[0:00] Good morning. It's good to see you all this morning. We pray that our time together, we'd! know the Lord's blessing over us and speaking to us. Just to welcome those that are online! We pray that you would know the blessing of God as we gather together. Likewise. Just to a couple of things to highlight. This evening David will take the service. He's down in Leoburre in the morning and we'll just swap. I'm going to Leoburre in the evening so please bear us in prayer. There'll be a time of prayer before the evening service, half past five, just in the side room, prayer meeting room there. If you can make that, you're all welcome to. Records are also out there on the table there for collection if you pay for the subscription to that. Just a couple other things to notice. 21st of December there'll be a church kind of choir singing Christmas carols. So if anyone wants to be involved in that, just to stay behind after the service and gather around the piano and we sort of get together there maybe to practice. I think maybe Kirstie might be behind that maybe. I don't know. Is it Kirstie to see yourself?
[1:38] Is it? Yeah. See Kirstie for that. Also just later this evening YF will meet at Kiki and Anna's house.
[1:48] So there'll be a mini bus available to take you over, hopefully to take you back as well. So all the secondary kids are encouraged to come along to that and maybe I'll pop over if I have time.
[2:06] I'm away to Edinburgh next week so I need to pack a bag. I feel like I've hardly been here. There's a scarf. I'm just back and forth all the time. So Wednesday prayer meeting, safe families will come down and explain a little bit about the work that they do.
[2:23] And also just to highlight next Sunday evening it will be a communion service. So just bear these in mind and the prayer and all these notices amongst others which are on the email and have been on the screen are God willing. So we'll begin our time of worship together and we'll sing in Mission Praise 50.
[2:45] Mission Praise 50. Mission Praise 50. That's Be Still. It'll appear on the screen in a moment. And it says, Be still for the presence of the Lord.
[3:02] The Holy One is here. Come bow before him now with reverence and fear. It's how we are to approach God. As we gather in his name, in his presence, that we bow before him with reverence and fear.
[3:21] So let us stand in a moment and we'll sing these words to God's praise.
[3:38] Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Jesus, now is the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.
[3:50] Come, thou be born in love with reverence and fear.
[4:00] When him no sin is found, we stand on glory ground.
[4:13] Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.
[4:23] Be still for the glory of the Lord, the shining all around.
[4:34] He burns with holy fire, the splendor he is crowned.
[4:46] Be still for the glory of the Lord, the shining all around.
[5:08] Be still for the glory of the Lord, the shining all around. He burns with holy fire, the shining all around.
[5:21] He burns with holy fire, the shining all around. He burns with holy fire, the shining all around.
[5:34] Be still for the glory of the Lord, the shining all around. Be still for the glory of the Lord, the shining all around.
[5:46] Lord, the shining all around.
[5:59] Amen. We now gather together and pray us. Let us bow and pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray that you would make us still.
[6:15] We pray that you would give us your peace and that you would prevail over us as we gather together. That we would hear your voice speaking to us.
[6:26] And that in our hearts, we would approach you with that reverence and fear that you ask for. That we would humble ourselves before your presence, knowing the privilege that it is ours to gather before a holy God.
[6:48] To call upon your name in prayer. And to do so through your name of your son, Jesus Christ. That we have the privilege of approaching you through him.
[7:02] And that we approach you as sinners. When we look at ourselves and we look at our hearts, we look at the desires that we have. We see how easily we are tempted by the things that aren't good for us.
[7:18] We follow things that harm us. We pray that we would confess these things to you. We pray that we would acknowledge our sinfulness before you.
[7:32] Acknowledge your holiness. And see a stark difference of how you call us to come to you.
[7:47] Even when we are so miles apart from you. You are a God that calls us to be reconciled to you. To come back and to know you as a friend and as a father.
[8:06] To be welcomed into your home. And to dwell there with all security. Knowing that peace that is ours in Christ Jesus.
[8:20] A peace that is not like anything this world can offer. A peace that is completely different. And so we pray that wherever your word is preached, your peace may go with it.
[8:37] With the power of your spirit. To do a great and mighty work. To show sinners who they are. To illuminate the beauty and perfection and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
[8:56] As he has paid for our sins. And through him we can be set free from that sinfulness. Through him we can only approach God.
