Sermon 58: 1 Samuel 16:3-12

3. And you shall call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint whomever I shall show you. 4. Samuel therefore did as the Lord spoke to him; and he came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city were amazed, coming to meet him, and said: Is your coming peaceful? 5. And he said: Peaceful; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to sacrifice. He therefore sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. And when they had come in, he saw Eliab and said: Is the Lord's anointed before the Lord? 7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Do not look at his face nor the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; nor do I judge according to the sight of man, for man sees the things that appear, but the Lord looks at the heart. 8. And Jesse called Abinadab and brought him before Samuel, who said: Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 9. Then Jesse brought Shammah, of whom he said: Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 10. Jesse therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse: The Lord has not chosen from these. 11. And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all the sons now complete? He answered: There still remains the youngest, and he is tending the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here. 12. He sent therefore and brought him; now he was ruddy and handsome in appearance, with a beautiful face. And the Lord said: Arise and anoint him, for he is the one.

In yesterday's sermon we began to say that Samuel, sent by the Lord to anoint and inaugurate David, alleged his fear of Saul, by whom, if he learned of this, death would be inflicted on him. From which it appears that the prophet suffered something human, and although he was most ready for obedience to God, he had not so put off human passions that he did not fear death. And indeed, when the faithful servants of God did not hesitate to face death in the performance of their duty, they were not entirely free of some fear of death. They suffered indeed, but not without a struggle. God could, if he had wished, have so strengthened Samuel's spirit that he would not be touched by any fear of death; but he tolerates his weakness and promises that he will not die, and reveals to him a way of avoiding death. For God governs us like infants, and as long as we are weak, does not permit us to be tested beyond our measure and strength. But in turn, when he demands our life from us, and wills that it be offered to him as a sacrifice pleasing to him, he also supplies strength and invincible constancy, so that wherever he has called, we may follow unafraid. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this to Peter in these words: Truly I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and went where you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. God therefore knows what we have in the innermost recesses of our heart; and consequently, until he wills us to face death, he does not equip us with that virtue and fortitude which we see in those who do not shrink from bravely facing death. And therefore all our care must be cast upon him, and we must hope that when he has willed to cast us into these struggles, he will also clothe us with invincible strength. Meanwhile, however, that natural fear and sense of weakness in us ought all the more keenly to spur us to prayers by which we may entreat God. For whoever feels himself troubled by this fear and dread ought to bear the fault with difficulty, and pray God to heal it. Nevertheless we must hope that God, when necessity demands, will bring help, and will so change our wills in a moment that death will be not only not fearful and bitter but even sweet and welcome. It must also be observed that not all who served God even to death were free from some fear and dread, for they had not put off what is human. Yet when it was necessary, God removed impediments that might have deterred them from their duty, or even spared them so that they would not come into the struggle — of which kind of example we have here in Samuel. And Paul himself teaches us this well when he says that God will not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength, but will give a good outcome to the temptation. Namely, he so wisely moderates all things that when he has willed to test our obedience, he also supplies the strength by which we are made equal to bearing the temptation. Thus in this passage God shows Samuel a way by which he may escape Saul's fury; in which matter we also see that God wished to proceed, as it were, in weakness. For he could have confirmed Samuel in another way, either by promising to restrain Saul's hand, or by ensuring that these things would not come to his ears, or finally by promising to prosper his journey and work — all of which were in the Lord's hand. But the Lord did not wish to accomplish this matter by a miracle, but by human means; therefore he says: Go, and take a heifer from the herd in your hand, and say: I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. From this it appears how God protects his people in various ways: sometimes he exerts his excellent power, sometimes he conceals it, so that he seems to have abandoned care for us, and yet nevertheless protects and guards us, though by feeble means unknown to men. Here indeed there is no doubt that he wished to test Samuel's obedience, when under the appearance of a sacrifice he sent him to inaugurate David. For Samuel could have objected again that this too would come to Saul's ears, and that a report about it would spread immediately, and that the anointing could not be done so secretly that someone would not be privy to it. But setting aside all these objections, Samuel, cutting short all delays, takes up the commission and proceeds. Therefore even if many difficulties press us and at first we are inclined to go backward when the Lord commands us to go forward, nevertheless, made more certain of his will, let us be persuaded that with God as our leader we shall most easily overcome whatever difficulties; and let us cheerfully imitate the example of Samuel, who, although he did not cast off all human passions and was initially affected by fear and dread of death, yet we see gave himself entirely to God and faithfully executed his command. But here again a certain question can be raised: how God commanded or permitted the prophet to use dissimulation, for it is certain that there is an appearance of lying when one thing is done and another is pretended. But God takes the greatest delight in truth. Therefore that dissimulation seems to be a light matter, which nevertheless God permitted. We must respond that Samuel was by no means permitted to lie; he dissembled what he intended to do, but nevertheless also spoke the truth. Now simulating and dissembling differ from each other. For he who dissembles conceals his plan so that it does not become public; but he who simulates uses deceit and fraud to deceive someone — which is permitted to no one. But to dissemble, that is, not to reveal one's entire plan, cannot be condemned or counted as a fault; although if the end of that dissimulation aimed at fraud, it should always be censured. For God is not caught by those subtleties by which men are easily deceived. Therefore although a dissembler may not be reproached before men, before God he is guilty of lying who has the intention to deceive. For example, if someone conceals the defect of his goods which are deceptive and fraudulent, even if he cannot be convicted of lying, nor accused of persuading what was otherwise, yet he who dealt with a simple person who could not detect the defect — that is fraud, and before God it is counted as theft. Therefore we must know that the end of counsels must always be considered, not merely the outward form, nor must we use subtleties and refinements of which men are skilled craftsmen through their malice, because they do not have knowledge of what is fair and good, and God wills that matters be judged according to equity and goodness, not according to cunning and crafty law. Now therefore, to weigh Samuel's action, we must observe that he simulated nothing, but said what was true, namely that he had come to sacrifice. Moreover, he defrauded no one, deceived no one, used no wicked arts, but obeyed God's command. Since God wished his counsel still to be hidden, it was not fitting that it be proclaimed publicly. And he wished David's anointing to be hidden until it was revealed in its own time. Therefore there is nothing blameworthy in the plan he followed of concealing the anointing under the appearance of sacrifice, since there was no underlying falsehood, and the end was good, and it did not pertain to any fraud or deceit; but God wished David's anointing to be kept as something secretly deposited and as a pledge diligently preserved. This therefore was the Lord's purpose in the anointing of David, which he therefore did not wish to be published abroad by the prophet, but commanded it to be concealed under the guise of sacrifice.

