Reading: I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 1 Samuel 16:1

God selects the most unlikely and unpromising instruments to execute His purpose. We can see this clearly throughout the history of David. David’s father was Jesse. When Saul’s jealousy toward David increased, he called David, “the son of Jesse” as a derogatory insult. Although he was the son of Obed and of the tribe of Judah, Jesse was a man of humble means.

When it came to choosing a king from among Jesse’s sons even Samuel was mistaken. After showcasing seven of his sons before the prophet, Samuel asked Jesse, “Are here all thy children?” Jesse responded, “There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11). Apparently Jesse’s youngest was deemed too insignificant by his father to be noticed on this occasion. And yet when David was brought before Samuel, the Lord said to Samuel, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he” (1 Samuel 16:12).

Coming through the centuries to King David’s greater Son we learn the King of kings, according to the flesh, was from Bethlehem of which the prophet Micah said, “Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).  

The apostle Paul told the Corinthians that God chooses the “foolish” and the “weak,” the “base” and the “despised.” God is jealous of His own honour. He selects the most unlikely and unpromising instruments and enables us to execute His purpose so “that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:29). God used David and Peter and many others after human failure; He can use me.

The first heralds of the Cross were the unlettered fishermen of Galilee. —Arthur W. Pink