[9:08] Through him we can only have eternal life. Through him we only have eternal peace and joy. And so we pray as we call upon your name.
[9:23] That we would know your blessing over your people. Whether in person or whether we are at a distance online listening. We pray your word to speak into our need.
[9:38] However old we are. Whether we are young. Whether we are middle age. Whether we are in the last few years of our lives.
[9:50] Which we do not know of. We ask that you would speak to us. And that we would be persuaded to embrace Jesus Christ.
[10:02] As he has freely offered to us this morning. So do our work amongst us we ask. May your spirit come and bless us.
[10:13] For the riches of your grace and mercy. Knowing that we do not deserve it from your hand. But you give it from the riches of your love.
[10:25] And your compassion. Seeing our need. You are set to set us free. From the burden that is over us.
[10:37] To alleviate us from the weight of sin. And to once again. Enjoy fellowship with you. Forever. So help us we pray.
[10:48] As we gather together. And we ask all these things. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So just to say a word to the younger ones.
[11:01] If you would like to come down to the front. I've got something that I can show you. So just. Come down to the front here. Take a seat.
[11:12] Alright. For those online. I've just got this thing here. And you'll hear. You'll hear me. What it's all about. Okay. Should I check to see what Kids Talk David did last week. I don't know. I'm not sure what he did.
[11:23] But I hope it's not kind of the same as this. It's coming close to Christmas isn't it? Again. A wee bit excited. Yeah. Is there anything that. Is there anything that. Is there anything that. You did differently.
[11:34] Like. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what he did. I'm not sure what he did. I'm not sure what he did. But I hope it's not. Kind of the same as this. It's coming close to Christmas isn't it?
[11:45] Again. A wee bit excited. Yeah. Is there anything that. Is there anything that you did differently. December come. December is the month of Christmas.
[11:57] Is there anything that you would do differently. on maybe the first of December. And you would do it every day. Through most of December. What do you think.
[12:09] Open a calendar. Open a calendar. Open a calendar. Just a normal calendar on the wall. Oh. Advent calendar. Advent calendar. Something you were going to say. Advent calendar. Yeah.
[12:20] An advent calendar. Now. Isn't an advent calendar normally a chocolate. This one's a wee bit. This is an advent calendar. Okay. You open the door. And there's drawers in it.
[12:31] What do you think's in the drawers? Presents. Presents. I think it's a big chocolate. Like a big chocolate bar in each one. No. No. Do you have your advent calendar in the morning?
[12:44] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I used to do that. I just wanted to check. Might not be the same in every house. Right. So. This.
[12:55] It's got loads of drawers. Loads of numbers. Can anyone find number one? Yeah. Right. Do you want to open number one? No. No. No. No.
[13:06] No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
[13:17] No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
[13:28] No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
[13:39] No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
[13:50] No. No. No. No. three? Yeah, what have we got? An angel. Yeah, an angel. A wee wooden angel. And then you think, well, if that's a boy and a girl, I've got a wee wooden angel, what do you think's going to make up this? What are we going to be waiting for? If this is an angel, this is a man and a woman, what do you think it's going to be? Jesus. You think we're waiting for Jesus? Yeah, you're right. What number are we on? Number four. All right, open it up.
[14:39] What have you got? A sheep. You didn't expect that, did you? No, no, no. A bit of a a big sheep, too, in comparison to the size of the people. Big sheep, yeah. Now, I've got something there, well, we didn't really expect a sheep there, but every day there'll be a drawer that'll help us make the picture of the birth scene of Jesus. If I open just up another one, there'll be wise men, there's shepherds in here. What's that one?
[15:17] There's shepherds in there. Wise men, camels. That's a wise man. All these things come together.
[15:28] And then number 23. Not one. That's a wise men, 20. So what do you think? You want number 25. What do you think 24 is going to be? Anyone open 24? You find it?