There follows next: Samuel therefore did as the Lord spoke to him; and he came to Bethlehem, and the elders were amazed — or 'gathered together' (but the sense of amazement is quite frequent in Scripture, and refers more to the following question) — the elders of the city coming to meet him, and they said: Is your coming peaceful? For the arrival of the prophet was unusual, whose reason was not apparent; for he had not been accustomed to come there before; therefore some sudden and unexpected cause must have arisen. For this reason the amazement of the elders is specifically mentioned here. For it was not the custom and habit of prophets to wander about aimlessly here and there, unless some great necessity compelled them. The elders therefore, amazed at Samuel's arrival and not knowing whether something adverse had happened at Bethlehem, ask whether his coming is peaceful. By the word 'peace' all kinds of prosperity are understood, as if they were asking: Are all things well, do all things go well? Samuel therefore answered: Peaceful; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Now Bethlehem at that time was not a place of great renown, but only a small village, as the prophet Micah, foretelling the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, says: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are the smallest among the rulers of Judah, from you shall come forth to me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Bethlehem therefore at that time was not a distinguished or noble town, but an obscure village and indeed one of the remotest in the land. Yet Samuel says he has come there to sacrifice. There is no doubt that the elders counted it a very great honor that the prophet had chosen that place for making offerings to God.

But here again it can be asked how Samuel took so much upon himself, since he was not the high priest, and therefore it was not his office to offer sacrifices to God. Furthermore, it is not likely that the ark of the covenant or the sanctuary was then in that place. But we easily gather, as we have already observed from other passages, that the people had departed from the purity of the law and had taken much liberty in the worship of God, so that it had become very corrupt. Now therefore, if it is asked what is to be judged concerning Samuel's act, we must say that it cannot and should not be drawn into an example. But God by a certain privilege and toleration condoned that fault, so that we ought always to conform our actions to the formula and prescription of the law. For if we wish to imitate the individual acts of the ancient saints and draw them into examples, we shall fall into an immense labyrinth from which there is no exit, as we have seen happen. For, I ask, from where came that great dissipation brought into the church, so that no form of religion appeared, except that eyes were cast upon the deeds of others, which were then set up as a rule? And indeed this evil did not begin with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but had already grown before. Thus we see the Samaritans defending themselves by the examples of the fathers when they offered sacrifices in the adulterous temple, which had been built out of envy toward the Jews, and with foolish devotion invoking the sanctity of the place as a pretext, because they boasted that the patriarchs had called upon God in those places, according to whose example they modeled themselves. But the law of God is the most certain and safest rule to which all worship must be referred. For this reason the Lord expressly forbids anything to be innovated in his worship according to human judgment, but commands that what he orders be exactly observed, so that nothing be changed in it, nothing added or taken away, nor any deviation to the left or the right. The voice and commandment of God is immutable and irrevocable; therefore it must also be observed to the letter. But indeed we see that those holy men of old acted otherwise; why then should we not imitate them? Because, if it was done by a certain privilege, it is not lawful to adopt it at this time, but one must stand by the rule which God himself prescribed. Moreover, we are not sufficiently competent judges of Samuel's action, whether he did right or wrong in sacrificing at Bethlehem, especially since the sacrifice was pleasing and acceptable to God, who did not inquire into the fault nor strictly weigh it by the rule of his justice. Let us therefore learn to obey God without contention, and not look at what was done by this or that person, intending to draw it into an example, since God's commands must be obeyed without exception.

There follows: Sanctify yourselves and come with me to sacrifice. He therefore sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. That custom was practiced under the legal shadows, that those who were to participate in the sacred rites would purify themselves. Here it must be observed that those who offered the sacrifice were accustomed to invite their friends, and to feast on the sacred provisions after the priest had taken his portion and duly performed the rites before God according to his prescription, and to rejoice in God's sight — of which there are examples throughout the Scriptures. Moreover, the sacrifice had to be eaten by those who were purified and defiled by no stain. Therefore those called to the sacrifice came together as to a sacred table, and for this reason the Lord commanded them to be purified, lest they bring any defilement or stain. I confess indeed that since God sanctifies all foods, they are also to be used with a good conscience, since otherwise, as the apostle Paul warns, all things will be polluted, and whatever foods we eat, iniquity and pollution will turn into a curse. Nevertheless, there was a certain special aspect to the sacrifices; for in them those who sacrificed presented themselves as it were before God. Therefore those sacred feasts differ from private ones, in that the former were celebrated in a sacred place before the Lord, the latter in private houses; and therefore those approaching those sacred feasts had to be purified. So we, about to come to the holy assembly and to participate in the Lord's Supper, ought to be prepared (although we ought to consecrate not one day or another but our whole life to God) and to think more attentively about ourselves as about to approach the Lord himself, taking care lest we bring our defilement and pollution there, about to profane so sacred a thing. For the Lord testifies there that we are united to our Lord Jesus Christ, and that his body and blood become the nourishment of our souls. Moreover, the Old Testament custom of purifying those about to sacrifice, so that each might consider how he approached God, contained rites whose use cannot be retained today, but whose truth must be preserved. For at that time certain purifications and rituals were employed, with water and other ceremonies of that kind, by which God trained that crude people like children — which the pope nevertheless wanted to imitate and retain, although they had been instituted only for a time. The corruption of these is so great that when such stupid and ridiculous gesticulations are employed, the truth of the gospel is adulterated, and the papists seem to want to deny the Lord Jesus Christ, returning to those shadows whose use was instituted only for a time. Therefore whatever rites we see introduced by the papists into the church in imitation of the ancients, let us know that they are mere corruption and foul depravation of the worship instituted by God. Nevertheless, as we see the ancients washed and cleansed themselves with water and employed other rites for purification than those now in use, what was contained in those figures we must retain in spiritual form: and with the figures removed, we must maintain purity of conscience before God, which is the chief Christian sacrifice. And whenever we pray to God, each person ought to examine and search himself, and to detest his own faults, and humbly implore forgiveness — which is our true purification. For whether we are about to call upon God, or participate in the holy Supper, or do anything that pertains to the worship of God, the faithful must all explore themselves, and condemn all innate corruptions, and pray God to purge them from all of them, and practice true repentance, and seek the forgiveness of sins.

