According to scripture, God sets up kings and deposes them (Daniel 2:21).
The first king of Israel, King Saul, was disobedient and faithless towards God. Too often, he did his own thing, even though he knew what God required from him. After another of his acts of disobedience, the LORD sent the prophet Samuel to King Saul. Saul was told the following by Samuel in 1 Samuel 13: 13-14,
"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now, your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."
The man Samuel was referring to was David, the next king of Israel. David was a young man of faith, and God saw that in his heart.
In 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel went to anoint David as king, the LORD rejected all of David's brothers, who were older and physically more impressive, and instead chose the youngest of the brothers, David, saying, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." The LORD saw that David, in his inner being, loved God, and for that, God loved David.
In 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel went to anoint David as king, the LORD rejected all of David's brothers, who were older and physically more impressive, and instead chose the youngest of the brothers, David, saying, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." The LORD saw that David, in his inner being, loved God, and for that, God loved David.
David wasn't perfect. He had his sins, but he was repentant and sorry for sinning against the LORD. Still, God loved him and established David's kingdom forever through Jesus Christ.
Some of the final words spoken by King David before he died are recorded below.
"These are the last words of David:
The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
Israel's singer of songs:
'The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me;
his word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke,
the Rock of Israel said to me:
'When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
the Rock of Israel said to me:
'When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth."
2 Samuel 23: 1-4
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth."
2 Samuel 23: 1-4
Every king and leader on earth should take these words to heart.
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