The selection of David as the second king of Israel is a beautiful story. We think one way, but God often takes a different approach. We see the outward appearance, but God sees the heart. This is counterintuitive. Jesus took this approach in His Sermon on the Mount. The human worldview is one thing, but God’s perspective is entirely different. “But” is found 27 times in Matthew 5-7. Jesus’ ministry had one overall objective – introduce people to the kingdom of God. As is in the case of David, it is so easy to overlook and marginalize people. We see their limitations and weaknesses. They are too young and inexperienced. We want them to wait their turn and not disrupt the status quo. Or maybe they are too old and out-of-touch. We want them to move aside and give us our day in the sun. We tend to be preoccupied with outward appearances, but God has an entirely different way of seeing things. Our readings this week will be from the Sermon on the Mount (read Matthew 7, too).

- Pastor Tom Harrison