2nd OT, Getting Chosen, 2024
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011624.cfm
Today we heard the story of Samuel choosing David as the new king of the Israelites. David, we learn, was the most unlikely choice and not the first choice, either.
Samuel was charged by God with anointing a replacement for Saul, who had failed miserably as the king. Yesterday we read that the Lord himself was sorry that he had made Saul king.
To give a little background to our reading, we need to know that Samuel had anointed Saul as Israel’s first king and he had been ruling for 25 years. At first Saul seemed to be a good king but in time it became evident that Saul had many flaws. He was impatient and impulsive, prone to temper tantrums, and was concerned about his image and popularity. He was interested in what people thought of him rather than what God thought of him. He was prone to jealousy, and worst, he disobeyed God on several occasions. Seeing him fail as the king, God sent Samuel to anoint a new king over Israel whom God would indicate to him.
Directed by God then, as we heard in our first reading, Samuel went to the house of Jesse who had a many sons. Starting with the oldest son, the choosing began. But each time a son was presented, God let Samuel know that that son wasn’t the one. Finally, Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons. Jesse didn’t even think of including his youngest son David as a possibility until Samuel inquired.
David wasn’t thought of as a likely candidate for these reasons:
- Being the youngest, he lived in the shadow of his older brothers. In David’s day, birth order determined your lot in life, and the youngest was thought to be unprepared and not ready for important roles.
- David already had a job. The older sons were working the farm and the youngest was left tending the sheep, so his role in life was already determined.
But God saw something in David that no one else saw. God saw possibility. As the story ends, David, the least likely choice, became the specially chosen of God.
David’s story is our story. Despite whatever reasons we think we have which prevents us from being the person God wants us to be, God has a plan for us. God sees possibilities for us that we can’t imagine. History proved that David became the greatest of Israel’s kings, and it is from David’s lineage that Jesus came.
Remembering David and so many others, we see that if we are open and trusting of God’s plan for us, God will accomplish unimaginable things in and through us. In God’s eyes, we are all chosen and are rich with possibility.