[15:55] Is it? He's all wrapped up. A wee baby. All these things will come together and they'll make the birth scene, the nativity scene. Okay. So what I want to say to you is, we opened them up and we started with Mary and Joseph and an angel and then our minds were thinking, well, this is about Jesus and we're going to get to Jesus. But then we had a sheep thrown in there and there's a couple of cows and animals in there. And we think, well, maybe that doesn't quite fit into what we were expecting. And do you know what? The Bible's like that when we read it. When we read about the Bible at the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned. But God promised someone that would come and set them free from the sin. Right at the very beginning, which I promised made by God, someone's going to come and set you free from sin. And that's pointing to Jesus. And all the way through the Bible, as we read it every day, which I hope we do, just like we open our Advent calendar, it points to Jesus. But there's bits in it that are kind of like the sheep. They don't quite fit in. And we don't know, well, how does that fit into the story as we read through the Bible? But when it all comes together and all these bits, lots of bits that we don't understand, and we put it together with all the other bits that are in the Bible, it should all point us to Jesus. Okay? But you know what's funny about this box? January comes after Christmas is over. All this will get put back in its box and put back, where do you think I'll put it?
[17:48] The loft. Yeah, the loft. Yeah. I'll put it away. I'll tuck it all away. I'll tuck Jesus away. I'll tuck the whole story away. And I'll put it in the loft. Should we be doing that with Jesus? No.
[18:06] No, we shouldn't just take him out for December. We shouldn't just take him out for Christmas Day. We should be reading our Bibles every day. We should be thinking about Jesus every day.
[18:20] Because he is a special saviour. He's a special king that can save us. And with the grown-ups, I'm going to be thinking about the special king that came. So, when you open your Advent calendar tomorrow, what would be a good thing to do when we open our Advent calendar? Just something that should we be doing every day? Reading our Bible. Yeah. Reading our Bible. But not just for December.
[18:46] Every day, read our Bible. Read our Bible. And everything in it should point us to Jesus, the child and the king and the saviour that sets us free from sin. Okay? So, I want you to remember that. Everything in the Bible is about Jesus. And the best thing to do is to read the Bible every day.
[19:06] Okay? So, we'll say a prayer together. Okay? Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for the Bible that we have, that tells us about him, that points us to him. Help us to be people, boys and girls, that read our Bible every day, learn more about you, learn more about what you have done.
[19:25] We see how great you are, how beautiful you are, how amazing you are, and that we would believe in you. So, help us as we go to Sunday school. Help us to find Jesus in the Bible. Help us to seek him out every day, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a good Christmas when it comes. I'll probably see you before then. So, we'll continue by singing, and we'll stand in a moment, and we'll sing Mission Praise 590, which is Seek Ye First, the Kingdom of God. So, we'll stand in a moment, okay?
[20:11] Seek Ye First, the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all His things shall be added, all the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all His things shall be added unto you.
[20:43] Allelu, alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
[20:59] Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[21:13] I shall live by bread alone, but by every word.
[21:25] Clack your seeds from the mountain of corn. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[22:02] As time it shall be given unto you. Seek and each of my.
[22:13] Long and the door shall be opened unto you. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[22:48] Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Okay, pray for the boys and girls as they go through to Sunday school. And if you have a Bible with you, please turn to 1 Samuel chapter 16.
[23:06] 1 Samuel chapter 16 from the beginning of that chapter.
[23:20] Now we'll read down to verse 13.
[23:32] So let us hear God's word. The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?
[23:47] Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for myself a king among his sons.
[24:00] And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
[24:16] And invite Jesse to the sacrifice. And I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you. Samuel did what the Lord commanded, came to Bethlehem.
[24:31] The elders of the city came out to meet him trembling and said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
[24:44] Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.
[25:02] 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.
[25:14] Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Then Jesse called Abinabab and made him pass before Samuel.
[25:27] And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.
[25:39] And Jesse made the 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?
[25:52] And he said, There remains the youngest. But behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.
[26:06] And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and he had beautiful eyes and he was handsome. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.
[26:21] Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brother. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.
[26:32] And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Amen. May the reading of God's word be a blessing to all who have heard it read. Before we come back to that passage, we'll sing in Gaelic.
[26:46] We'll sing in Psalm 78. And we'll sing from verse 70. Psalm speaks about David.
[26:57] David as a king. David as God's choice. So we'll sing these words.
[27:08] We'll remain seated for singing in Gaelic. With God's praise. Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Thank you.
[28:13] Thank you.
[28:43] Avada Nisha. Thank you.
