First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast. And remember, there's power at the park.

Guest (Male): First Samuel 16 beginning at verse number six, New Living Translation. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, "Surely, this is the Lord's anointed." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "This is not the one the Lord has chosen." Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, "Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen." In the same way, all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen any of these."

Then Samuel asked, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse replied, "but he's out in the fields watching the sheep and goats." "Send for him at once," Samuel said. "We will not sit down to eat until he arrives." So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, "This is the one, the dark one. Anoint him."

So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. These are the words of God. You may go to your seats. 13th verse, so as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully, powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

Don't let the crown fool you. Don't let the crown fool you. This weekend I'm taking off from our vacation Bible school and my weekend theme, "Called to Reign, Sent to Serve." Thank God that God can send us and send us to serve. One of the dangers of modern Christianity is that we often celebrate crowns but forget callings. We admire platforms but we ignore preparation. We applaud prominence while overlooking process.

God has always been more interested in who you are becoming than where you are currently sitting. A crown can fool people. It can make people believe that a person has always been successful. It can make people believe that favor came overnight. It can make people think that public elevation is the entire story. But before David wore a crown, he carried lunch to his brothers.

Before he ruled a nation, he watched sheep in obscurity. Before he sat on a throne, he was simply an overlooked teenager in a field. The crown can fool people. The crown can make people forget the tears, the rejection, the loneliness, the hidden prayers, the long seasons of waiting. That's why this text is so important this morning. Israel needs a king. Saul has failed. Samuel is grieving.

God sends Samuel to the house of Jesse. He sends him to Jesse's house because heaven has already selected the next king. But the next king doesn't fit the family portrait. Matter of fact, here they are and David isn't in the house. He's in the field. Some of us because of African culture and our ancestors, we knew something about the field and the house. We realize David was in the field. And that's where God often finds his greatest servants because before God lets you reign publicly, he teaches you how to serve privately.

Some of us are asking God for the crown while God is asking us to be faithful in the field. Because the crown is not the calling; the calling produces the crown. That's the reality that we have to navigate in terms of our lives, that the crown is not the calling, the calling produces the crown. That's why many times I will not walk around on these grounds flexing that I'm the pastor.

Matter of fact, there are persons who have come onto our grounds and had conversations with me and had no idea what role I played in this church. I would invite them to come back, invite them to come and share again as they asked me for directions, how do I get from this place to that place, and then I tell them which way to go. I don't go through the exercise of flexing who I am. Because when you are clear as to who you are, you don't have to make any kind of declaration at all.

There are three areas that we're going to look at in this experience. Number one, God sees what others skip. Matter of fact, you realize that God sees the best in you and can bring the best out of you and no matter what goes on in your life, God is able to use you to his glory. The second thing is, oil comes before opportunity. Thank God for the oil. The oil can come because persons think, "Oh, you got oil now." But no, I had oil before I got to the spotlight because God was already working in the kitchen.

God is working, God is moving, God is speaking, God is delivering, God is healing, God is opening up doors, helping us through challenges. No matter what, everybody's not going to have a Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding. Everybody's not going to be able to go down to the garden and get married. But I've come to say to us that God can work with you even in discrete places.

Third thing is, the crown must never replace the calling. Don't get wrapped up in who you are. Always understand not just who you are, but whose you are. I'm a child of the King, I'm blessed by the best and I'm growing through as I go through. I'm not going to hate on the process, I'm going to appreciate every day that the Lord sends my way. Let me back it up, unpack it so we can go downstairs and eat some fried fish this morning with cornbread, filleted fish, boneless, all that we're getting ready to throw down with grits and rice and oatmeal.

