He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. (Psalm 78:70-72)
I am a nobody, how about you? In God’s kingdom being a nobody isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So many of the people that he has used over time have been nobodies too, including his servant David. In the New Testament we are told that many people of the early church and its leaders were unimpressive as well. A majority of Jesus’ disciples were “unlearned” fishermen.
Here at the end of this chapter in Psalm 78, we are reminded of the nobody David who was chosen by God to lead his people Israel. From shepherd to King – leading a herd of dirty animals to leading a nation of people. David certainly didn’t have the resume to be King. Shepherd job aside, he wasn’t even the first-born son in his family- nowhere close. He was such an unlikely candidate that when the prophet Samuel went to anoint a new King from his family, which was a surprise enough in itself, he wasn’t even brought out with the other brothers as an option. It was like he didn’t even exist. After all the other brothers are rejected as king, at Samuel’s insistence, he is finally acknowledged and brought out. I just love what God says to Samuel in this situation.
For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7 b)
Only an infinitely wise, all-knowing God in heaven could see an unimportant, overlooked younger brother sitting in a muddy pasture with the animals and envision a great King.
This is hope and motivation for all us nobodies out there! Regardless of what people see or judge when they look at us and our lives from the outside, God sees past all of that to the person we are on the inside. We can have hope that God knows us for who we really are. This also provides motivation to help us focus our attention on what really counts – our hearts. The state of our inside is of upmost importance to God, not how impressive we are on the outside.
Being a nobody can have advantages in God’s kingdom. He says in his word that it is more difficult for the wealthy to see their need for salvation (Matthew 19:23-24). When God uses the weak instead of the strong, he is glorified and not man.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
But regardless of whether we are a nobody or somebody in the world’s eye, neither one is impressive to God. That is not what God looks at after all. What God is looking for are hearts that are wholly committed to him, regardless of the body they reside in. Those are the people he can use for his kingdom purposes, be they little or large.
Are you a nobody or somebody in the world’s eye? What is the state of your heart- the person you really are?
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