When God Chooses The Runt

When God Chooses The Runt
1 Samuel 16:1-13
August 30, 2026

Military illustration – things are often not the way they look. 

What do you think this general was thinking? Can you imagine? Well you know things are not always the way they look. 

God tells us that He doesn’t see people the way the rest of the world sees people and that has some enormous implications for our lives.  

I. God Sees the Heart 

1 Samuel 16:1-13 

Remember, the Israelites have demanded a king and God gave them one, a guy named Saul. Saul was a miserable failure. He disobeyed God. God rejected him as being king. 

Aren’t you glad God looks at the heart! Aren’t you glad that the smoke in the mirrors of the world doesn’t affect God. They don’t impress God. God sees right through that stuff, right to the heart. Aren’t you glad that even in our powerful nation’s capital, Washington DC, the mecca of smoke and mirrors, aren’t you glad that God isn’t fooled, all this stuff doesn’t impress God. God sees people’s hearts, God looks right through the outward appearance and sees what we’re like on the inside. 

Of course we see in our text, even Samuel was distracted by outward appearance of the son’s of Jesse; God didn’t tell Samuel which son to choose ahead of time. 

A. The choice of David 

Micah prophesied  the birthplace of Jesus Christ in 700 BC, so the Bible accurately predicted the birth place 700 years before it actually happened in time and space and this is only one of over 30 prophecies like this in the Old Testament. 

Each of which is at least 400 years old – some are more than 1000 years old talking about the life, the birth, the death, the resurrection and the ministry of Jesus Christ and 30 were fulfilled exactly the way the Old Testament says they were.

The mathematical probabilities of that happening are off the chart. 

I’d like to remind you that 30 prophecies of over 400 years old that came true exactly the way they said they would – that’s not a hoax and that’s not a game and no man can do that – that means something supernatural is going on.

They call in the family of Jesse. Jesse brings all his sons in – I want you look again with me in v6 and when they arrive Samuel looked at the first born Eliab and he said, surely this is the Lord’s anointed. The guy looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger – I mean he’s a stud, he’s a beast and God says no. God says, do not consider his outward appearance or his height for I have rejected him. 

When David came in he was ruddy; meaning he had red hair and he probably had freckles, no offense. 

He had a fine appearance, he was handsome in his features. This is the only physical description we see. What David looked like on the outside didn’t matter, the Lord said to Samuel, rise and anoint the runt. This is him.  

They had already picked the guy that looked like a king. Saul was head and shoulders bigger than everybody. He was a beast. The man was a total failure. Now God picks somebody that doesn’t look like much, but he’s going to turn out to be the greatest king the nation of Israel ever had.  

There was probably never a more unlikely candidate to be the king of Israel from an outward point of view than David. 

I mean I’m sure in his yearbook he was voted least likely to be king, if there was such a title, because he was short, he was little, he was nothing, he was a runt. 

B. The larger promise 

What do we know about this guy Jesse? Jesse we know is the grandson of a fellow named Boaz and a woman named Ruth. This is a God honoring, God fearing family that God is going to take his next king from. Their hometown was Bethlehem. Later on in the Bible God’s going to tell King David that the Messiah is going to be a direct descendant from him and that because of that, the Messiah is going to be born in his, David’s hometown of Bethlehem. 

Isaiah 11:1-3, Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 

II. God Loves to Use Ordinary “Nobodies” 

1 Corinthians 1:26–31, For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 

A. God’s consistent pattern 

It’s usually not the slick and the impressive and the powerful and the humanly charismatic people that God chooses to shake the world. 

It leads us to ask a really important question. I don’t know if you are ever walking with a Christian and they’ll see somebody who’s powerful and rich and important and poised and energetic and charismatic and they’ll say, if God could just get a hold of that person, oh man if they ever gave their life to Christ, it’s hard to believe what God would do through them. 

It’s easy for us to think like that, but the truth of the matter is this is usually not the case. It’s usually not the slick and the impressive and the powerful and the humanly charismatic people that God chooses to shake the world. 

Outwardly David was the most unlikely candidate in town and yet he was the one God chose because God sees people differently than we see people and God loves to use unlikely people in unlikely ways to accomplish unlikely things for God. God loves to do that. 

God chose a defeated shepherd living on the backside of the desert named Moses and used him to bring to its knees the most powerful empire on the face of the earth. 

God chose a ragtag bunch of Galilean fishermen named Peter, James and John… uneducated, unschooled, untaught and God used them to set up the early church which then went on to change the entire western civilization. 

God chose a poor Shoemaker living in London named William Carey, to become the father of modern missions. 

God chose an overweight, insecure, uncultured teenager with only a third grade education… Dwight L. Moody… In 1874 when Moody was in England… one British churchman came up to him and said… this work that you’re doing is plainly of God for you are so uneducated, so untrained and so uncouth that I can see no relation whatsoever between you and the work that God is doing. Moody’s response was, may it never be. 

Even in our lifetime, we see how God has used a simple humble man… like Billy Graham to change the world… if people would put you in a lineup and not pick you out as the most likely person to make a difference for God in your world, don’t worry about it… God loves to use nobodies and if you qualify as a nobody you are eminently qualified for God to use you. 

Everyone in leadership here is a nobody and God has been strengthening His church here for over 30 years.  So when you hear announcements week after week for serving opportunities, we’re speaking to all of you. 

B. Why God does this 

There’s a story told about Queen Victoria of England… she said I am most thankful in the whole world for the letter M… you see here where it says not many noble… I am just so glad it doesn’t say not any noble… 1 Corinthians 1:26 

God loves to choose the foolish things of the world, people like us to shame the wise… the weak things of the world… to shame the strong… the lowly things of the world… so that no one can boast before Him… 

If you take somebody that’s powerful, somebody that’s charismatic, somebody that’s rich… and they go out and do something – guess where the glory goes… people give it to them… 

God says that’s not what I want happening… I want to make sure if there’s any credit to be given, I get it… therefore as it’s written let anybody who plans to boast… give it to the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 1:31, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 

How often do we encounter circumstances whereby we think, wow, what a coincidence  or I surpassed, even my expectations. 

2 Corinthians 3:4-5, Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 

2 Corinthians 12:9, And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 

C. The heart of God 

God didn’t use David just because he was a nobody, he was a nobody with a heart… just being a nobody doesn’t make you useful to God. You have to be a nobody that has a certain kind of inside. 

Five qualities inside David: 

1. Spirituality — a deep and intimate relationship with the living God. He wrote the 23rd Psalm. The Bible says about him twice that he was a man after God’s own heart.
2. Humility — after being anointed he went right back out to take care of the sheep. He was a servant.
3. Godly conviction and courage — “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that you let him stand over there and make fun of the armies of the living God?”
4. Integrity and honor — refused to kill Saul even when he had the chance: “The Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.”
5. Trust that waits on God — “When God is ready to deal with this man God will deal with him. I am not taking matters in my own hands.” 

Three practical steps for us: 

1. Aspire to be this kind of person — stop making money, power, or recognition your target and make these five qualities your target.
2. Pray and depend upon the Spirit of God to produce this in us — this is supernatural change.
3. Immerse ourselves in the Word of God — where we learn relationship with God, deep convictions, a servant worldview, integrity, and how to trust and wait on God.