[29:23] Oh Oh Oh
[30:53] Well before we turn to this passage let us pray together Our Father in Heaven we ask that you would help us now that you would speak into our hearts and into our minds and that we would see Jesus Christ in the story of David and we pray at this time of year as so many people have their minds maybe not focused but maybe attend to attend to the thought of a child coming into this world, a child that would be a king, a child that would be a saviour and as we are distracted by so many things so many duties so many different events that are on the things that we have to do as families and the things that we go to we pray that we will not get distracted from what Christmas is about yes a child came but it's not any child it's a promised child a promised Messiah son of God the king of glory we pray that we pray that we would be people that would rejoice in his coming that we would see the true beauty in him luring himself to come into this world to save sinners such as we are we pray for the gospel to go throughout our world we pray for it to attend to those who are lost we pray for it to be at work in your mysterious ways we pray for it to comfort those who worry we pray it would comfort those who are sick we pray that you would be a strength to those who are weak we pray that you would give life to those who are dying we are mindful of places that are upside down with war we are mindful of the effects of sin in this world we are mindful of those that are in poverty we are mindful of those who lay aside in hospital we pray for Lydia we pray for others who are like her and we pray for their families especially at this time of year it seems all the more difficult for them we pray that you would draw near to them we pray that Jesus the child in the manger
[33:35] Jesus the king of glory be revealed to all that we would not be led astray by all the distractions set before us but have a mind and a heart to love this man this son this king who came to give us life for each and every one of us so be with us as we turn to your word help us and instruct us in it we ask in Jesus name Amen so turning back to that passage that we read in 1st Samuel reading again at verse 2 Samuel said how can I go if Saul hears it he will kill me and the Lord said take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord
[34:38] I should have read the end of verse 1 I have provided for myself a king among his sons I have provided for myself a king among his sons I'm sure you all know what it's like when you've been waiting for something maybe you've been saving up for something you've been planning to buy something planning to get something maybe maybe then you got it and then you think well that's not what I expect maybe you got it and it's a bit of a disappointment maybe you bought a car and then you realised the seat wouldn't go far enough back for your long legs to fit in it maybe you got a house and then you realised there was damp appealing in it maybe you got a dog and you realised it chewed everything to bits I'm sure we've all been there with something that we've desired to have and maybe the things come and it's just not been what we expected it to be and for the people of God we had this promise that has been made to them about a king that would come so I was saying to the children
[35:44] God made that promise back in Genesis 3 after the fall a saviour would come this person would come that would this one person he would restore what had been lost due to his sin he would he would be a person that would bring peace to them in their experience he would be a person that would stop all their enemies from attacking them and plundering them he would be a deliverer he would be a rescuer he would be a redeemer he would be a great king figure and that's the term that they would use Messiah the one that would come to set them free from their sins and they were waiting for this king to come they were anticipating this king they wanted this king just like we would want these things in our lives and lots of people came to lead them but there was lots of failures there was lots of disappointments many judges came many poor kings came many well they would say they would call a king a shepherd many of these shepherds came but they weren't what they expected they were disappointments and so they were still longing for something better they were still longing for that waiting for that one person to come and throughout the bible throughout that the story that is told for us throughout all these different figures that failed all these prophecies kind of became true of the one that would come and there was more and more detail revealed to us about the one that would come the one that was awaited the one that they waited for and I believe that there's about 300 prophecies built up through the Old Testament about this one person that would come who of course would be Jesus who is the one that they waited for and Jesus who is the one that will satisfy them and satisfy us so in the coming weeks as we approach Christmas and the arrival of this Messiah which it is what is it all about
[37:45] I want to just sort of steer us in that direction steer us in that direction as we think about this child that will come but steer us by looking at David today this great king that came probably one of the greatest kings that Israel had before Christ came and David kind of serves as a type serves as a shadow of what Christ would come to be what that redeemer what that Messiah would be like when we look at David we probably see one of the clearest pictures of what Jesus would be like in the example that he lived but even when we look at David we see that well he failed in his private life he failed in his life as his duty as a king and we realise that well Jesus Jesus realised that David was a letdown for them
