“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. 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
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Those words were written long after David about the Son of David, but David sets up the typological background that gives them shape. He is the shadow of which Christ is the substance. Behold your king, humble, righteous and having salvation. Such humble beginnings for the greatest of Israel’s old covenant kings. Such humble beginnings for the King of kings.
Samuel looks on Eliab and thinks, “Surely the LORDs anointed is before him” (v. 6). But this king is not to be like the last, and Eliab looks like Saul. We were introduced to Saul as, “a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:2). Tall Saul was rejected. And now Yahweh tells Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (v. 7).
The word for “height” (v. 7) is the same word for “tall” (9:2), It may also be translated haughty or proud. That’s the way Hannah used it in her song. “Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3). “Talk no more so very proudly” is literally “Talk no more so tall tall.” Why are the proud not to talk tall tall? Because “the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” He sees.
We are looking for a King that God sees. We are looking for the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He is not tall. He is small. After seven sons pass before Samuel, we are once more asking, “Is there a man yet to come?” (1 Samuel 10:22). But there is no man. There is only a boy. “There remains yet the youngest” (v. 11). This may be translated, “there remains yet the smallest.” For instance, the same word is translated as “small” in Psalm 115:13. Saul the tall is rejected for David the small. The Spirit rushes on David and departs from Saul.
Rejoice in how your king comes! He is not like the kings of the nations! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1–4). This is who our King is—the matchless, eternal, sovereign King of glory.
But this is how He came, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). Remaining all that He was, He became what He was not. The divine Son stooped down to Himself a human nature. And if that infinite, unfathomable condescension is not enough to leave you in awe, look at the humility of His birth. Look at the humility of his life. Look at the humility of His death. Born in a manger. Rejected by men. Crucified on a cross. And though all of this humility masks His glory, yet it also reveals it. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
O sinner, do you see this glory? Do you see the glory revealed in His humility? Has the Father said “Let there be light” so that you behold His glory in the face of the Christ, the anointed Son who was crucified for sinners? “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Do not look for a Saul. Look to the true and better David, come to serve those who hate Him, come as the Anointed to serve the afflicted, come as a Savior for sinners.
Look to the humble Christ crucified for sinners. Look to the glorious Christ risen in victory. Look to Him with the eyes of faith and enter His kingdom of life and light.
Come humbly, in awe of the God who chooses the weak to shame the strong, Who chooses that is lie and despised in the word, event the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
Come humbly to the Christ who humbly came, and you may sing with Hannah, “My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger” (1 Samuel 2:1-5).
Come humbly to Bethlehem, the house of Bread, and behold Him who took on flesh to become the Bread of Life. See the Bread of Life broken on the cross, partake of Him by faith, and hunger no more.
No Other Boast 