God Saw Him First

Today’s Passage – 1 Chronicles 11 – 12; Proverbs 10

(Second Milers also read – John 11 – 12; Memorize – James 3:5)

“Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.” – (1 Chronicles 11:1-3)

In this morning’s passage we see the people of Israel anointing David to be their king. You may remember that God had already anointed David to be king over Israel, through the prophet Samuel, back in 1 Samuel 16:13. When God had chosen David he was still a very young man. God knew what David would be, but it took a long time for the people to recognize the hand of God upon David. Don’t quote me on this, but I am pretty sure twenty years had transpired from the time that God anointed him until the time that people made him their king. During those years a lot of things took place. First, we will see that God became fed up with the first king of Israel, Saul. Saul was a great choice for the first king. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd, but he was initially a very humble man. He trusted in the Lord, and he did what God told him to do. But as the years went on, he became very insecure, especially when it cane to David. For many years he spent all of his energy, and the resources of Israel, trying to put David to death. Somewhere along the way Saul stopped doing things God’s way, and started calling his own shots. However, even though God recognized that Saul was no longer the man for the job, it took the people many years to see it for themselves.

God may be calling you to do something for him as well, but don’t be surprised if it takes a while for other people to recognize God’s calling on you. I remember that shortly after I was saved I went forward at an invitation at Ocean County Baptist Church. The preacher that night was a visiting missionary. He asked us that night, “If God were to call you to do something, would you do it?” To me that was a “no brainer” I remember thinking to myself that if I knew for sure that God wanted me to do something I would obey the call. I went forward. I thought there would be a hundred people alongside of me, but to my surprise, when I got up, there was only one other man that was standing with me. I had no idea at that moment what God was going to do with my life, but I was willing to let Him use me. I knew at that moment that God was calling me, but it took many years for all of the people around me to see it for themselves.

I have concluded that God’s anointing is really a two-fold process. The first step is when God lets you know that He wants to do something with you, and the next step is when the people in your local church recognize the genuineness of that call, and put their stamp of approval on you as well.