[38:46] David was a sinner just as we are so as we look at David this king this morning and we think about Jesus I want to see three things that we can pick out about David that are true of Jesus as well and the first thing that we see is when we meet David here in this passage this is the first time we meet him he comes into the scene well he comes in humbly and that's the first thing we have a humble king and secondly we have a detail there that he's a beautiful king it's the second point and thirdly we have David here as an anointed king or third man so a humble king a beautiful king and an anointed king all three of David but all point us to Jesus the great king and the great Messiah that would come so firstly the humble king now in the passage that we read it starts off by talking about
[39:52] Saul and Samuel's grieving over Saul because God's rejected Saul Saul was the king they already had a king they didn't really need a king they had one already but God had rejected him and God had only given them a king because the people moaned the people wanted a king just like all other nations around them they were seeing all other nations around them with their own kings that would lead them that would take them into battle and they wanted to have their own king that's the thing they wanted their own king and God said well I'll give you a king that you want and he gave them Saul and he started out well but Saul's heart became proud he wasn't humble he wasn't humble and because of the pride in his heart God rejected him and we see that difference that appears between the proud and the humble so God says well go and anoint another king and he sends out
[41:05] Samuel to search make the search for the right king and as Saul was a king that would please the people the king that God would send out would be a king that would please God Samuel out be a king that would please God Samuel is the people's choice David is purely God's choice God's choosing him without prompting from the people this is the man God is saying this is the king so he sends Samuel out with his horn of oil to anoint this king and he tells him to go to Jesse the Bethlehem out there at the end of verse 1 you see I have provided for myself that's it again emphasised it is for him that he is providing this king it will be for the people too to lead them but it is his choice of king and immediately we have a link there when we think about the Bethlehem out
[42:18] Samuel's going to Bethlehem it is immediately pointing us to Jesus the birth of him we have that link but as Samuel goes we stick with Samuel for the moment Samuel goes to find this king in Bethlehem he has got a problem Saul is already king and if Saul hears that he is going to anoint a new king he is not going to be happy with Samuel so God provides this way to take a sacrifice which would be almost a distraction from the purpose in which God would send Samuel God provides a way to provide a king and so Samuel and so Samuel listens to God goes to God he has this problem that the worry that Saul might see him going to anoint a king but he's also got a second problem that appears in the passage when he does arrive in Bethlehem because he can't find the king all the sons prepare themselves for this sacrifice they consecrate themselves it tells us they get ready to meet with
[43:42] Samuel it's also interesting to note that as Samuel comes there's an element of fear in Samuel coming the people that turn are fearful why is he here and he asks do you come peaceably it is peaceably that he comes and in a loose sense the coming of the anointing of Christ is a coming of peace it's not a coming of wrath or anger and it's a coming of God's grace and love towards us and so we have a similarity there of the peacefulness in this anointing in this coming and the peace of the one who does the anointing but all the sons are getting prepared
[44:42] Samuel comes he goes starts going through the sons we see there in verse 6 Eliab is set before him and Samuel thinks well surely this is the Lord's anointed surely this is the man but even God had to correct this prophet Samuel God says well it's not about looks don't judge him by his looks God says there in verse 7 it's not about appearance it's not about his height or his stature I have rejected him God sees not as man sees man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart and it's worth stopping there to think the Lord looks on our heart and not only does the Lord look on our heart the Lord knows the heart and the
[45:50] Lord knows our heart and there's a fearful element to that when we look in our own heart and what it is and how it directs us and misdirects us that our heart can be so full of sin and the Lord knows it and yet he'll still provide a means to set us free from the sinfulness of our own hearts and so the Samuels there he knows that Eliab is not the one so the next son comes up it's not the one next son no no no no no no can't find her something's not right why isn't he here and really what's happened is he should be there all the sons have been called but someone's moved him out of the way someone thought that doesn't belong here he should be somewhere else that's probably happened to us in our own lives where someone's moved something on us and we can't find it can be a frustrating thing when someone does that to us someone's moved