And of these things so far. Let us now examine what follows, where it is said that Samuel, after making the sacrifice, before they reclined at the table, had called Jesse and his sons, and when the firstborn Eliab had entered — a man of most excellent stature, suited to dignity — he supposed him to be the Lord's anointed, but understood that he had been rejected by the Lord. Then the second was called, then the third, and finally each in their order, none of whom was pleasing to God, up to the seventh. Lastly David was despised because, being the smallest of all, he was pasturing the flocks in the fields. Although Samuel had indicated that none of those seven had been chosen by the Lord — yet he had not been sent by the Lord without purpose — therefore one of Jesse's sons had to be found who was pleasing and acceptable to God; for Samuel had not been sent there by God without purpose, but it had been determined that someone from that family should become king. Why then did Jesse not take care to have his son David called along with the others? Why, when he noticed that the seven older sons had been, as it were, rejected, did he not of his own accord remember the absent David? But you might say that he was confused and blind, and had consigned David to oblivion. Therefore Samuel had to ask him whether he had any other surviving son. He is suddenly called, and upon his arrival God reveals to Samuel that he is the one he has chosen, and commands him to be anointed king. In this narrative let us first observe the prophet's error, that he was deceived by the outward appearance of the man — contrary to God's custom, who does not judge as men do from the outward face of things, or from the excellent form and stature of the body, or from other circumstances of that kind by which men win favor with others, as if they might merit some dignity and authority by those external gifts, but from the innermost recesses of the heart, which he alone searches. Therefore since we see the prophet deceived in this matter, all the greater caution must be exercised by us lest we ourselves be deceived, since we are more prone to this fall, because as we are earthly, we are carried away by perishable and fragile things and deceived by their outward splendor. And indeed I speak here not only of the outward appearance of men, but of the manner of worshiping God, in which it is certain that men sin most greatly. For who does not see the corruption of divine worship in that false Roman church, in which it is believed that God cannot be worshiped without many external ceremonies, ridiculous and vain? For to what purpose are the lights in the temples, the tapestries, the hangings, the organs, the special kinds of vestments, of all of which there is no measure or end, but which only deceive the wretched common people, so that they gaze upon those mysteries with stupor? Truly this arises from the corruption of human nature, which clings to visible and perishable things. Therefore it is certain that we shall never enter the right path until we have led our senses captive and turned from those external pomps to spiritual worship. For this reason the Spirit of God, speaking specifically in this passage, says: God does not judge according to the sight of man, for man sees the things that appear, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Furthermore, when it is said that God is not like men, we are taught by the Holy Spirit that our business is with God, and therefore he is not to be worshiped according to the apprehension of our senses, not according to our own judgment, not according to our reason and understanding, and we are not to deal with him in that way. Therefore until we have renounced ourselves, it is certain that the closer we persuade ourselves we are to him, the farther we shall recede from him. But we must do violence to ourselves, to be deterred from that vanity. For what else is it but mere vanity and folly to cling to earthly and perishable things and to depend on their outward splendor? But to those earthly things hypocrisy is also added, by which we are glad to be far from God, fearing lest our faults come into his sight, which we would gladly keep hidden. And, I ask, how many hiding places the human heart has! From that hypocrisy, then, the natural fault is increased by which we cling too much to perishable and external things, and persuade ourselves that the sum of religion is placed in them. Therefore, to flee this fault, this doctrine must be diligently meditated upon: namely, that God cannot be placated by things that seem beautiful to us in outward appearance, that it is an abomination before him whenever we offer him worship from our own judgment, as the Lord Jesus Christ himself teaches us in the sixteenth chapter of Luke. Since these things are so, the saying must be carefully noted that God is not as men are, lest we measure him by our standard and transfigure him with our imaginations. But so deeply has that audacity taken root in the minds of men that it can only be eradicated with the greatest force. But if we remember that we are men, that single word alone will teach us that when we delight in the outward appearance of virtue, industry, and similar things which the human mind has devised, we are greatly deceived in our opinion. Why is this so? Because we are men, according to whose judgment we must not think that God will ever wish or be able to bend, or that those things which the human mind has fashioned will ever be pleasing and acceptable to him. For we need not show him the way as if to a blind man; rather we need to be illuminated by his light, so that we may be led to him, and to renounce ourselves, so that we may obtain mercy from him, and follow him wherever he leads — not that we should wish him to follow us. For it is indeed fair and just that we should comply with him in all things, since we have nothing with which to satisfy him unless we have drawn it from his generosity. This is why the Holy Spirit says here that God is not as men are. For he could simply have said that God does not look at outward appearance; but he wished to point out the inborn fault in men, so that we may learn to know ourselves and, having recognized the fault, to flee it, and to emerge as it were from the mud in which we are immersed by nature, and to persuade ourselves that all those outward things which men fancy to be beautiful are vain and unworthy of gaining any dignity before the Lord, and therefore once and for all to cast off those empty pomps which he himself abhors. And when it is said that God looks at the heart of man, we are taught that it is not enough, if we wish to be pleasing to God, to please men and be conspicuous with a mere appearance and shadow of virtue, since those are vain trifles; and God is not like an infant who is pleased with playthings; but he demands the heart, as Jeremiah says: Lord, your eyes do not look upon the virtue that is in men. By which words he shows that we are looked upon by God not on account of any virtue we may possess; for although some outward appearance of perfection may be seen, yet what else is it in God's sight but a fault? For either we labor with a double heart, or we hunt for glory from men, or we look to some other oblique end, or our desire to please God will not be simple. Therefore if we wish to be pleasing and acceptable to God and to have our worship approved by him, let us make our beginning here: namely, let us search the innermost recesses of our heart and approach him without pretense and falsehood. For this reason we see that Scripture, intending to show where the perfection of the divine law lies, recalls men to their affections and thoughts, commanding that God be loved with the whole heart, the whole mind, and with all strength and understanding. For what, says God through Moses, does the Lord your God require of you, except that you fear the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul? From which it appears that true worship of God lies in the interior affection of the heart. And the Psalmist teaches this same thing when speaking of sincere worship of God. Who, he says, shall ascend the holy mountain of the Lord? Who shall dwell on it? Who shall enter the sanctuary of the Lord? The man pure and upright in heart and hands. We see indeed that hands are here joined with the heart, because all our individual actions of life ought to agree with the heart. But if we are borne toward the worship of God with our feet, hands, and all external actions, so that nothing seems to be lacking for perfection, yet unless they proceed from a sincere heart, they must be called nothing but trifles and useless ceremonies.

