Painting Lessons

This is dedicated to Emily Rigby who encouraged me by saying if I ever wrote about scriptures, she would buy the book! That meant so much to me! I hope you like this one Emily!

A couple of thoughts  really impacted me while I was sharing this story with a friend who was in need of some specific precepts taught therein. In doing so, I  was enlightened myself in  surprising ways.
                                     Can I share the story then the  insights with you?    
Poor Saul! Power had gone to his head and he disobeyed God. This disobedience  led  the Lord  to say to Samuel:
       "1 ... How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons... And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee."

So off goes Samuel to Jesse's house to meet his sons and anoint one of them Israel's next king. It is evident in the language used between Samuel and Jesse that Jesse was made privy to the special nature of Samuel's visit. By all accounts, these sons were big strapping lads! Pretty impressive guys! As the group came down toward him in preparation to be sanctified for offering  the sacrifice together, Samuel was sure impressed!!


6 ¶And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.

                        But oh! Blessed be the Lord for instructing His prophet and thereby instructing us!

7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

       No matter how impressive, Eliab was not the Lord's choice. Neither was  son's two and three, Abinadab and Shammah.This was a wee bit surprising since those three sons in particular were solders for Saul and attended him in battles, thus their strength and courage were not in question.
       One can picture the pride of Jesse, their father, as he paraded them one by one  in front of the prophet. They seemed outwardly to be the perfect specimens of manhood. However, from the first born to son number seven, there was no illuminating  confirmation from the Lord. With the Lord's answer being clear, it was up to Samuel to relate the following to Jesse:

"10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these."     

  Now remember, the Prophet had told Jesse he was to bring all his sons to  sacrifice with Samuel! When the Lord hadn't confirmed His choice by son 7, you can almost sense in Samuel's next words a small hint of desperation...

                 11 "And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children?"
           " ... And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither."
        When David finally comes,  listen closely to what is said:
              12 "And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."
That is the story.  Here comes the inspiration:

I will test my rudimentary skills by attempting to paint the thoughts that impacted me into one comprehensible, hopefully enlightening spiritual work of art. With my metaphoric paint brush in hand I will begin by painting onto the canvas the background:

7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 

Why is it that Jesse failed to bring in his younger son when commanded? Why was Samuel put in the position of having to ask if there was any other sons?


I will offer two thoughts:

First: He widely underestimated the importance one so young without size or reputation. Especially in light of the other brothers with their seemingly preferable qualities. Jesse failed to give him enough importance to even invite him until the prophet Samuel ran out of choices. Perhaps, his pride in the older boys, the looking on the outward appearance, overshadowed the notion that his youngest might serve the Lord in any meaningful capacity. In his mind set, even after being in the company of a prophet of God, being sanctified and being informed that this meeting held a greater significance then merely visiting with a prophet of God, he disobeyed an edict and failed to involve a son that he had forgotten about, one, that would ultimately, serve to be the greatest king of all of Israel.

Second: Perhaps it was a matter of putting his flock of sheep and the income or security they provided to his family ahead of his son. Kinda like not wanting to call your son home from work thus having to close the store for the day. In this case, again Jesse's thought were potentially again formed by outward  concerns. If he knew the prophet wanted to meet with all his sons, could he not have sent a replacement for David?

Are we like Jesse? Do we let the outward appearance be the impetus for basing our decisions, judgements? Are we guilty of making up in our own minds  the destinies of others based on assumptions from outward appearances? In our circle somewhere, is there a King or Queen that if we were but to open our eyes and look at their hearts, we should see a crown of polished gold resting on their heads? Moreover, was there not the greatest King of all, judged outwardly, as thing of nought...for it was said of Him:

        " For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

The King of Kings, the Prince of Peace yet it was given to only a few faithful followers willing to look upon His heart to know of His Kingship! 
 
Or are we guilty of the second premise?  Are we placing temporal concerns above spiritual concerns? Which followers are we like? Are we part of the 5000 who were fed miraculously  and followed Jesus because our spirits were fed and we wanted more spiritual nourishment or those who were fed miraculously yet followed in hopes of attaining more physical food?

Whatever motivated Jesse, the outcome is the same.. he didn't view David  by the requirements of God.

Now that the background is painted and dry, lets add rich, deep color and texture to our painting.

Remember it was said  of David:
"And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."

Let me offer a simple observation : the two phrases,  "beautiful countenance" and " goodly to look at" reflect the meaning of the Lord's instruction simply but powerfully. Those two statements are NOT the same. There would be no reason to reiterate twice about someones look. For instance, I wouldn't say : " She has a pretty face and she is lovely."  This one scripture  beautifully renders the Lord's reminder to Samuel.
The outward appearance is reflected by " goodly to look at" while the heart is mirrored with the phrase  "beautiful countenance". In truth, the expression: " wear your heart on your sleeve" could be changed to "wear your heart on your face". It is  meaningful that both the physical and the spiritual look of David was pointed out. 

Once I took my daughter with me to visit a woman in our congregation that had turned away from church. This woman was stunningly physically beautiful. Yet when we left from talking with her, my astute young teen looked at me and responded to my comment on her looks by saying, " But mom there is no light of Christ in her eyes." Goodly to look at but no beautiful countenance.
 I will share a secret of great magic with you! No matter the outward appearance, when you look upon the heart, the face will transforms into that of an angel! The radiant glow of a Christlike servant. The addictive smile of the truly joyous. The eyes that shine from loving others. It will happen every time that we  do our part!
  
                  I take a clean brush, place additional colors on the palette and finish our painting.

 "... And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither."

 WHERE WAS DAVID?
I believe I have never been struck by the symbolism of that statement and the metaphoric meaning to myself before this discussion with my friend.
        The Lord is looking at our hearts and not the outward appearance, so what better place can  we be found by Him then keeping His sheep!  I found it starkly meaningful that while 7 brothers were being presented and trying to impress the prophet, the one found to insignificant to be invited yet would become one  the greatest of all the old testament men, was out in the field watching  the sheep. He was performing his duties. He was obediant. He was responsible.
          Where are we?? Are we trying to impress those with no heavenly creditials? Are we self absorbed in flaunting ourselves by word but not quietly by deed? Do we sometimes feel sorry for ourselves because we weren't invited the party , not given a grand assignment, not rubbing elbows with powers that be? 
OR are we content to follow the master who could have referred to Himself as anyone he wanted yet chose the simple shepherd as His title. Are we happy to be following His admonitioin to "feed my sheep". Do we take seriously the charge to protect those in our care with our lives? I am profoundly moved by this simple utterence:"behold he keepeth the sheep"  The Lord knew whom he wanted annointed as His King. He looked upon David's heart. He knew where he could be found.

          I offer you my painting! It is a young shepherd in the distant pasture surrounded by sheep under a starlit sky, reminisant of a group of shepherds that would hear angels sing hundreds of years later. The colors are bold; the presentation simple.  All that is left is to frame it and pray it touches you as you look upon it. I do hope it has become a spiritual work of art.
       
             Here is the Frame that goes around my humble painting:

The Lord has annointed us as His sons and daughters, not with oil as David was annointed but with blood.  He looks upon our hearts.
He knew where to find David, where will  He find us ?

I hope  I can take to heart the things taught to me in reviewing this story. I will hang my painting where I can see it and be reminded to look on the heart, strive to have a beautiful countenance and be found keeping His sheep! 
JDB