me.”  It was between him and God.  There were a handful, the family.  We find him now in the courts of Saul playing his harp and he is soothing the demonic powers that are tormenting Saul.  Nobody knows he’s king; and Goliath is tormenting the nation and mocking God and all of a sudden David is sent by his dad.  They accused him of coming and being full of himself and just showing up—the excitement of the war et cetera, et cetera, to his brothers.  He was sent of his father to take them some victuals.

He goes down and looks at this environment and he said, “What are you cowards doing?  What is everybody doing?  Why are you standing here letting this man mock God?”  “I’ll go.”  Amen?  Saul said, “You’ll actually go out and fight them?”  He said, “Yeah,” “Here is my armor.”  David tries to put it on.  Saul was head and shoulders above everybody in Israel.  David was still just a young man at this time.  Can you imagine him putting all that armor on?  He couldn’t even move.  He said, “I’ve not been proven in these.”  How about another thought here?  We want a better education.  We want better opportunities.  Why don’t we become proven and faithful in what we know to do—and do it?  Amen?  Let’s become experts where God has us now, and He will then promote us into other areas if it is His good pleasure.  “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”