David's Rejection Did Not Nullify His Anointing As King, 1 Samuel 16:1-13 by Dr. Terry Harman

Used by Permission from Goodsalt, “David Anointed” 2024

When Everyone Knows but You!

Examine the situation David found himself in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. He is going about his daily routine as a young shepherd, tending to the family’s sheep business. The nights can be cold, but there are also the joys of sitting on the hill with the sun warming your face as you carefully guard the unsuspecting flock from would-be thieves and natural predators.

David is fifteen years old. Adolescence can be a turbulent time for any boy in Israel, marked by self-discovery, identity formation, and the crucial quest for acceptance, especially from your father and family.

Perceived or actual rejection or disregard by the father during this developmental stage can send a young boy into the emotional battlefield where feelings of abandonment, inadequacy, and despair can converge to cast a pervasive shadow over a young boy’s psyche. A boy who wants to know his father is proud of and loves him.

Only Samuel knows his assignment from the Lord to anoint the next king of Israel (v.1). David is unaware of what his father, brothers, the elders, and everyone else knows in the village of Bethlehem; Samuel the Prophet has come “sanctify” the people, make a “sacrifice unto the Lord” (vv. 2-5).

The Overlooked and Underestimated

David is clueless as to what is going on back at his home. Samuel knows what his mission is. Jesse receives the command to call ALL of his sons to stand before Samuel, the prophet of the Lord. Excitement and awe engulf the village as the prophet stands before each of Jesse’s seven sons.

Samuel gazes into the eyes of the man before him, attempting to discern the Lord’s direction, ready to let the oil flow the ram’s horn. The horn is filled with consecrated olive oil used only for anointing.

Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, and four other brothers all pass before Samuel. Samuel is sure it is this one or that one. “But the LORD said unto Samuel: Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (v. 7).

Bewildered, Samuel turns to Jesse and says, “The LORD hath not chosen these . . . Are here all thy children?” (vv.10-11). Jesse informs the prophet, “There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.” David was not important enough to be a part of the sacrificial experience the entire village would remember for the rest of their lives. He was an afterthought - just a shepherd boy out in the field with the sheep. No one called for David until the prophet commanded it and said, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither” (v.11).

David was not simply overlooked or ignored. He was sidelined, discounted, dismissed, undervalued as a person, and completely underestimated.

God Does Not Judge as Man Judges

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 1 Samuel 16:7. “But the LORD said unto Samuel: Look not on his countenance, or the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 

Jesse called David in from the field. Naturally, David was disheveled and smelled of the field and the flock. David “was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. And the LORD said: Arise, anoint him; for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward” (vv.12-13). One day, David will ascend the throne, but not yet!

“And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will” (Acts 13:22 KJV).

The Emotional Impact of Family Rejection

I can relate to David the shepherd. Feelings of rejection, real or perceived, can lead to destruction. There are two experiences of rejection, which shaped how I perceived myself. One experience was at the hands of a relative. The other by the hands of a religious authority. The first left me feeling rejected by my family. The second left me feeling rejected by God.

When I was eight years old, we lived in Chicago. I do not remember where my brother and I were that day. But when we returned home, we saw the police and an ambulance. Mom had fallen two stories from our apartment window down to the concrete sidewalk between the two buildings. The story circulating among family members she tried to commit suicide. It became one of many “family secrets.” The truth of her fall remains a secret.

She cracked ribs, and broke the right Ilium of her pelvis, with multiple fractures to the tibia and fibula of her right leg. In the aftermath, she lay in traction in the “Old Cook County Hospital” located at 18th and Arnold Streets. The verdict? She may never walk again without a brace.

My dad worked long hours on the docks to provide for his family. It was unrealistic for him to work and care for two young boys, me aged eight, and my brother “Billy” aged five. He drove us to West Virginia to live with his only sister, until our mom recovered. I still remember driving up the gravel driveway wondering what it would be like to live in such a big house.

My dad held our hands, one of us on each side, as we walked up to the door to knock. I do not remember the brief discussion between my dad and his sister. What I do remember was what she said to my dad just before we turned to go back to the car. “He can stay but that one cannot stay here.” I was the “cannot stay here” son.

I carried the words and the look of my aunt in my head for decades, but no one ever talked about it. I was thirty years old before I learned why I was the “cannot stay here” little boy. Another one of our “family secrets.”

My dad not deterred by the rejection of his son, took us to our maternal grandmother's house. Her house was a very small with four rooms, a pot belly stove for cold winter days, a wood stove for cooking, an outside well for water, and of course a one-hole outhouse. For all it lacked it was still a home, not a house. She taught us to pray before meals and to be thankful "for the Lord's day."

The Emotional Impact of Religious Rejection

As a teenager, the way I am hard-wired became energized by risk-taking and foolishness. Poor choices of my own making and street drugs numbed my soul. Drug dealing was not a wise career path. By age twenty I was taking a free ride on a military transport guarded by Army MPs to an all-expenses paid-for prison with a free bed and breakfast program.

Once released from prison, I fell back into the pattern of old people and places. Misery was fast approaching. That is until, a Wednesday night on October 31, 1979, I had my Damascus Road encounter with God.