[47:22] David where he should be he should be with the rest of his brothers but someone it doesn't tell us who he decided that well he shouldn't be there that's not the best place for him and when we continue there in verse 11 he's asking if all of them are there what he says about David the youngest he is keeping the sheep he's been left out he's been left at the side whilst all the other brothers are puffing themselves up to make them look preparing themselves to look good for the king David's in the background David's forgotten about accepting this low and humble position doing his duty to be at work and I can see him willingly accepting to do it I suppose even if he knew that Samuel was coming for the purpose that he came I suppose and I would like to think that David and it's my only my own assumption that David would have been willing to look after the flock because it was important for him to look after the sheep and in that he's doing a service for all others he's looking after the sheep for his family he's bearing the load for his family even when the family didn't think he was anything special even when they didn't value him never in a million years would David become king no way would he be chosen and the funny thing is the way they respond is that they say that he is keeping the sheep and that's really shepherding the sheep and the shepherd was a title that they would use for a king and if they're saying that he's shepherding the sheep it's almost as if they're saying that he's a king over the people he's doing his duty as a shepherd over the sheep and that's exactly what
[49:28] Jesus would come as he would come as a humble shepherd to look after the sheep and to feed the sheep a son that would come to be born in a barn essentially but to be born in the peacefulness of it not to become with a great pomp of a king not to come with a great ceremonies of a kingly ordination at this moment but a king that would know his duty and a king that would serve the people even when everyone else disregarded Jesus as king he was a king that was willing to take that position he was willing to be the messiah willing to be the christ but how do we treat
[50:36] Jesus how did the brothers treat David they neglected him they set him aside they didn't think of him as important and that's what the world does with Jesus they don't want Jesus to be their king he's a brother that they disrespect a brother that maybe they'll only use for their benefit when it comes to Christmas time as a celebration a brother that they don't value or do we see Jesus as a brother that has served us a brother that serves us a brother who is loving and a brother that we value how do we treat
[51:47] Jesus do we see in Jesus something that no one else sees do we see in Jesus a beauty that maybe others walk past and qualities that others ignore so he comes as a humble king and our next two points are far briefer but the second point is he comes as a beautiful king now when we come to this passage Samuel sees David and immediately there's a beauty perceived in David and when we meet someone carefully I see this but it's not that they have outward beauty but when we speak to someone and interact with them we can see a beauty coming out of them something's flowing out of them and that should be what we experience as
[52:56] Christians when you speak to another Christian we should be something of beauty coming out of that person something of an attractive quality not because of who they are but because it is Christ coming out of them Christ shining out of them flowing out of them there's no beauty and attractiveness made between them and it's like Samuel when he sees David he recognises such a beauty about him but have we not just been saying that Samuel came he looked on Eliab he probably perceived his beauty and God has just said it's not about the outward appearance it's not about how you see him and I think well what's going on here because
[53:57] God just said don't look at the outward appearance and Samuel kind of highlighting the beauty of his outward appearance I just wonder is it really all external beauty that is going on here when we read in verse 12 he was ruddy he had beautiful eyes as David and he was handsome and they are all outward appearances to say he's ruddy is kind of a red complexion a healthy red colour they would say and the Hebrew there is beautiful eyes I think that's pretty accurate and then handsome is in Hebrew it's a good appearance or maybe pleasant appearance which I think is a slightly different nuance than handsome to say someone has a pleasant appearance and though they are outward things
[55:09] I think it tells us more about inner things I think it tells us more about his character I think we can appreciate the depth of beauty in David that comes out in these qualities having beautiful eyes having a pleasant appearance or a good appearance and it goes back to kind of what we're saying he's seeing the beauty of his heart he's seeing the beauty that is within him Samuel as the Lord's man has been sent to get the Lord's man to get David and there's a beauty there between them what makes David so beautiful is not his outward appearance it's his heart because the
[56:17] Lord said that he would seek out a man after his own heart the beauty in him is coming out of him as God flowing out and we can always see that this David he's got a character of someone who seems to be honourable he seems to be humble he seems to be reverent as he approaches he seems to be gentle but capable now the heart when the Hebrew writers would write about the heart it's the core of your being it's the central thing of who you are the root of you everything that shapes your mind your desires your conscience your moral beliefs your attitude that's what God is concerned about the heart it's not about how many church services you attend it's not about how many prayer meetings we go to it's not about even that we read our
