When it became apparent that King Saul failed in his duties by disobeying God (1 Sam 15), God told Samuel that He was going to appoint a new king for Israel. \u00a0\u00a0God spoke to Samuel and said \u201cI will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 16:1b). At that time Samuel \u201cconsecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 16:5b) but \u201cWhen they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, \u201cSurely the Lord\u2019s anointed is before him.\u201d \u00a0<\/sup>But the Lord said to Samuel, \u201cDo 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: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 20:6-7).\u00a0 Finally \u201cJesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, \u201cThe Lord has not chosen these.\u201d \u00a0Then Samuel said to Jesse, \u201cAre all your sons here?\u201d And he said, \u201cThere remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 20:1011a).\u00a0 When the least likely, at least in the eyes of man, came before the Lord \u201cthe Lord said, \u201cArise, anoint him, for this is he.\u201d Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 20:12b-13).<\/p>\n When the people saw Saul, he looked like a king\u2026he was strong, tall, and at the time, humble and this is what people might expect a king to look like but \u201cAll the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit\u201d<\/span> (Prov 16:2) and \u201cA person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart\u201d<\/span> (Prov 21:2).\u00a0 When God saw David, He decided early on during Saul\u2019s reign that David would be king over all of Israel.\u00a0 The least likely in Samuel\u2019s eyes was the perfect man for God because He saw David as a man after His own heart.\u00a0 After God removed Saul \u201che raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, \u2018I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will\u201d<\/span> (Acts 13:22<\/span>).\u00a0 Why was David a man after God\u2019s own heart? \u00a0It was because he would \u201cdo all of [God\u2019s] will.\u201d God told Saul through Samuel that \u201cthe LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you (Saul) have not kept the LORD\u2019s command\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 13:14<\/span>).\u00a0 To God \u201crebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 15:23<\/span>).\u00a0 Samuel told Saul \u201cYou have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 15:26<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n We have already read why Saul was rejected as King.\u00a0 He took things into his own hands and sacrificed before the Lord, knowing full well that this was only permitted by the high priest.\u00a0 Saul rejected the Word of God and his rebellion\u2026and in fact all rebellion is just as wicked of a sin as divination is and divination was punishable by death.\u00a0 Samuel went on to describe rebellion as \u201carrogance like [that] of idolatry\u201d because when we decide to make our own decisions, we are really worshipping ourselves and rejecting the Law of God which says \u201cYou shall have no other Gods before me\u201d<\/span> (Ex 20:3).\u00a0 David was said by God to be a man \u201cwho will do all my will\u201d and not just some of it like treating the Word of God like a buffet and picking some of this while rejecting that.\u00a0 God cannot use a man or a woman who does not take the whole counsel of God and live it out in the whole.<\/p>\n Even though David was already anointed king of Israel, he would have to wait many years and run for his life from wicked king Saul because Saul knew that David was God\u2019s anointed and he didn\u2019t want him to live so that he might reign over the kingdom.\u00a0 Some Bible scholars believe it was between 7 and 10 years that David lived in caves, surviving on what he could find to eat and he never had much time to rest from his being pursued.\u00a0 Why did David have to wait for so long before he became king and why didn\u2019t David kill Saul when he had the chance?\u00a0 Was it David\u2019s conscience that prevented him from killing Saul?\u00a0 In part yes, but David himself answered this question when he said \u201cThe Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord\u2019s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord\u201d<\/span> (1 Sam 24:6).\u00a0 David trusted God enough to take care of Saul and that is a lesson for us.\u00a0 We must wait on God\u2019s timing for those who hate us and persecute us and never taken vengeance into our own hands for vengeance belongs to God alone (Rom 12:19<\/span>). As for David\u2019s long wait, it may have been to increase David\u2019s faith or trust in the Lord for as has been said, a faith that\u2019s never been tested can never be trusted and God wanted David\u2019s faith strong because he would need it in the future because he was going to unite all of Israel for the first time and the kingdom would reach its apex under his reign.<\/p>\n God may also make us wait on Him to see if we will remain faithful and rely on Him and learn to trust Him even when our eyes tell us differently.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word says \u201cthe eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him\u201d<\/span> (2 Chron 16:9<\/a>). He is still seeking those who will be obedient to Him, those who will keep His Word, those who will obey His commands but His rewards are not like what the world demands which is instant gratification or nothing.\u00a0 God richly rewards those who sow today because they will reap later.\u00a0 We often reap what we sow but most of the time we reap much later than we sow.\u00a0 God is not fooled though and Paul reminds believers, \u201cBe not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap\u201d<\/span> (Gal 6:7).\u00a0 You will likely not reap immediately but obedience to God always brings in a joyful and most abundant harvest at a later time.<\/p>\n If you have chosen a time where you have repented and put your faith in Christ, God tells us to \u201cnot grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. \u00a0So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith\u201d<\/span> (Gal 6:9-10) because \u201cthe one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life\u201d<\/span> (Gal 6:8b) \u201cbut whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God\u201d<\/span> (John 3:18b).<\/p>\n Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts<\/a><\/p>\n Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer\u2019s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus<\/a> or check out his book\u00a0 Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When David was chosen by God as king of Israel, why did God make him wait so many years to sit on the throne? The Search for a King When it became apparent that King Saul failed in his duties by disobeying God (1 Sam 15), God told Samuel that He was going to appoint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[477,193,190],"class_list":["post-1798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-story","tag-chosen-by-god","tag-david","tag-story"],"yoast_head":"\nGod Ways are not Our Ways<\/span><\/h2>\n
Why Saul Was Rejected<\/span><\/h2>\n
David\u2019s Wait<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/348\/2014\/10\/david-is-chosen-by-God.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhy God Makes us Wait<\/span><\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/348\/2013\/03\/Jack-Wellman.jpeg\" "\\"Jack")
Article by Jack Wellman<\/span><\/h2>\n