Draft days are big days in any sports and especially in the sport of basketball. That's a day where aspiring um professional basketball players who till then play in different colleges decide to go pro and they're waiting to see which teams will pick them. Hashim Tabit is one of those players. You probably have not heard of him much. Um, but he was the number two draft pick in the year 2009 for NBA. At 7'3 in tall and weighing 260 lbs, he was considered the tallest and the strongest player who was available to be drafted that draft season. Uh he played for the Yukon Huskies and um he was known for his phenomenal number of blocks every season and uh he got drafted at number two by the Memphis Grizzlies, but uh many consider that particular second draft pick as one of the biggest busts in the NBA because he really didn't come shining through. Well, he was picked ahead of another player who the scouts would call as being too small at being only 6'6 in unlike 73, too skinny, weighing far less than what Hashim Tabit weighed. And they thought and considered his ankles were very weak to play the game of basketball. But you probably guessed who that is by now. at draft pick number seven. He was none other than our very own Stephen Ward Curry who redefined the game of basketball. The player they overlooked became the one who changed the league. Now today we are looking at a passage. It's another draft today but it's not about an ordinary game of sport. It's a draft day to pick the king of Israel. Now, I've titled this sermon is the staff, the skeptor, and the cross. Three icons that reveal three significant spiritual truths related to the form, the creation of uh an unlikely king, an unexpected redemption and unimaginable grace. We are going to see how just like with the NBA draft story where Israel was expected, they expected greatness to look a certain way, tall like a Saul, strong like Eliab. But we see how God passes over all of Jesse's impressive sons till he picks someone who is very unlikely in the eyes of the world. And that's our story, isn't it? God chooses the unlikely. He redeems the rejected. And he uses the small to do something supernatural. And the one God chose changed the nation of Israel. not with size or strength but with a heart surrendered to God. So this redemptive story as we are going through our walk through the Bible, we are picking up from where we left off in the book of Ruth. We are going to the same location and the name that was left at the very last verse of the book. The location is the city of Bethlehem. The name is Jesse was the grandson of Ruth. And we are going to see we are going to trace the path of an unlikely king through the stories of how God works and his plans and purposes unfolds in the lives of different people. We're going to look at how God's purpose unfolds in the life of the prophet Samuel. We're going to look at how God's purpose unfolds through the sons of Jesse. And as we read this book, the very first verse begins with God's presence having left the first king of Israel, King Saul, who was crowned as king by the prophet Samuel himself, but has now the walked away from God. And Samuel is mourning for it. You know, if you're reading through the whole book of Samuel, I would encourage you to do that if you have time this afternoon to just catch the narrative and the flow. We see just a few chapters before this, Samuel thought his life purpose was done and he gives a retirement speech. Samuel believed his life purpose was to find this first king for the nation of Israel. And when Saul was found, he thought he was done because Saul had everything you could dream of for a king to have. He got the tallest and the strongest and the most populous person as a leader for the nation of Israel. And this King Saul did live up to his expectations. You know, he fought and won some battles initially. And so looking at that trajectory now Samuel thinks his life purpose was accomplished and he could retire. But God had other plans. You know the first king Israel chose much to the dismay of God walked away from him. He did not do what God asked him to do. So Samuel even had to step in to finish some unfinished business when he asked him to conquer a particular country and a king. He left that king alive that Samuel had to go take care of it. King Ag and now God is coming and speaking to Samuel again. He says when his life work was done, God is saying I'm just getting started. and how discouraging it was. He was grieving because this biggest accomplishment in his life got busted. What he thought was his pinnacle achievement came crashing down. Though it was not his fault. You know when you and I we pour our hearts into building something or doing something whether it's about our work or investing in our children or our careers or future. And when it goes crashing down with not no fault of ours, we need to remember that God is still not done with us. Our life's purpose is not just defined by our failures. And our job is not in to focus on the object of our mission as much as on the author of our mission. Our job is not to focus on the success of our mission but our obedience to the one who gave us our mission. You know if we make our life's mission or purpose or ambition however you may want to call it about accomplishing something big then when that something falls it can totally devastate us isn't it? You know, several years ago, there was this book by Pastor Rick Warren called Purpose-Driven Life, which made huge waves all across the world because everyone longs to find purpose in life. But the problem becomes this that when our purpose is fixated to certain accomplishments or things, it is not something that can leave us satisfied. But if we make pleasing God our life purpose and being obedient to do what he wants us to do and that he will accomplish his purposes in us and through us that will be bigger than our small tiny purposes that can always bring us joy. But often times like the prophet Samuel we tend to go through life with a shortsighted vision. We like to see only till the next big thing you know what's my what's the next big position in my work uh or or what's the next step in my life getting into a great school and college academically or finding Mr. or Miss Perfect or or getting my