We're going to throw down after this service, but before we get to that, God sees. Don't rush, don't leave out too soon. God sees what others skip. Here it is, verse number six. Surely this is the Lord's anointed. Samuel sees Eliab and immediately assumes this must be the king. Why? Because Eliab looks the part. He has the stature, he has the appearance, he has the presence. But then verse seven interrupts human judgment and says the Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. There's the trigger of the point. God sees differently. The Hebrew idea behind "looks at the heart" speaks of examining the inner person, the motives, the character, the spiritual condition. I cannot see that on the outside. Samuel sees height, God sees heart. Samuel sees appearance, God sees anointed. Samuel sees the obvious, God sees the overlooked.

And isn't that the testimony of scripture? Moses was a stuttering fugitive. Gideon was hiding in a winepress. Rahab was an outsider. Peter was an impulsive fisherman with a dirty mouth. Paul was a former persecutor. God has a habit of choosing what people overlook. Never look at somebody else's inability to see your value and determine your sense of worth. Don't try to put somebody else down to lift yourself up.

The same people who skipped David would later bow down before King David. Because when God has his hand on your life, being overlooked is only temporary. Many of our seasoned saints know what it feels like to be passed over for promotions because of race, denied opportunities and told they weren't qualified. Yet God still kept opening up doors.

There's a young person in here today. Young people know what it feels like to be left out of the group chat, ignored online, underestimated because they don't have enough followers. But God's favor has never been determined by public opinion. You ought to talk to somebody, "You may have skipped me but God saw me. You might have looked past me but God sees the best in me." And not only do I see the best in you, I can bring the best out of you.

The second thing is, oil comes before opportunity. Thank you God. This point rises directly out of the text. Samuel asks, "Are these all the sons you have?" in verse 11. Jesse says there is still the youngest but he's out in the field watching the sheep and the goats. Did you catch that? David wasn't even invited to the meeting. Nobody expected him to be the king. He's working, he's serving, he's being faithful.

But then verse 13 said Samuel took the flask of olive oil. Thank you God, thank you for the anointing, thank you for the pouring that can take place. The flask of olive oil he had brought anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Thank God, then Samuel had to return in a different way. No palace, the anointing came while David was still a shepherd. No palace, no throne, no army, no crown, all he had was oil.

Because God often gives you the anointing before he gives you the opportunity. The oil came first. The process comes first, the preparation comes first, the waiting comes first. David is anointed in chapter 16, he doesn't become king over Israel until much later. There's a long distance between the oil and the opportunity. Some of us want chapter 30 blessings with chapter 16 preparation.

But God says I anoint you first. And after I anoint you, then I develop you. I have to make you through the process, through the challenge. No matter what it is, I'm able to bring you through. All of that is preparation. Here's the theological point: the anointing signifies divine appointment and divine enablement. You've been divinely appointed and you have been divinely enabled.

To enable, I am empowering you, I am strengthening you, I am the wind underneath your wings. I'm blowing you, I'm pushing you into your tomorrow, holding you up in your today because nothing is too hard for God. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. The Spirit showed up before the throne showed up. Because if God gave you the opportunity without the oil, you wouldn't be ready. If God gives you the opportunity and you don't have any oil, what are you going to do?

I could give you a car but if the car has no gas, what's it going to do? I had a person live in the same community I lived in growing up in college. He had the cleanest car on the lot, I mean his car was clean. He waxed it every Saturday morning, it was a baby blue Volvo. We were in college, he had a baby blue Volvo with his Armor All tires and all, I mean his car looked good. But the problem was it looked good but it always had engine trouble.

Yeah, we could go out and we could marvel at his car but he couldn't take us anywhere. Here we were with a beat up 1969 Volkswagen Bug with no air conditioning, only with AM radio but we could go everywhere we needed to go. I mean that Volkswagen Bug blessed us, it was our party vehicle. I mean we would go to the parties with that one. We would go to the party in the Volkswagen Bug.

We were able to put seven folks in a bug. I know you're all looking now, how in the world did you get seven people in a Volkswagen Bug? We did it. And we went to a party one time, parked that bad boy around the corner. Now there's a reason why we parked around the corner. We parked around the corner because we didn't want anybody to ask us how did we get here. And so we entered the party in shifts. You three go. Delay. Next three, you go.

