New Beginnings

When we look at the Tabernacle of David in ancient times, we see an amazing prophetic picture of what the Lord is raising again in the earth today to prepare the way for His return. Thousands of musicians, worshippers, and Levites were involved in this move that sustained an open heaven on Mt. Zion where they hosted the Ark of the Covenant for 33 years.

But this glorious move didn’t start there. It began much earlier, and much smaller. It began in days when the Ark of the Covenant (symbolizing the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with us by the power of the Holy Spirit) was forgotten. It started with a young man, a boy that was insignificant to his family and completely unknown in Israel.

God led His prophet Samuel to a town where he was to anoint the next king of Israel.

I Samuel 16:4-10 (NKJV)
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; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”

David was the 8th son of Jesse. 8 is the number of new beginnings, and 2008 is a season of new beginnings. But we need to understand an important reality: everything in the Kingdom starts small. Everything. New beginnings, and new moves of God can start so small that we can overlook them, unless we have eyes to see.

I Samuel 16:11 (MSG) Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?” “Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”

David’s referred to as a “runt”, the smallest of the litter, seen as the least significant member of his family. His Father didn’t call him to the sacrifice when Samuel clearly said, “invite your sons”. He was the kid brother, the one born in Jesse’s old age.

“Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him!”
The first king of Israel, Saul, was “head and shoulders” above everyone else. He could have been a model, and he was the ideal king because he looked like a king. This was Samuel’s orientation, and it was everyone else’s too. Where is the next kingly looking guy? But God doesn’t work this way. He sees the outward appearance, but it’s not His focus.

That’s why David was so easily overlooked. When God was doing a new thing, everyone was looking for a repeat of an old thing. They were looking for someone that looked just like Saul. In this season of new beginnings, be careful not to dismiss what God is doing because it’s small. The Father has a completely different way of looking at things, and His view is the only one that ultimately matters.

People love underdog stories. But this isn’t a typical underdog story. God didn’t pick David because he was the youngest, or the weakest, or the least significant, and then make him king to prove a point.  He made him king because of what he saw in David’s heart. In our image-driven world this message is more relevant than ever.

God Looks on the Heart
II Chron. 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

God obviously prioritizes the inward above the outward. While people are busy trying to impress each other, He is searching for those who will search for Him. As God’s eyes were searching over Israel looking for those who HEARTS were toward Him, and committed to Him, His eyes landed in Bethlehem, on one of the great grandsons of Ruth and Boaz.

If there had been a spiritual “thermal” map of the world, Bethlehem was glowing red. But this spiritual fire wasn’t necessarily at the center of town, or at the gate of the elders. It was in the outskirts, in the wide-open wilderness places around Bethlehem, where a young man, probably 12 or 13 years old, was camped out for days at a time taking care of sheep.

David seemed easy to lose track of. He was out of sight, out of mind, even to his family at times. Such was the life of a shepherd: lonely, forgotten. Yet, the eyes of the Lord were fixed on David. He was not forgotten or alone. God Himself drew near to David in the hills of Judea.

In those times, Samuel’s school of the prophets had taken up the arts, worshipping God on instruments, praying and prophesying with song. No doubt, Israel knew of this guild  of prophetic intercessors, musicians, and worshippers. Perhaps they influenced David. He decided to take up the harp, and he found that when he worshipped with music, he would enter into indescribable fellowship with his Maker. Songs began to come, as he poured out his love in response to God’s Presence. These times were more than creative; they were inspired.

Though David was off of everyone’s radar, he was on God’s mind and had the attention of heaven. I believe when he sought after the Lord, He started without having any idea of what his destiny was. He just wanted to know who God was. But the fruit of the revelation of God is a revelation of who you are in God and what your destiny is in Him.

New Dreams, New Instincts 
As David communed with the Lord, he began to dream. God’s heart for the Hebrew people became woven into the fabric of David’s heart. David began to dream of a nation living in communion with God, and a nation living in the power of God’s presence. He became detached from the normal limits and expectations that would be put on a young person.  When a lion came against the flock, his natural instinct wasn’t to run. He saved the lamb out of the lion’s mouth, and when the lion shifted its attack to David, he caught it by the mane and killed it.

When you live in the Presence of God, your definition of “normal” gets changed. Your perspective changes. Something of God’s capability and supernatural power are imparted to you, and you became capable of things that are unexpected.

Oblivious to Opinions of Men
It was almost as if David was so secure in the love of God that he was oblivious to the fact that he was looked upon as insignificant, or just plain forgotten by everyone else.

This is the freedom God has also called us to live in! When we try to find security and significance through what we do, we become performance bound and removed from our destiny. When we live out of security in the love of God, we can move into our destiny in Him.

The world says, “when you famous”,  or “when you get a big break”, you’ll be significant.” Your heavenly Father says, “you’re already significant to me. I know who you are, even if nobody else does.”

Saul was so concerned with outer appearance and with pleasing man that he disobeyed God’s clear commands. While Saul was all wrapped up in trying to impress men, David had long given up on trying to impress people. He decided that he would seek God no matter what. He was invisible to the world around him, but David was found as a worshipper seeking His face.

God Will Visit a Region Because of One Person
David was the one person that God sent Samuel to town for, and he was the last person the town thought to invite to the sacrifice.

Sometimes we are tempted to ask ourselves, “What does it matter if I pursue this dream of God? What difference does it make for me to burn in worship at 2AM in the morning by myself? The answer is that God sees, He knows, and His eyes are looking for you and longing for you.

Everyone was at the sacrifice, but no one was worshipping. David, though not initially invited to the sacrifice, was the only one actually worshipping in Bethlehem! God will always “find” worshippers in the earth.

Finally, they brought David to the sacrifice. Everyone was dressed to impress. David looked like he’d been camping in the wilderness, because that’s where he was.  But as he walked in, the Lord said to Samuel, “Arise, anoint Him, for this is he”.

The hidden life of worship that David lived attracted the anointing of God, and eventually transformed a nation and influenced an entire generation. But this moment when Samuel anointed him wasn’t David’s big break. This day was the fruit of something that was already happening. It didn’t begin with man’s recognition. This new beginning started very small.

Be encouraged in this season of new beginnings. The Tabernacle is being raised again in all the earth (Amos 9:11). It may be obscure to men, but this new move is born of God and has all of heaven’s attention!