[57:22] Bible every day they're all good things to do but it's a heart that God looks at it's a heart that God knows and we ask ourselves what is the intention of our hearts when we come to church when we open up our Bibles is one intention to see the beauty of Jesus coming out of it coming out of God's word we look at it and we see Jesus as beautiful because there's nothing so beautiful as Jesus never was there a heart as beautiful as Jesus and it deserves all inward beauty you go to Isaiah 52 and it speaks about his outward beauty and it says that Jesus had no form of majesty that we would look at him no beauty that we would desire to that's Jesus that's the
[58:22] Messiah that's the one they were waiting for no beauty externally because all the beauty was in his heart all the beauty was inward that would come out and all that beauty is what attracted the people to him you know if you're a Christian today one sure thing is that Jesus will be beautiful to you Jesus will be beautiful to you beyond all other beautiful things in this world so is he beautiful to you this morning when you look at Jesus when you open up the Bible when you look at how he loved you and look at the compassion he had for you although we can never describe his physical appearance and it's interesting that
[59:24] Jesus even resurrected the disciples physically sometimes didn't recognise him so the physical things aren't important to God it's the heart and it truly is the heart that is coming out through this passage that is important to God and the question is how is our heart before God how is our heart towards Jesus how is our heart when we come to read the Bible how is our heart when we come to pray is our heart attracted to the beauty of Jesus when we do these things is our heart longing to find that beauty because we know that there's nothing in this world so beautiful as Jesus he's a beautiful king but he's also an anointed king so we've had a humble king
[60:33] Jesus who came humbly into this world we have a beautiful king a beauty that surpasses all other beauties and we have him here as an anointed king David was anointed in verse 13 Samuel took the horn of oil anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the spirit came down upon him when something's anointed it's set apart as holy it's set apart to be consecrated for a purpose for God David was set apart to be a king for the people of God Christ set apart to be a king for us he is anointed one that's what Messiah means anointed one it's also what
[61:36] Christ means anointed one Jesus is the anointed one Jesus is the one that has been set aside set apart consecrated for a purpose to be our king to be a king that would come humbly for us to be a king that would come with that great beauty and love for his people and he's a king that invites you to come to be part of his kingdom to belong to him to be a Christian to be an anointed one through Jesus to be set apart as holy through Jesus all these things we have in
[62:38] Jesus we receive the blessings of God through Jesus through that great king that comes we remember this child that came it's a king that we remember that comes a king that comes that calls us to be part of his people a king that comes to promise to pour down his blessings upon us a king that provides for us in so many ways a king far greater than any other king the king of kings the king of glory will you have him to be your king or will you go out into this world and look for another king will you look for something else to be your trust in there's nothing quite like
[63:39] Jesus so as we come into this Christmas season all the decorations come up and go down Jesus is maybe just mentioned in the passing but is that not what it's all about it's about this king that has come to celebrate this king a king that loves you a king that wants to serve you a king that calls you for many Jesus is just something they take out of the books and put back in as we were saying to the kids every year and to be forgotten about I don't know what you're waiting for this Christmas but the only thing that will satisfy you is
[64:46] Jesus that you go and search him out in the word of God in prayer that you would find a king amongst all the distractions that go on at this time of year and that you would find yourself rejoicing in the wonder that he came as a humble king in the wonder as you see and try and grasp and wrestle the things of glory that he came down from that place to save us that we see his beauty like nothing else in this world but we'll have him to be a king the humble king the beautiful king the anointed king so over the next few weeks let us remember that king that has come to save us and let us find the joy in his coming pray these thoughts to be a blessing to us amen amen so we'll conclude our time by singing in psalm 89 psalm 89 from verse 3 says so we'll stand to sing these words to
[66:40] God please i with my chosen one of me a covenant gracious i with my chosen one of me a up my I step and do my love to divest form have I.
[67:23] But I, I see, it is salvation forever to remain.
[67:40] Thy will to generations o'er, Thy throne will not maintain.
[67:59] The presence of Thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express.
[68:17] And in the congregation of saints, Thy faithfulness.
[68:36] For who in heaven with the Lord may once himself compare?
[68:53] Who is my God among the sons of those that might be are?
[69:13] It's true unto the Lord.
[69:31] And we, O Lord, have a tenture with reverence be adored.
[69:51] Our closing prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this time together. We pray that you would speak to us. Speak to us of Jesus, the child and the king.
[70:02] And that through him, we ask you would pour down your blessings upon us as your people. Be with us as we part. In Jesus' name we ask these things. Amen.