Let us then consider the rest, where all the sons of Jesse are said to have been presented to Samuel, but the firstborn was rejected and repudiated by the Lord, and the others likewise were not chosen. This reprobation, however, is not to be understood as some universal rejection by God, but as a removal and repulse from royal dignity. For God's election is twofold: one is common to all the faithful, by which they are adopted into the inheritance of eternal life — for the covenant of the Lord pertains to all the individual members of the church, of whatever age, sex, or condition, without exception. The other is particular, when God calls someone to some private function and uses him for this or that ministry. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ says: You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you — namely for the ministry of the apostleship. For although the apostles were called by adoption to eternal salvation, that election pertained to the singular office and duty of the apostleship. Moreover, election to salvation must be firm and immutable, with which election to any dignity has nothing in common. For being raised to great honors and being wicked are not inconsistent with each other, but to be elected to eternal life and to be reprobate cannot coexist in any way. Here therefore, when the firstborn of Jesse is said to be reprobated, it is not to be understood as cast down from the hope of eternal salvation and condemned by God — for he is not charged with any crime or rebellion — but is understood as repulsed from that singular election to royal dignity which was reserved for David by God's will. From which we must observe that God, in promoting David, still a boy and a shepherd, to royal dignity while his other brothers were rejected, teaches us that it is from his free goodness that he holds us pleasing and acceptable, and that nothing is owed to our merit when we are preferred to this or that person, since it flows from his goodness alone. Here indeed the kingdom is mentioned, but it was a figure of that spiritual kingdom which our Lord Jesus Christ was to receive in his own time. And what is said about the anointing pertains to all the individual members of the church. David therefore was like a living image of our Lord Jesus Christ. But did some notable dignity or virtue commend him and promote his election? By no means. For, as we have seen, David was lowly and despised among his brothers, yet he is made their head and lord. If someone objects that David had an upright heart before God, and indeed by the Lord's own testimony, I ask in turn: from whom did he receive that pure heart? For he did not have it of himself, nor was he distinguished by any virtue above his brothers. And if anyone says that he acquired it by the powers of free will, he must surely confess that he was begotten from the corrupt and accursed seed of Adam, and therefore could not give himself an upright disposition by which to approach God, but it was given to him by God and formed in him. Why then did God not have him born first? Why did he not adorn Jesse's firstborn with those gifts of the Spirit by which he might deserve such great dignity? Because by this means God wills to overthrow and cast down all pride and arrogance, so that when God raises some to the highest honors, we may learn to attribute all glory to him alone. Why, I ask, did God choose Jacob rather than Esau? Could he not have made Jacob the firstborn, and thus the natural order and dignity would have been preserved? But although he was grasping his brother's heel, he was repulsed from the birthright, which he then recovered against nature and in a wonderful way. Why, I say, did these things happen thus? Because when we speak of the gifts we receive from God's hand, we may learn to be lifted above the world itself and to rise to him alone, the fountain of all good things. The same is the case with the sons of Joseph, of whom the firstborn is placed below the younger. Could God not have caused the one he wished to prefer to the other to be born first? But he willed him to be inferior in the natural order, whom he nevertheless raised to a higher degree of dignity. From these examples of Jacob and Joseph it appears that God, in choosing some, does not depend on any human causes, nor has any regard for persons, counsels, or anything that proceeds from men, but finds the cause in himself alone. Although this may seem new and unusual to us, yet it is necessary that he work in this way so that every occasion for boasting may be taken from us. For who among men instituted the right of primogeniture, which God himself approved, unless men inspired by God's Spirit, who deemed it fitting to honor the firstborn with this prerogative, so that they would be lords and head of the rest? And that right was always observed among God's people and confirmed by divine law. Since therefore God instituted the natural order, why does he reverse it — does he not take delight in it? By no means does he overthrow it, but since we are nearly bursting with pride and arrogance and imagine ourselves worthy of God's love because of innate virtues, it is necessary for him to proceed by an extraordinary way, so that we may be moved all the more ardently to call upon him, and may know that spiritual goods flow from his mere grace alone, and therefore may give thanks to him alone, since nothing has proceeded from ourselves. Indeed we see Joseph supposing that Jacob was thoughtlessly preferring one of his sons to the other, attempting to turn his father's hand aside lest he prefer the younger to the elder; for Jacob was blind from the disease of old age, from which Joseph supposed the error arose. But although Jacob's eyes were dim with age so that he could not discern by sight which was the elder, yet he deliberately placed his hands crosswise, so as to put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and spoke thus to Joseph, who was trying to move his father's hand: Manasseh the firstborn will indeed grow into a people; but his younger brother will grow greater than he, and his seed will be the fullness of the nations. But who revealed this to Jacob if not God? Therefore from this it appears that those who aspire to the highest degrees and persuade themselves that the way to them is easy are greatly deceived in their opinion, and go in the opposite direction. Therefore it is fitting that we venerate and adore his judgments with the utmost humility, and acknowledge that God alone raises us from the mud and, as it were, from the dunghill to the highest honors, and that our strength amounts to nothing, and we can do nothing unless we receive it from him, so that whatever gifts we have we may ascribe to him alone as to their fountain.

And let us draw this profit from the election of David, despised and rejected as he was. As for what is reported concerning the integrity of his heart, let us know that it was such as God formed it. We read indeed God speaking thus in the Psalms: I found David according to my heart. But I ask: did David acquire that heart for himself by his own virtue and the powers of free will? Far from it; rather, it was prepared by God, and David acknowledges in himself the work of the Lord. Moreover, just as we contemplate our face in a mirror, so God contemplates in himself all power and virtue, in order to adorn us, who by nature are empty of all good, with his gifts according to his will and pleasure. For this reason it is also said in another Psalm that God disposes the work of our hands. It therefore pleased God to raise David, a man of lowly condition, to royal dignity. Why so? Because he called him from the stalls and pastures, so that God's power might be the more conspicuous in him, and he might have greater occasion for praising God, when he recognized that by none of his own strength, no industry, no counsel could he have attained to such a pinnacle of dignity. And Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians teaches this quite clearly concerning the election of the faithful, when speaking of the whole church he says that there are many noble and excellent men in the world, from whom it seemed God could have made the beginning of his election, but since men are accustomed to be puffed up too much with glory and to make themselves equal to God, in order that all the glory of the flesh might be removed, he cast down the high things of the world and chose the small and lowly, so that all might know that there is no height or dignity except what proceeds from him. And indeed it is fitting that we glory in God and congratulate ourselves on his free election. For since by nature we are children of wrath and of the curse, where, I ask, will our boasting be, except in the fact that by adoption we have been made children of God? Therefore we must take up the doctrine of Paul, who says that God calls the things that are not as though they were, in order to confound the things that are — so that we may recognize that he is the one from whom we have whatever we are, and that each person may faithfully exercise himself in his calling and strive for the edification of his neighbors. For to this end also he has led us out of the mud and filth of superstitions and depravity, so that we may become sanctified vessels for every good work, and he has separated us from the unbelieving and incredulous so that we may be grafted into our Lord Jesus Christ. And the apostle does not mention one or another individually, but all the faithful in general, whose father he makes Abraham, and he institutes a comparison of the children of Adam with the children freely adopted by the Lord. For we are truly born children of Adam when we come into the world, in which creation there is only a curse; but we must be born again and grafted into our Lord Jesus Christ, so that obedience pleasing to God may be found in us. And of these things so far.