kids ready for college when they are 5 years old. And what happens when some of these things don't pan out or come crashing down? None of these are bad or evil things. But if we make them the only thing in our life purpose, then it can help us to become sad and grieve like what Samuel does. But if we make obedience to God and loving God as the Westminster um confession of faith says, the chief end of man is to know God and glorify him and enjoy him forever. Then we will be able to see that in any situation, God's purpose can get accomplished and he can do extraordinary things with great eternal impact. So that's what's happening right here. God tells Samuel, "Hey, I'm giving you a new mission, Samuel, a new purpose just when you thought you were done." You know unlike the popular movie he does not ask Samuel should you choose to accept it or not says here your here's your new mission go and do it he expects Samuel to be obedient to this mission no matter what even if it risks his own life and to prepare for his mission God gives Samuel a stoplight chart right he says verse one stop grieving looking back at the failed mission. And step two, start preparing. Fill your horn with oil. And step three, go. That's it. Because God says, "This new purpose or new mission I'm giving you, Samuel, I'm not giving this based on what I think is going to make you happy or your life great again. I'm doing this for myself because I am accomplishing something big in redemptive history which you will have no idea even if I tried to explain it to you. And it says the reason in verse two, I have provided for myself a king among his sons. And we get a hint of where the author is going with this. We get a hint now that this king once you look at Saul and you think I don't think that can be a better player a better leader than someone like Saul who seems to have it all but when God says no I have rejected him and his spirit moves leaves him says I have a new king then we are left to wonder what more does one need to be a great leader or a king. We know immediately that this new king is not going to be someone from populist choice. But this new king God says that he is providing for himself is going to be someone who is after his own heart. This new king that God is providing unlike Saul is going to be a king who will be known to have served God in his own generation and remembered like that for hundreds of years. But this is a big mission, a mission that could cost Samuel his life. And he and he says that says, "How can I go in verse two? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." The first mission was easy for Samuel. Very easy. Everybody loved it. Shared him. No opposition. But this one could get him killed. And how does Samuel deal with that? He takes that to God in prayer and God answers and tells him what to do. One step at a time. Now, that is usually how God leads. We often want to know the whole plan. 10 steps ahead, 10 years ahead. God often leads us one step at a time and one day at a time. And he tells Samuel to do something very basic. He says, "Sacrifice a hypher." A hypher was always known as a peace offering in in in the book of uh Leviticus. And he says, "I want you to invite this man named Jesse to come for this sacrifice and then I will show you what to do." And all Samuel does obey. You know, it's okay to have fears or doubts when pursuing what God is calling us to do. It may be something countercultural. It may involve mockery. could be about challenging someone at work or starting a new project or pursuing a different career path that sounds scary or making a decision about your child's academic or other activities that may seem different. But take it to God in prayer to receive his counsel and encouragement and obey trusting that God's plans are always better than our plans. In verse four to five we read he does exactly what God calls him to do. It says Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. He invites Jesse the grandson of Ruth and his sons. And here is the draft for the future king that is happening where his sons are being auditioned for kings. And what happens next is nothing but mind-boggling and puzzling. Now Jesse has eight sons and here his seven sons are showing up. Of the seven sons, three sons are mentioned by name and we know a little about them from some references in other parts of the Bible. And when Samuel sees the first son, Elab, a light bulb goes on. He remembers Saul because Elabb seems like having all the similar characteristics that Saul had. We read um about this in uh 1st Samuel 17 verse 13 says the three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn and next to him Aminadab and the third Shemma. You see, when he looks at these three sons, especially the first one, their resume looks perfect. Hey, they have some experience, they're right now um fighting for Saul. They know Saul, you know, usually recruiting from within always works. So, this should be totally it. And it says that he was tall. He says verse six, when he when when they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel," do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him." Again, Samuel tends to measure who is going to be the next king based purely on external characteristics. He was tall like Samuel. But God not only rejects him, he tells Samuel how he raises leaders. How he raises people who he can use to accomplish his purposes. He says unlike the world, unlike the experts, I don't look at external characteristics when I'm raising someone to accomplish something significant and vital. When I pick someone, I always go for the heart. And that's the famous verse some of us have perhaps memorized or use it very often. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but Lord looks on the heart. What did God see in the heart of Elab and his brothers that disqualified them? We may ask that question. Perhaps we don't find the answer to that question in this chapter. But we can see uh that the answer to this question comes in the next chapter as we just read to you um 1st Samuel 17:E3 which says the three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. You know what battle this is talking about? This is the one of most famous battles um very popular, very known not just within the church but in the world. It's the battle with the Philistines and there is this one tall giant Goliath taunting the entire nation and for 40 days and they're all standing helpless distraught not knowing what to do including the tall and mighty King Saul. And who is with him? these very three brothers. So what is in the heart of these three brothers? Their heart had more fear than courage. They had lack of faith in their God. It doesn't even look like they knew who God was. And even despite having witnessed David's anointing in this chapter before that they could not believe or perhaps they were jealous like the brothers of Joseph because we read in 1st Samuel 17:28 what they the conversation between the oldest brother and David who goes there we read in verse 28 now Elab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men now and Elab's anger was kindled against David and he said, "Why have you come down and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?" You know, his heart was not only not with knowing and believing who their God is. He's still concerned about the sheep, about the bread and butter and the livelihood and what will make my life safe and my future safe. Here is a giant who's threatening extinction. And he's still worried and thinking and believing that his sheep, his job, you know, the the work he does Monday to Friday is what's going to take care of him despite having witnessed his youngest brother getting anointed. And he accuses him. He says, "I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle." And David said, "What have I done now? Was it not but a word?" Because he was just asking what's going on. You see, God cannot use someone who does not know who he is. God cannot know someone who does not trust and believe who he is. So we read in verse 11 after it says God was not with him and his other brothers. Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he's keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here." And he sent him and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Rama. So who is David? You see now the lives intersecting of Samuel and Jesse and his brothers and David as he enters the scene. Here's what we are given as an introductory entrance to the character of David. Now the way David the root word they think perhaps comes from a word that means beloved. We don't get a very impressive pictures scene of him as this mighty warrior riding a horse with great armor and sword. He was keeping sheep. For David, that was his training ground. Like how the desert was Moses's training ground. And what did David demonstrate? What was in David's heart when he was keeping his sheep that God found attractive to pick him as his king? We read that in the next chapter again when David goes and challenges Goliath and tells Saul that he can take him down. And Saul asks him, "How can you? You don't have anything." And David says in 1st Samuel 17:34, "But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep or his father. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. That sounds impressive. It shows a shepherd who was willing to lay down his life for his sheep. You catch the drift, a characteristic of a king that is going to come later on who will enable this in a bigger way. But it doesn't stop there. The next line explains what this unlikely king had that Saul and his elder brothers and the previous people did not have. He says in verse 36 in the next chapter, "Your servant has struck down both lions and bears. And this uncircumcised Philistine," he doesn't even give him the dignity by calling his name, "shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine." Wow. And Saul said to David, "Go and the Lord be with you." When an entire army and the mighty king, what they could not see and believe, David did. He believed in a living God. He didn't say because I have taken down lions and bears, I have the ability to take take down this guy who is just like another animal to me. He says the Lord was the one who delivered me with the lion or the bear and he will deliver me again here. He demonstrated that he had believed in the living God. He acknowledged that it was not a strength or ability by the Lord delivered him. He demonstrates unwavering faith in the light of a giant uh obstacle before him. And above all, he saw the enemy through God's eyes. Not as a tall, undefeable giant, but just like another animal that God is going to give him victory over. When God is on our side, even the biggest giant seems like a tiny insect. David had a Christ-c centered biblical old world view, but in the eyes of the world, he was an unlikely king, but the one God chose for himself because this is what he saw in his heart. You know, when we face trials or challenges, we can either look at how big the challenges are, or we can see how big our God is. David knew to see and experientially believe every time he faced a challenge how big his God was. And because he did that, he went from wielding a shepherd's staff to wearing a king's skeptor. And what is sad in this whole story is that it's okay if Saul didn't see him as a king. It's okay if the other armies didn't see him as a king. It's okay if the tall giant Goliath mocked him and didn't see as a king. You know what is sad in this story? Who couldn't see him as a king was his very own father. He missed seeing him that when Samuel asked him, David didn't even make the cut in the draft. He didn't even think of David. You know why? Because his father also like everybody else bought into what I would call as the soul syndrome. The soul syndrome is how the world operates where it values performance over character, power over faith. And that is how the world always tries to measure you and me. And when we give into that, it can be very disappointing. You know, God is not looking for the strongest or the smartest to accomplish his task, but one who loves and believes in him. And guess what? Anybody can do that. So my dear friends, for those of you who are parents, I have an application for you. Don't be Jesse to your children, who was tempted to judge by appearances. Model for your children what it means to value character over charisma, both in yourself and in others. You know, whether it's in your family devotions or casual conversations, ask yourself, do