NATURE DOES NOT SUFFER VACUUM

1 Samuel 16

1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees;[a] for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down[b] till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

Vs. 1: When someone loses his calling and ministry, God wastes no time in replacing him or her. Nature does not suffer vacuum and the divine assignment on the earth must go on. As a saying goes, ‘when someone is messing up, another person is warming up to take charge and continue the task’. This was exactly what happened in the case of Saul and David. Once God rejected Saul as king over Israel, He immediately set machinery in motion to anoint David as the next king. Now, here is an observation that I find very interesting. Even after the anointing of David as king over Israel, Saul still remained the king and ruled over Israel for a number of years. Wow! That means that the fact that someone is in position of power or authority today does not mean he or she is really there! In the eyes of God, Saul was no more the king over Israel, but he still reigned in the kingdom until he was eventually eliminated.

Vs. 2-3: When God gives someone a charge, He would give the strategy by which he can accomplish the task, if he takes the pain to ask Him. But oftentimes, we tend to run with the assignment without taking time to ask God for the strategy. If not for the fear of losing his life, Samuel would not have had cause to ask God how he was going to anoint David as king when Saul was still alive and on the throne. But when he expressed his fear, God, Who was never short of ideas, told him how he should go about it. And it worked!

Vs. 14: Vacuum is one thing that Nature does not allow at any point in time. That is why the place of the Spirit in every man will either be occupied by the Spirit of God or another spirit. In the case of Saul, immediately the Spirit of God departed from him, a distressing spirit took over and began to influence his behaviours henceforth.

GOD’S PERCEPTION Vs. MAN’S PERCEPTION

Vs. 7: The way and “what” God sees are quite different from the way and “what” men see. Men usually look at the exteriors, God considers the interiors; men regard the action, God looks at the motive; men are impressed with the presentation, God is impressed with the preparation; men focus on the container, God’s focus is on the content; men applaud the stunts, God appraises the heart and the list goes on.