Now then, come, etc.

3. And you shall call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint whomever I shall show you. 4. Samuel did as the Lord spoke to him; and he came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city were alarmed when they came to meet him, and said: Is your coming peaceful? 5. And he said: Peaceful; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to sacrifice. So he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. When they had come in, he saw Eliab and said: Surely the Lord's anointed is before the Lord. 7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 8. Then Jesse called Abinadab and brought him before Samuel. And he said: The Lord has not chosen this one either. 9. Jesse then brought Shammah, and Samuel said: The Lord has not chosen this one either. 10. Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse: The Lord has not chosen any of these. 11. And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all your sons here? He answered: There still remains the youngest, and he is tending the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here. 12. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and handsome in appearance, with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said: Arise, anoint him; for this is he.

In yesterday's sermon we began to note that Samuel, sent by the Lord to anoint and install David as king, raised the objection that Saul would kill him if he found out. This shows that the prophet experienced something very human. Though he was thoroughly ready to obey God, he had not shed human emotion so completely that he felt no fear of death. Even the faithful servants of God who did not hesitate to face death in fulfilling their duty were not entirely free from some fear. They suffered — but not without a struggle. God could have so strengthened Samuel's spirit that no fear of death touched him. Instead He bore with Samuel's weakness, promised he would not die, and showed him a way of escape. God governs us like children. As long as we are weak, He does not allow us to be tested beyond our measure and strength. But when He calls us to give our lives as a sacrifice pleasing to Him, He also supplies the strength and unshakeable resolve to follow wherever He has called without fear. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this to Peter: 'Truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' God therefore knows what lies in the deepest recesses of our hearts. Until He calls us to face death, He does not equip us with the courage and fortitude we see in those who face death bravely. So all our care must be cast upon Him. We must trust that when He sends us into those trials, He will also clothe us with strength that cannot be overcome. In the meantime, that natural fear and sense of weakness in us ought to drive us all the more urgently to prayer — to cry out to God about it. Whoever finds himself troubled by such fear ought to feel the weight of it and pray that God would heal it. Nevertheless we must trust that God, when the need arises, will bring help. He will so change our hearts in a moment that death becomes not fearful and bitter but even sweet and welcome. We must also note that not all who served God even to death were entirely free from fear and dread — for they had not ceased to be human. Yet when it was necessary, God removed whatever stood in the way of their duty, or spared them from having to enter that struggle at all — as He did here with Samuel. Paul teaches this clearly when he says that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength, but will provide a way out so that we can endure. God wisely moderates all things so that when He tests our obedience, He also supplies the strength by which we are made able to bear it. So here God showed Samuel a way to escape Saul's fury. And in this we also see that God chose to proceed, as it were, in weakness. He could have helped Samuel in another way — by promising to restrain Saul's hand, or by ensuring the matter never reached Saul's ears, or by promising to bless the journey and the work outright. All of this was within the Lord's power. But the Lord did not choose to accomplish this by a miracle. He chose a human means, saying: 'Go, and take a heifer with you, and say: I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' This shows how God protects His people in different ways. Sometimes He displays His power openly; sometimes He conceals it, so that He seems to have abandoned care for us — and yet He protects and guards us through feeble means that no one notices. There is no doubt that God also wished to test Samuel's obedience by sending him to install David under the appearance of a sacrifice. Samuel could have raised another objection — that this too would reach Saul's ears, that a report would spread immediately, that the anointing could not be done so secretly that no one would find out. But setting all those objections aside, Samuel cut short every delay, took up the commission, and went. Therefore even if many difficulties press upon us, and our first instinct when God commands us to move forward is to pull back — once we are certain of His will, let us be persuaded that with God as our leader we will most easily overcome every difficulty. Let us cheerfully follow Samuel's example: though he did not cast off all human weakness, and was initially touched by fear and dread of death, he gave himself wholly to God and faithfully carried out his command. A further question arises here: how did God command or permit the prophet to use concealment? It looks like a kind of deception — one thing is done while another is presented. But God delights above all in truth. So that concealment might seem troubling, even if God permitted it. The answer is that Samuel was not permitted to lie. He concealed his full intention, but he also spoke the truth. Concealing a plan and simulating a false one are two different things. One who conceals a plan simply keeps it from becoming public. One who simulates uses deceit and fraud to mislead someone — and that is permitted to no one. To conceal — that is, not to disclose one's full purpose — cannot be condemned as a fault. But if the end of that concealment is fraud, it should always be judged wrong. God is not fooled by the clever distinctions that easily deceive men. So even if a person cannot be rebuked before men for concealment, before God that person is guilty of lying if the intention is to deceive. For example: if someone hides a defect in goods they are selling — even if they cannot be convicted of actually lying, and even if they never said anything false — if they dealt that way with an unsuspecting buyer who could not detect the flaw, that is fraud, and before God it counts as theft. We must therefore understand that the purpose and end of what we do always matters — not merely its outward form. We must not exploit the clever distinctions that men devise through their cunning. God does not judge by sharp legal technicalities but by fairness and integrity. Now, to weigh Samuel's action fairly: he simulated nothing. He said what was true — that he had come to sacrifice. Moreover, he deceived no one, defrauded no one, used no dishonest methods, but obeyed God's command. Since God wished His plan to remain hidden for now, it was not fitting that it be announced publicly. God intended David's anointing to remain secret until He revealed it in His own time. Therefore there is nothing blameworthy in Samuel's plan to conceal the anointing under the occasion of a sacrifice. There was no underlying falsehood, the end was good, and the intent had nothing to do with fraud or deceit. God simply wished David's anointing to be kept like something deposited in trust — a pledge to be carefully preserved until the appointed time. That was the Lord's purpose: He did not want the prophet to publish the anointing openly, but commanded that it be concealed under the occasion of the sacrifice.