I affirm when I see godly traits like humility, kindness, and faith over their accomplishments or external performances? Do I take greater delight when my child comes and says I got an A or I won this tournament more than when I see uh flashes of godliness and passion for God that they exuberate. Remind them always through your life and actions that God sees the heart and go for the heart. You know that's why one of the best books on parenting has this beautiful title. It's called Shephering a Child's Heart. If you've not read that, I would encourage all parents to do it. You can reread them anytime. It's fantastic. And and in your parenting style, train your children like shepherds, not CEOs. You know, David learned to fight a spiritual battles, not when he met Goliath on the battlefield while watching sheep. What was he doing? He wasn't just sitting simply and watching sheep. He pent several of his s psalms during those time. He was working on his intimacy with God. You know, our homes are to be training grounds for courage, compassion, faith, and conviction. It's not always about accomplishments and schools and performance as though there's nothing wrong in those things. And let me remind you to refuse the soul syndrome. You know for those of us who are caught by it, we are bombarded by the soul syndrome all the time. The culture around us tells us to build a life based on appearance so that we can garner more likes on social media, performance so that we can feel accomplished and win respect and prestige so we can choose specific professions that we think will give us that. But remember, God chooses the unlikely. And for for kids and those who are in college, may I challenge you to be countercultural in your ambition. Don't just pursue success, pursue surrender. Ask God to make your heart reflect his even when no one sees. That is the path to being called by God to be an unlikely hero or a king or a leader in an unlikely place where God can work in you and through you to do some extraordinary things. You know what happens next? You know we don't have time but that's a chapter very next chapter is the most famous chapter of this showdown between the entire army of Israel and the Philistines and this one giant Goliath taunting them for 40 days. A whole army is now against Israel. And you know we need to ask ourselves the question which we should have asked very much at the beginning. Why did Israel want a king? We don't want kings these days, but we do want someone or something that plays the role of a king in our lives. And if you read in the earlier chapters, you can see the very first time the nation of Israel say they want a king is when they keep getting attacked by all these nations around them and they feel without a king they will not be protected. And now this whole army is against them. And the king that they picked is with them. But they are not. This king is not able to save them. The first time they said they wanted a king, it burdened God's heart. It grieved God's heart. And he shared that with the prophet Samuel and said, "Okay, I will let them have their king, but I want them to show that the king that they are picking is not going to be able to save them when it comes to matter the most." And here was the time for that to happen. When this king was supposed to redeem the nation of Israel because he was tall and strong and mighty and popular, one guy, one giant shut him down and the whole nation had no clue where to go and whom to look and that is what usually happens. We sometimes think what is going to protect us in unstable economic situations is our work or doing an extra 20 hours in the week will guarantee that or working extra hard to get better grades than other people will get me to this better school and get me this better occupation and that will protect my life. You know that's my feeding the sheep. Well, if we tend to make kings out of things that are not meant to be kings that take the space and the place of God that only he can do, then they are bound to fail us at some time. And that is the reason why God sends a Goliath to face this nation. You know, sadly the whole chapter the attention gets drawn to the graphic nature of uh the fight and and and and all of those details. But the real purpose God sends a Goliath to the nation of Israel is he uses Goliath as a diagnostic tool to reveal their heart to them. See, you put their faith here. This king can't help you, can he? And he's going to remind them who was it who was always protecting them. Who was it that who always redeemed them? Whether it was in the days of slavery in Egypt till today. And he's going to show them who is going to protect them and redeem them is not through what they picked but through a person who is picked who is just nothing but a shepherd boy. And this shepherd boy is going to redeem them unexpectedly. Not by waging war with extraordinary warfare weapons and military tactics. He's going to win this and redeem the entire nation with just one stone and a sling. That's absolutely unexpected in any war battle. No one would expect redemption to come from a tiny shepherd boy who sneaks in and challenges a Goliath and drops down all the armor that the whole world thinks is needed to fight him. Picks up a stone and a sling and knocks him down like that. No one expected redemption to come like that. Thousands of soldiers under Saul never expected that the rede redemption will come like it. But it did. Goladats are God's diagnostic tools. They expose your heart, not just your fear. God used golad to surface Israel's deeper problem. A heart that forgot God's power. Our golads often reveal what we are truly trusting in. It's going to be different for different people. So the question we need to ask ourselves when we face fear or pressure is do I trust in my strength, my resume, my reputation, my skills, my looks, my balance, my financial security, or do I run to God? Use your giants to realign your heart with God's promises. But what happens in the next chapter we know is that nothing short of unimaginable grace. You know what a god could have just left the Philistines and Goliath to take this nation down. This is a people who repeatedly rebel against God wanting a king and even then both the king and them walk away from