Worship, a Weapon and Sceptre
The book of Samuel chronicles the demise of one King and the appointing of another. It reveals Gods succession plans for the new appointee. There is something special about the way in which God selects one for His service. Almost always He uses the most unusual unorthodox, unscripted means to handpick the ones to whom His Hand and His Heart converge. God commanded Samuel the prophet to Jesse's house to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be King of Israel. The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."(1 Samuel 16:1) What a directive from God to Samuel! God had to jerk Samuel out of his pointless lamenting over Saul and steer him in the direction of the next King. Sometimes the dead invalidated things we lament over distract us from the contingency plan that God directs us toward. "Fill your horn with oil and be on your way!" Take action, heed instruction, and do as He commands. God always has a plan, He always makes a way!

Notice how God says "I have chosen one of his sons to be king" How is it that God did not reveal to Samuel which of Jesse's sons was to be King? When God commands He relies on our faith to take the stride, He instructs in part and never gives away more than is necessary at any given time. These are the distinctive attributes of faith. How else can faith manifest if everything is known, if everything is given in advance? How incredible that this King would emerge from Bethlehem, how incredible that this foreshadowed another King who would hail from the lineage of David, a shoot and root of Jesse?
Samuel arrived at Jesse's house. When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either" Seven sons passed by this way until Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons! David the youngest was out tending sheep. When David came in, God singled him out as the one. Samuel anointed him with oil and from that day onward the anointing rested heavily on David. David was a teenager at the time and only became King some twenty years later.

This was the beginning of a relationship of intimacy and communion God with David, from the meadows and paddocks of sheep tending, to the battlefields and battlefronts of raging conflicts, giant slaying moments, some high some low, forged and fashioned through the God appointed time-frame God anointed timeline. What a wonderful example and testimony for us to aspire to, to look to in our moments of discouragement, in our restless pacing between the promise and the fulfilment of the promise. It's in the waiting room, the corridors between entering in and possessing that our faith undergoes the tried and tested processes of Gods smelting room. How else could David have penned Psalm 23 had he not experienced the tranquility of Gods peace, Gods comfort and assurance in the valley of the shadow of death? How else could David have fought off a bear and a lion, taken down an arrogant blasphemous giant, had he not known Gods confidence, Gods might, Gods strength and Gods faithfulness?

Above all of David's accolades and talents, David's heart, the one distinction that set him apart from his brothers, was that He was a worshiper, a song writer, a psalmist - His devotion and his undying love for God and His people lay embossed and engraved in the chambers of his heart, the pulse of his purpose. Scripture says God inhabits the praises of His people, we are assured of God's Presence when we invoke His Praise, when we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to His service.

David's life exemplifies that a heart for God, a heart for worship, the celebration and repentance of victories and failures past and present, all combine to showcase Gods providence in exchanging a shepherd's staff for a Kings Sceptre.