What follows next: Samuel did as the Lord spoke to him and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city were alarmed — or perhaps 'came together' in astonishment, since the word used in Scripture frequently carries that sense, and the following question suggests it — coming out to meet him and asking: Is your coming peaceful? Samuel's arrival was unusual, and its reason was not apparent. He had not been in the habit of coming there before, so the elders assumed something sudden and unexpected must have brought him. That is why the text specifically notes their alarm. It was not the custom of the prophets to wander from place to place without reason, unless some great necessity compelled them. So the elders, startled by Samuel's arrival and unsure whether something bad had happened at Bethlehem, asked whether his coming meant peace. By the word 'peace' they meant all kinds of well-being — as if they were asking: Is everything all right? Is all going well? Samuel answered: Peaceful; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. At that time Bethlehem was not a place of great renown — only a small village, as the prophet Micah foretold concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 'But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.' Bethlehem at that time was not a distinguished or noble city, but an obscure village — one of the most remote in the land. And yet Samuel says he has come there to sacrifice. There is no doubt that the elders counted it a great honor that the prophet had chosen that place to make offerings to God.

But another question arises here: how could Samuel take it upon himself to offer a sacrifice, since he was not the high priest and that was not his office? Moreover, it is unlikely that the ark of the covenant or the sanctuary was located in Bethlehem at that time. But as we have already observed in other passages, the people had drifted far from the purity of the law and had taken great liberties in the worship of God — so that worship had become very corrupt. So if we ask how Samuel's act should be judged, we must say that it cannot and should not be turned into a standard example to follow. God condoned that fault by a kind of special allowance and tolerance. But we ourselves must always conform our actions to the prescribed rule and pattern of the law. If we try to imitate the individual acts of the ancient saints and make them into examples to follow, we fall into an enormous maze with no way out — as history has shown. Where, I ask, did the great disorder that crept into the church come from — where no recognizable form of true religion remained — except from the habit of looking at what others did and then setting those actions up as the rule? And this evil did not begin with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; it had already grown deep roots before. We see the Samaritans defending themselves by appealing to the examples of the fathers when they offered sacrifices in their illegitimate temple, built out of rivalry with the Jews. They invoked the holiness of the place as a pretext, boasting that the patriarchs had called upon God in those very locations — and claiming to follow their example. But God's law is the surest and safest rule to which all worship must be referred. For this reason the Lord expressly forbids anything to be changed in His worship according to human judgment. He commands that what He orders be exactly observed — nothing changed in it, nothing added or taken away, no deviation to the left or to the right. The voice and command of God is unchanging and cannot be revoked. It must therefore be obeyed to the letter. But we see that those holy men of old sometimes acted differently — so why should we not imitate them? Because if something was done by special divine allowance, it is not lawful to adopt it now. One must stand by the rule God Himself prescribed. Moreover, we are not adequate judges of Samuel's action — whether he did right or wrong in sacrificing at Bethlehem — especially since the sacrifice was pleasing and acceptable to God, who did not press the fault or weigh it strictly by the rule of His justice. Let us therefore learn to obey God without argument, and not look at what this or that person did in order to turn it into a pattern — for God's commands must be obeyed without exception.

What follows next: Sanctify yourselves and come with me to sacrifice. So he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice. This custom was practiced under the ceremonial law — those who were to take part in the sacred rites would purify themselves beforehand. We must note here that those who offered a sacrifice were accustomed to invite their friends. After the priest had taken his portion and performed the rites before God as prescribed, the guests would feast on the remaining provisions and rejoice in God's presence. Examples of this appear throughout Scripture. Moreover, the sacrifice had to be eaten by those who were ceremonially clean — defiled by no impurity. Those called to the sacrifice therefore gathered as though to a sacred table. For this reason the Lord commanded them to be purified, so that they would bring no defilement or stain. I acknowledge that since God sanctifies all foods, they may be used with a good conscience. As Paul warns, without that, all things become polluted — whatever we eat becomes iniquity and brings a curse rather than a blessing. Nevertheless, the sacrifices had their own special character, for in them those who sacrificed presented themselves before God. Those sacred feasts therefore differed from private meals: the former were held in a sacred place before the Lord, while the latter took place in private homes. For that reason, those approaching the sacred feasts had to be purified. So we, as we prepare to come to the holy assembly and to participate in the Lord's Supper, ought to prepare ourselves — though we should consecrate not merely one day but our whole lives to God — and to examine ourselves more carefully as we approach the Lord Himself. We must take care not to bring our defilement and pollution there and so profane so sacred a thing. For the Lord testifies there that we are united to our Lord Jesus Christ, and that His body and blood become the nourishment of our souls. The Old Testament custom of purifying those about to sacrifice — so that each person would consider how he was approaching God — contained ceremonies whose outward practice cannot be retained today, but whose inner truth must be preserved. At that time, various purifications were carried out using water and other ceremonies of that kind, by which God trained that unformed people as one trains children. The pope, however, wanted to imitate and retain those ceremonies, even though they were instituted only for a season. The corruption this causes is enormous. When such hollow and ridiculous ceremonies are used, the truth of the gospel is corrupted — and the papists appear to want to deny our Lord Jesus Christ by returning to those shadows that were meant only for a time. Therefore, whatever ceremonies the papists have introduced into the church as imitations of the ancient practices — let us understand that they are nothing but corruption and a shameful distortion of the worship God established. Nevertheless, what we see in those ancient washings and ritual purifications — we must retain the spiritual reality that those outward forms contained. With the ceremonies removed, we must maintain purity of conscience before God, which is the true Christian sacrifice. Whenever we pray to God, each person ought to examine and search himself, detest his own faults, and humbly ask for forgiveness. That is our true purification. Whether we are about to call upon God, or receive the holy Supper, or do anything belonging to the worship of God — the faithful must examine themselves, condemn all their inborn corruption, ask God to cleanse them from all of it, practice true repentance, and seek the forgiveness of sins.