him. He would have been absolutely just to have let them be destroyed by their enemies. But God shows unimaginable grace through unexpected redemption from an unlikely king. And that is the unimaginable grace of God. When they thought their life is over, they're going to be done and destroyed, God graciously redeems them. As they kept hearing the taunts of Goliath and thought that life will never be redeemed, God chose to redeem them and he redeems us even now. And again to go back to our question, why did they need a king? is because they forgot that God is their real king. He has been their king fighting their battles and protecting them from enemies from the time they became a nation till now from Pharaoh to Jericho from parting of the Red Sea to parting of Jordan. They also thought that their protection is going to be dependent on human strength and abilities of the king and hence they trusted in his height and strength and it only revealed that they did not know God. They did not trust him. They did not know their enemies and thought human power and strength alone is enough to defeat them. They did not even know themselves and their hearts that it is in the wrong place and the real enemy is not outside but inside their unbelief and other things which no external powers can help change. And so in choosing this unlikely king, God wants to reveal several things as answers to this question of why they needed a king. This king that God choose as I said earlier is a king who will first and foremost is not about his height or his strength. He will be after God's own heart. And he will depend on God to win battle something that Saul did not or the nation did not. This king will defeat great and mighty kings not with mere military might. He would just walk in with five stones and a sling and would just need one. But the battle this king will fight is not external but internal. David goes on to win many more battles where he did use swords and shields and other weapons to accomplish great and big things. But there was one battle that David lost lost very big and which had very dire consequences. It was not a military battle with great enemies. He was able to withstand the constant attack of King Saul who was always out to get his life. In several times he was able to escape that. But there was one that he couldn't escape and that battle was not the external one but that was a battle which he lost by himself which was about his heart and he could never win that battle and he had to look for somebody else who was going to come down his line was going to be called the son of David was going to help him conquer that battle. And this battle was the one from his heart that involved all the worst of human virtues that one could think of. the battle of sin and corruption that would make him to take the life of a devout soldier who was willing to lay down his life for him because he desired the pleasure of taking the soldier's wife as his own. He could not win his own heart's battle for pursuit of pleasure. It's not just a battle that David faces. It's a battle all of us face every day in our lives. And for that battle to be won, the son of David had to come. Jesus Christ. He won that battle against Satan, who like Saul always taunts us and conspires to wreck us. He won the battle against sin. Not by might, not even by stones or slings, but by literally laying down his life for us on the cross as our true good shepherd. He defeated sin and Satan in death and now reigns as the king who can give us that power through his spirit by abiding in us to win this battle every single day. Not just the battles inside but the ones outside too. So come to this Jesus my dear friends. Experience this unimaginable grace and take this redeeming grace to the world around us. Whatever enemy you're fighting in your life right now, whether it's your own heart or from outside, come to Jesus. And when you do first, he will help you overcome your biggest enemy. You know who the biggest enemy of you and me are? The biggest enemy of us is our own heart. The Bible says our heart is be unbelievably deceitful and wicked beyond all imagination. You know what our hearts are filled with? Our hearts are always filled only with our self, self-pity, self-pleasure, self-centeredness which moves us to hurt even those whom we love. Whe whether it's in marriage or friendship where we only want love and do not want to give love. If you have reckoned that Goliath of the principle of sin in your life and are humbled by that, you need a better king than David and you have one in Jesus. This is the king you will definitely need who will save you from that. If you feel threatened by any other golads in your life, whether it's parenting problems or finding a life partner or career issues and you're unable to overcome them and are filled with fear, come to Jesus who will reveal to you what are those Goliaths and ask him to realign your heart this morning. If you feel that you have messed up or helpless and your situation looks hopeless, remember there's always unimaginable grace available at the foot of the cross. And and my dear friends, don't give in to the soul syndrome. Let God shape us in our hidden places. Israel was saved by grace through David. We have been saved by greater grace through Christ. And ask yourselves, who around you feels beyond redemption, who is overwhelmed by their own goats? Let the grace that reached you now move through you with compassion and truth and with presence. Maybe it's about extending grace to that family member who hurt you. Maybe it's about encouraging a friend who is stuck in fear or shame. Now we have been given unimaginable grace not to hoard it but to herald it. So my dear friends, as I close this morning, may I invite you as we are going to prepare ourselves for communion to come to this Jesus and ask him to reveal your golads in your heart and ask him to give you grace and to experience his love. And if you are here this morning and you have been hurt by how the world has tried to view you and put you down and if you feel you have lost your life purpose, be encouraged and come to Jesus. Your life's purpose is all about loving him and obeying him at all times and trusting that he will do extraordinary things through your life. Shall we pray?