Saul fit the appearance of what a king should look like. The people of Israel happily accepted this good looking, tall man from the tribe of Benjamin. But Saul never had a heart for God. Though Saul was still on the throne, he was rejected by God, because of his pride and disobedience. When Samuel goes to the house of Jesse as directed by God, we read in 1 Samuel 16:6-7, "So it was when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him!" 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; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." We see Samuel then anoints David before his family in 16:13. Though David was anointed and was quickly taken in by Saul to play music and be his armorbearer, we get a glimpse of his heart in 1 Samuel 17:17, 20, as David is asked to be an errand boy by his father, and bring supplies to his older brothers on the front lines., "So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him...". He didn't question his father or remind him that he was the future king or had an important position in the government, but humbly accepted the direction of his father. We also often don't fully know who we are judging.

When David presented himself to Saul as the one who would fight Goliath and it seemed laughable, they had no idea that behind the scenes David was being trained by God as he recants the stories of his killing both a lion and a bear protecting his sheep, which is why he confidently stated in 17:37, "Moreover David said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Everyone mistakenly judged David on his appearance, including the giant, Goliath, where we read in 17:42-43, "And when the Philistine looked about and saw David he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" The last words Goliath heard before losing his head, was David's, when he said in 17:47, "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword or spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:11, "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." We have the entirety of Scripture in our hands, and therefore already know the end of the story. This should give us courage and confidence as we continue on our daily walk. Though we might not understand the training ground that God gives us, like David might not have initially realized why he had to fight both a lion and a bear, we would do well to remember Isaiah 55:8-9, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." We, who are called according to Christ, appear like an impotent rag-tag group of misfits compared to the power players of this world. But God knows something that they don't. We might appear like little David before the giants of this world: the political leaders, Planned Parenthood, the financial industry,etc. But God has each of us in our own training ground, and like David, we need only claim the victory that God has already achieved. It is time that we stop believing the lies the world spews out and start trusting the truth that God has revealed in each of our hearts. May we never forget Romans 8:37, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." We have already won, we just don't realize this enough. Father, we are so thankful that you see the heart. Praise and glory be to our Lord God and King, Jesus Christ.