So much for those matters. Let us now look at what follows. After making the sacrifice, before the guests reclined at the table, Samuel called Jesse and his sons. When the firstborn Eliab entered — a man of outstanding stature and impressive bearing — Samuel assumed he must be the Lord's anointed. But he learned that the Lord had rejected him. Then the second son was called, then the third, and so on through each one in order — none of them was pleasing to God, up through the seventh. David, the youngest of all, was overlooked because he was out in the fields tending the flocks. Samuel had indicated that none of the seven had been chosen by the Lord — yet he had not been sent there without a purpose. One of Jesse's sons had to be the one pleasing and acceptable to God, since God had specifically sent Samuel to that family. So why had Jesse not thought to summon his son David along with the others? And when he saw the seven older sons one by one set aside, why did he not think on his own to mention the absent David? It seems he was simply confused and blind — David had not even crossed his mind. So Samuel had to ask him whether he had any other son. David was quickly sent for, and when he arrived God revealed to Samuel that this was the one He had chosen and commanded him to be anointed king. In this account we should first observe the prophet's error: he was deceived by outward appearance. This was contrary to God's way of judging — God does not assess as men do, looking at the face of things, at impressive physical form and stature, or at those other outward advantages by which people earn favor from one another, as though external gifts could merit dignity and authority. God looks at the innermost recesses of the heart, which He alone can search. Since we see that even the prophet was deceived in this way, we must be all the more careful not to fall into the same error ourselves — for we are even more prone to it. Being earthly by nature, we are drawn away by perishable and fragile things and easily dazzled by their outward splendor. I am speaking here not only of judging other people by their appearance, but of the worship of God — where it is certain that men go most seriously wrong. Who does not see the corruption of divine worship in that false Roman church, where it is believed that God cannot be worshiped without a great multitude of external ceremonies, ridiculous and vain? What are all those candles in the churches, the tapestries, the curtains, the organs, the elaborate vestments — an endless parade of them — except means of dazzling the poor common people so they stand in stupor before those supposed mysteries? This arises directly from the corruption of human nature, which clings to what is visible and perishable. We will never find the right path until we have taken our senses captive and turned away from those outward spectacles to spiritual worship. For this reason the Spirit of God speaks directly in this passage: 'God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'

Furthermore, when it is said that God is not like men, the Holy Spirit is teaching us that our dealings are with God — and therefore He is not to be worshiped according to our own sense perceptions, not according to our own judgment, not according to our reason and understanding. We are not to approach Him on those terms. Until we have denied ourselves, the more convinced we are that we are close to Him, the farther we will actually be from Him. We must do violence to ourselves — we must be pulled away from that vanity. What else is it but pure vanity and folly to cling to earthly and perishable things and to depend on their outward show? And to that attachment to earthly things, hypocrisy is added — we are happy to stay far from God, fearing that our faults might come into His sight, faults we would much rather keep hidden. How many hiding places the human heart has! From that hypocrisy, the natural fault grows worse — the tendency to cling too tightly to perishable and external things and to persuade ourselves that religion consists mainly in them. To escape this fault, we must diligently meditate on this truth: God cannot be won over by things that look beautiful to us outwardly. Whenever we offer Him worship devised from our own imagination, it is an abomination before Him — as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself teaches in Luke 16. Since this is so, we must carefully take to heart that God is not as men are — lest we measure Him by our own standard and remake Him in the image of our imaginations. But that audacity has taken such deep root in the minds of men that only the greatest effort can tear it out. If we remember that we are men, that single word alone should teach us that when we delight in the outward appearance of virtue, diligence, and similar things the human mind has devised, we are gravely mistaken. Why is this so? Because we are men — and by our standard we must never suppose that God will be willing to bend, or that things fashioned by the human mind will ever be pleasing and acceptable to Him. We do not need to show God the way as if He were blind. Rather, we need His light to illuminate us so that He may lead us to Himself. We must deny ourselves so that we may obtain mercy from Him — and follow wherever He leads, not wish for Him to follow us. It is simply right that we should conform ourselves to Him in all things, since we have nothing to offer Him that we have not first received from His own generosity. This is why the Holy Spirit says here that God is not as men are. He could simply have said that God does not look at outward appearance. But He wanted to expose the inborn fault in men, so that we may learn to know ourselves, and having recognized that fault, to flee it — to rise out of the mud in which we are sunk by nature. We must persuade ourselves that all those outward things men consider beautiful are empty and incapable of winning any dignity before the Lord, and once and for all cast off the hollow ceremonies He Himself abhors. When it is said that God looks at the heart of man, we are taught that it is not enough — if we wish to please God — merely to please men and be visible for an appearance and shadow of virtue. Those are empty trifles. God is not like an infant pleased with toys. He requires the heart, as Jeremiah says: 'Lord, Your eyes do not look at virtue as men see it.' By these words he shows that God does not regard us on account of any virtue we may possess. Even if some outward show of perfection appears, what is it in God's sight but a fault? For either we are divided in heart, or we are hunting for praise from men, or we are aimed at some other crooked end, or our desire to please God is simply not pure. So if we wish to be pleasing and acceptable to God and have our worship approved by Him, let us begin here: let us search the deepest recesses of our heart and approach Him without pretense or falsehood. For this reason Scripture, when it shows where the perfection of God's law lies, brings men back to their inner affections and thoughts, commanding that God be loved with the whole heart, the whole mind, and all one's strength and understanding. 'What does the Lord your God require of you,' says God through Moses, 'except that you fear the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?' True worship of God therefore lies in the inner affection of the heart. The psalmist teaches the same thing when speaking of sincere worship of God. 'Who may ascend the holy hill of the Lord?' 'Who shall stand in His holy place?' The man who is clean in hands and pure in heart. We see that hands are joined with the heart here, because all the individual actions of our lives ought to flow from the heart. But if we approach the worship of God with all our feet, hands, and outward actions — so that nothing appears to be missing — yet unless those actions proceed from a sincere heart, they must be called nothing but trifles and empty ceremonies.

