From Omission To Promotion

 “This must be the one!” That is the statement that the prophet Samuel made when he saw Jesse’s first son Eliab. He had all of the features that Samuel thought would be great as he was given the task by the Lord to anoint the next king of Israel after Saul was removed from his position due to constant disobedience. However, Eliab was not the one. As more as Jesse’s sons were presented to him, each one had the qualities that Samuel thought were important to be chosen king but none of them were chosen. 

 After the first son, God reminded Samuel of a very important point and it is found in 1 Samuel 16:7 and it states “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Many times, like Samuel, we have a tendency of focusing on the qualities we can see but what is most important is what is in the heart because when times get tough is truly when the true character of someone is really seen.

 Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons and it was only then that David was brought in. He was the smallest and youngest and was brought in from tending the sheep. Clearly, no one expected that the youngest of the family would be chosen for such a position and because of that, no one thought that he be called in. However, as young as he might have been, when he stood in front of Samuel, God told him that he was the one to anoint, not because of his age, size or charm but because of his heart. God moved David from a place of omission to a place of promotion because his heart was fully surrendered to Him.

 Let us always remember that in order to move from being omitted to being promoted, it does not depend on who we know or what we possess but it is important that our hearts are soft to the voice of God. David went on to become the greatest king Israel ever had, not because of all of his accomplishments nor the psalms he penned but because he was a man after God’s own heart. May we strive to be like David and we can be assured that even though a man might omit us, God will promote us.