Being a “new creature” was more exciting. All things were new, and the old things had become obsolete. In March of 1981, I could not explain what was stirring in my heart. All I knew was “I was supposed to serve God with “all my heart and all my soul and with all my strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). I had no clue what that entailed. My mentor encouraged me to enroll in a college that taught “scriptural holiness” as a way of life.

So, I enrolled as a computer science major at the college. All students, regardless of their college major, had to complete nine semester hours of “religion courses.” and later as a religious studies major. I was more interested in my Bible courses than learning the computer languages of Fortran and Cobol.

During the last semester before graduation, I was fortunate to enroll in two graduate courses, while taking one undergraduate course in history and the field training experience. All religion majors completed eight weeks of field training under the tutelage of one of the college’s trusted pastoral mentors.

The chair of the religion department determined that I was “not suitable” for field training because I had a "failed relationship, drug history, and went to jail and prison” (before I enrolled in the college).

He insisted I complete two elective courses to meet graduation requirements. I was embarrassed, despondent, and felt rejected, as my peers were sharing where their field assignments were. “Where are you going, Terry?” All I could say as we left the classroom was, “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

God used two trusted professors to guide me through the emotional pain of rejection. Hurt but not deterred, I remained at the college, finished the undergraduate degree and then the Master's of Arts degree. While working on my master's I got a job as a part-time chaplain in training at the state mental hospital.

Years later, I learned the mental hospital called the religion department at the college. The hospital was looking for someone "suitable" for institutional work. The department chair who rejected me for field training gave the institution my name and that's how I got the job.

By the time I learned this, the religion chair had retired. I drove across state lines and knocked on his door. When he came to the door I asked if he remembered me. He said, "Yes Terry, you're a hard one to forget." I thanked him for the recommendation to work as a chaplain. His rejection in one area opened the door to what became a forty year career path.

Rejection with a Calling is Common

The experience of rejection, discounted, sidelined, and underestimated is common for those who desire to serve God “all their heart and all their soul and with all their strength.” The shepherd boy named David who became the second King of Israel, also experienced rejection by his father and his brothers.

The family experience at Bethlehem would not end David’s experience of marginalization. He would experience victory over an attack by a bear and a lion but not walk as a king. He remained faithful and served his father. Yes, there were still rumors about the day the prophet Samuel anointed the young lad. He would not operate in his calling for years to come.

Later as a young man, David remained faithful to the family business of herding sheep. One day his father sent him to bring parched corn, loaves of bread, and cheese to feed his three brothers who joined Saul on the battlefield against the mighty Goliath (1 Samuel 17:17-18).

Once again, David was sidelined. First ridiculed by his brother for even considering fighting Goliath. Then secondly, mocked by King Saul on the battlefield (1 Samuel 17:28-40). Goliath came out every morning and evening to taunt King Saul and the Army of Israel.

Conclusion

The story of the rejection and dismissal of David may resonate with you. You may sense a calling on your life, religious leaders may have either overlooked you dismissed you, or altogether rejected you because of your background and past failures. Hear this, God does not judge as man judges. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Hear in your spirit these words, "for this is he."

You may not fit into the traditional track of ministry in this or that religious denomination. Dream outside the box! If the Lord has called you to do something for his kingdom then he has already hard-wired you and spiritually gifted you for the mission! Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. Watch, listen, and be ready for the moment of favor that opens the door for you to walk in your calling. Hear in your spirit these words, "for this is he."

Your service does not need to look and feel like someone else's ministry. Our world needs unique and uncommon ministries today. Our world is broken and hurting. If you have not noticed our synagogues and churches took a beating during Covid. Many have not returned to the sanctuary. The twenty and thirty-somethings are not drawn to the religious expressions of their parents. Others have never darkened the doors of a house of prayer. Your unique calling may appear different than the traditional way of serving. We are not called to all do the same thing. You can reach people who would never talk to me. Hear in your spirit these words, "for this is he."

David could have had an attitude, dropped off the food for his brothers, and headed back home. He could have harbored feelings of resentment from the way his family and king treated him. Somehow David reached an emotional and spiritual maturity beyond his years. The experiences of rejection by his father, brothers, and even the king, prepared David to walk in the anointing he received from the prophet Samuel fifteen years earlier. Hear in your spirit these words, "for this is he."

David approached and stood before Goliath “in the name of the Lord” (v. 45). He “put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth” (v.49). Soon the once rejected shepherd boy would walk among the nation as the King of Israel.

Being Rejected, Put Aside, Overlooked, or Underestimated by People

does not Nullify Your Calling from God!

Earlier tonight, February 16, 2024, I called Boise, Idaho, and thanked my professor and mentor Dr. George Lyons. I thanked him for walking with me during the emotional battlefield of rejection of 1984. Tomorrow I will call Apostle H. Daniel Wilson of Valley Kingdom Ministries International and reminisce about the evening he anointed me with oil as I approached his pulpit to teach during the season of Shavuot. That was the launching of what is now known as, The Tabernacle Man: Teaching Biblical Principles to a Sight and Sound Generation.

The Tabernacle Man's Full Size Tabernacle Exhibit in Lebanon, Tennessee September 2023.