Let us consider the rest: all Jesse's sons are presented to Samuel, but the firstborn is rejected and turned aside by the Lord, and the others are likewise not chosen. This rejection, however, is not to be understood as a universal condemnation by God, but as a setting aside from royal dignity specifically. God's election is twofold. One is common to all the faithful, by which they are adopted into the inheritance of eternal life — for the Lord's covenant belongs to all the individual members of the church, without exception of age, sex, or condition. The other is particular — when God calls someone to a specific function and uses him for this or that ministry. So our Lord Jesus Christ says: 'You did not choose Me, but I chose you' — referring specifically to the office of the apostleship. Although the apostles were called by adoption to eternal salvation, that particular election referred to the singular office and duty of being apostles. Moreover, election to salvation must be firm and unchanging — and it has nothing in common with election to any earthly position of honor. Being raised to great honors and being wicked are not mutually exclusive. But being chosen for eternal life and being reprobate cannot coexist in any way. So here, when Jesse's firstborn is said to be set aside, this does not mean he was cast down from the hope of eternal salvation and condemned by God — no crime or rebellion is charged against him — but simply that he was passed over for the specific election to royal dignity that God had reserved for David. From this we must note that God, in advancing David — still a boy, still a shepherd — to royal dignity while his brothers were set aside, is teaching us that it is from His free goodness alone that He holds us pleasing and acceptable. Nothing is owed to our merit when we are preferred to this person or that, for it flows from His goodness alone. The kingdom mentioned here was a picture of the spiritual kingdom that our Lord Jesus Christ was to receive in His own time. And what is said about the anointing applies to all the individual members of the church. David was therefore a living image of our Lord Jesus Christ. But did some notable quality or virtue commend David and advance his election? Not at all. As we have seen, David was lowly and despised among his brothers — yet he is made their head and lord. If someone objects that David had an upright heart before God — as the Lord Himself testifies — I ask in return: from whom did he receive that pure heart? He did not have it from himself, nor was he distinguished by any virtue above his brothers. And if anyone says he acquired it by the powers of his own free will, he must first acknowledge that David was born of the corrupt and accursed seed of Adam, and therefore could not give himself an upright disposition by which to approach God. That disposition was given to him by God and formed within him. Why then did God not have him born first? Why did He not give Jesse's firstborn those gifts of the Spirit by which he might have deserved such great honor? Because God wills by this very means to overthrow all pride and arrogance — so that when He raises some to the highest honors, we may learn to give all glory to Him alone. Why did God choose Jacob rather than Esau? Could He not have made Jacob the firstborn so that the natural order of dignity would have been preserved? Instead, though Jacob was grasping his brother's heel at birth, he was shut out from the birthright — which he later recovered against the natural order in a remarkable way. Why did these things happen this way? So that when we speak of gifts received from God's hand, we might learn to be lifted above the world itself and rise to Him alone — the fountain of all good things. The same is true with Joseph's sons, where the firstborn is placed below the younger. Could God not have caused the one He wished to prefer to be born first? But He willed that the one He intended to advance to greater honor should be lower in birth order. From these examples of Jacob and Joseph it is clear that God, in choosing some, does not depend on any human causes or considerations, has no regard for persons, counsels, or anything that proceeds from men — but finds the cause in Himself alone. This may seem strange and unusual to us, yet it is necessary that He work this way so that every occasion for boasting is stripped from us. Who established the right of the firstborn, which God Himself approved? Men inspired by God's Spirit, who thought it fitting to honor the firstborn with this dignity so they would be lords and heads over the rest. That right was always observed among God's people and confirmed by divine law. So if God established the natural order, why does He reverse it? Does He take no delight in it? He is not overturning it without cause. Rather, because we are nearly bursting with pride and arrogance — imagining ourselves worthy of God's love because of some virtue within us — it is necessary for Him to work by an extraordinary path, so that we may be driven all the more urgently to call upon Him, and may know that spiritual goods flow from His sheer grace alone. We must give thanks to Him alone, since nothing has come from ourselves. We see Joseph himself assuming that Jacob was carelessly preferring one son over the other, and trying to redirect his father's hand so that the younger would not be placed above the elder. For Jacob was blind from age, and Joseph assumed the mistake arose from that. But although Jacob's eyes were dim and he could not see which son was which, he deliberately crossed his hands so as to place his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger — and said to Joseph, who was trying to correct him: 'I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.' Who revealed this to Jacob if not God? From this it is clear that those who aspire to the highest positions and convince themselves that the path to them is easy are greatly mistaken — they are moving in the opposite direction. It is fitting, therefore, that we reverence and adore God's judgments with the deepest humility, and acknowledge that God alone raises us from the mud and the dunghill to the highest honors — that our own strength amounts to nothing, and that we can do nothing unless we receive it from Him. Whatever gifts we have, we must ascribe to Him alone as their source.

Let us draw this lesson from the election of David — despised and overlooked as he was. As for what is said about his upright heart, let us understand that it was such because God formed it. We read God saying in the Psalms: 'I found David according to My heart.' But did David acquire that heart for himself through his own virtue and the powers of free will? Not at all. It was prepared by God, and David himself acknowledges the work of the Lord within him. Just as we see our own face reflected in a mirror, so God looks into Himself to find all power and virtue — in order to adorn us, who by nature are empty of every good, with His gifts according to His own will and pleasure. For this reason another psalm says that God arranges the work of our hands. It pleased God to raise David from lowly circumstances to royal dignity. Why? Because He called him from the sheepfolds and pastures, so that God's power might be all the more evident in him — and so that David might have all the more reason to praise God, recognizing that by no strength, no industry, no counsel of his own could he have reached such a height of honor. Paul teaches this quite plainly in 1 Corinthians concerning the election of the faithful. Speaking of the whole church, he says that there are many noble and distinguished men in the world from whom God could have begun His election. But since men are prone to puff themselves up with pride and make themselves equal to God, He cast down the great things of the world and chose the small and lowly — so that all glory of the flesh might be stripped away, and everyone might know that no height or dignity exists except what proceeds from Him. And indeed it is fitting that we should boast in God and rejoice in His free election. Since by nature we are children of wrath and under the curse — where else will our boasting be, except in the fact that by adoption we have been made children of God? Therefore we must embrace the teaching of Paul, who says that God calls the things that do not exist as though they did, in order to nullify the things that are — so that we may recognize that He is the source of everything we are. Each person must faithfully commit to his calling and strive for the benefit of his neighbors. For this is also why He has brought us out of the mud and filth of superstition and corruption — so that we may become vessels set apart for every good work, grafted away from unbelief and into our Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle does not speak of one person or another individually, but of all the faithful in general. He makes Abraham their father, and draws a comparison between the children of Adam and those freely adopted by the Lord. We are truly born children of Adam when we enter this world — and in that birth there is only a curse. But we must be born again and grafted into our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the obedience that pleases God may be found in us. So much for these matters.

Now then, come, etc.