I have been fascinated with heroes since my youth. I love the bible heroes. I love reading about the lives of men and women mentioned in throughout scriptures because for me, their lives gives insight to a Great, Almighty and Merciful God.

I remember as a child, I would save all my allowances and when I got enough I would literally run to the variety shop and ask for the comics of heroes displayed on a string that ran from one end of the shop to the other. Oh, I had decided which ones I had wanted for a long time. Standing and watching them while my mom made her grocery requests, I calculated in my mind how long it would take me to save for them and which one was priority. I was 6 years old at the time. Superman, Batman, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four- you name it, I read it. Give me comics as a present and I would be in my little heaven.

So, when Christ showed me the Way in my teenage years, and I began to search the scriptures, I was filled with wonder at the heroes of the Bible. Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samson, Ruth, Samuel, David, Solomon, Daniel, Peter, Paul- men and women who, inspite of their areas of weaknesses, their “Kryptonite”, they eventually emerged victorious over the weakness to glorify God and to win the battle over self and evil.

Saul and David

This is a classic that I have always loved. There are so many lessons to be learned. Many times we read this and recognize in Saul – a man first chosen by God and then rejected because he sought to trust in himself rather than the God who called him. And then we see David, shepherd, psalmist, worshiper, giant slayer, warrior, king- a man after God’s heart.

The lives of both men have been topics of numerous sermons, books and other literature for years. Today, I wanted to draw our attention to perhaps a different perspective. And I want to start in the New Testament with the words of Paul, 1 Cor 1:27-19 (NKJV)- But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,  that no flesh should glory in His presence.“

Paul had a way with words. I want to focus on the word “chosen” which means according to Helps Word Studies -“speaking to a conclusion” – properly, to select (choose) out of, by a highly deliberate choice (i.e. real heart-preference) with a definite outcome (as with the destination of divine selection for salvation).”

So with this in mind, when Saul was chosen, he had these qualities according to 1 Sam 9:1-2 (NKJV) – “There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”

Saul was chosen and the qualities listed are all physical- nothing about his heart. Then, according to 1 Sam 13:13-14 after Saul’s disobedience- “And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

This was the precept for  choosing of David. He was called “a man after God’s own heart”. What a declaration! David was chosen based on his relationship with God, his heart condition- not on his outward appearance or appeal. 1 Sam 16:7 (NKJV)-  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.”

What’s the point?

Many times people use the story of Saul and David to show how God finds someone else to replace a person who appear to be disobedient and rebellious to His commands even though he was originally “chosen”. While that may be generally be true- I have another thought on this story.

I think it also underlines the battle between the flesh and spirit, the carnal man and the spiritual man.

In the context of the ekklesia today, God desires that we should all be saved. Even though a person may fall at times, God wants us to be overcomers. Let us not reject people based on the premise that God rejected Saul. Let us reject the works of the flesh and embrace people, learn to see that God loves them in-spite of their faults. Isn’t that the whole point of this?  Let us not put up imaginary barriers between the haves and the have-nots, the so-called “chosen” and the “rejected”. God loves us in spite of ourselves. He wants us to overcome and to succeed.

So let us not use this story to elevate one person over another, to cast down someone because they don’t fit in our world and our box and our bubble- let us instead use this to understand the war between the carnal man and the spiritual man, the war inside us and let us strive toward having and knowing the heart of God – that we may be able to shine forth our light that a darkened world may know Christ.

Isn’t it God’s plan for mankind to be saved? Salvation, justification, being a child of God is available for all. Being chosen really is about each one of us reaching our destiny. God has chosen us while we were yet sinners. So now we know the truth, let us not use it as a club to batter others because we are “better” than them. Let us not use the most vicious weapon of the enemy- “slander”- to kill of those who we esteem to be rebellious, stubborn or just not walking in what we want them to walk in, or what we want them to be.

Everyone has their calling. Perhaps instead of slandering a person, we should pray for the person, instead of casting out, we seek to include, instead of being legalistic, we allow Holy Spirit to work in our midst. If we catch the vision of God- that He seeks out that which is lost, then we can surely make a difference in the world.

There is coming a new wave of God- a wave of release and of deliverance. We have been bound by lies of the enemy too long. We have allowed works of darkness to fill our minds and hearts with fear and anger, with delusions of grandeur and personal kingdom building under the disguise of building God’s Kingdom. We are simply called to give the message of love, hope, faith and salvation to as many as we can- to build each other up and to apply God’s healing to those around us.

Saul eventually murdered himself- he committed suicide. Unless we step out of the carnality of the ekklesia, we will keep murdering those around us, and with it the mission of God implanted in the spiritual DNA of every believer. BEFORE DELIVERANCE COMES WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THE SPIRIT OF MURDER WITHIN AND WITHOUT US.

Let us, in life’s journey- seek to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Amen