We went in there delayed because we did not want somebody to ask us how did you get here, nor did we want anybody to ask us, "Can I have a ride home?" The oil comes before the opportunity. Because you do not want the opportunity and not have the oil. That's why don't despise your field season. Many of us in this room know something about the field season. We're not to where we want to go.

We got bigger things, we got bigger plans, we got bigger possibilities, but don't hate on the field season because that's when God is trying to take you. God is working, God is dealing, God is teaching you, he's giving you lessons that you're going to need not necessarily right now but down the road. All I want you to do right now is trust me. Trust me every step that I'm going to take, every move that I'm going to make, trust me. Just lean and depend on me. And as you lean and depend on me, there is no limit to what God can do.

Thank God, don't despise the field season because the field is where God develops kings. I can develop a king in the field. The field is where character is formed, the field is where humility is learned, the field is where faith is able to grow. Many people in the room prayed for things that didn't happen for 20 years, then suddenly God opened the door. The opportunity arrived after the oil had done its work.

There's a young person understand, everybody wants viral success but nobody wants hidden preparation. God still believes in process. If God anointed me, my opportunity is coming. And you got to believe that. I'm walking in it right now, I'm already believing that God is going to show up and God is going to show out. I'm already believing that God's got a door he's about to open, but he's getting me ready in the field.

I'm in the field, I'm trying to get to where I'm going to go but I'm in the field, I'm working to that moment and that brings me to my third point. The crown must never replace the calling. Oh no, can't replace the calling. Verse 13 is remarkable because David is anointed king but then he goes right back to the field. He's anointed, but he goes back to the field. No coronation, no parade, no name on the side of the Lincoln Center, no throne, no royal robe.

He goes back to serving because the anointing did not exempt him from responsibility. The calling was greater than the crown. And that's the danger of success. Sometimes people receive a crown and forget why God elevated them. He elevated you to make a difference. He didn't elevate you to walk around puffed up like you can't speak to people. He didn't bless you to be selfish, he blessed you to be a blessing to somebody else.

Thank you God, that's why our weekend theme is so powerful. And if you cause them to become a kingdom of priests for our God, Revelation 5:10 says, and you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God and they will reign on the earth. Notice the order, we reign but we are also priests. Kings and servants, authority and humility. I meet people sometimes and it throws folks off because again, I'm grateful for what God has done in terms of my life in terms of ministry. Praise God.

Thank God for every open door, every life impacted, every person baptized, every family that I've had to minister and walk through some dark. Thank God for all of that. But the reality of it is, and people say, "Why do you do all the stuff that you do?" Number one, I'm not doing it on my strength. God knew when he called me that I had energy. He knew that.

And that's part of the reason that I need you to do what you're going to do because you're going to do what you're going to do and you're not going to look tired and worn out. Folks have no idea what my week has been like. And typically on a typical Sunday, you have no idea what my week has been like. You don't know what I've done, you don't know how many miles I've driven in cars and going to this, carried this, done this, gone there. But thanks be to God that I don't have to worry about that because it's all God's. To God be the glory for all things.

That's that working, that's that moving, that's that delivering, that's that how God. So we are priests, we are also kings and servants, authority and humility, position and ministry. God never crowns us so that we can become impotent. God crowns us so we can become useful. That's what David understood. Even as king, he still saw himself as a servant of the Lord. Look at it, he gets anointed and sent back to the field.

He didn't go back to the field with an attitude, "I'm not supposed to be here." He went back there with an assurance. That's what we sang in that song last week, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine." It's not here yet, but I'm going to trust God in the process every step. Jesus embodied this perfectly. He wore the crown of heaven, yet Jesus washed feet.

He possessed all authority and yet served humanity. The crown never replaced his calling. Here's the question: if God blesses you, will you still serve? I know you want the blessing, but if I give you the blessing, do you still have a servant's mentality? I say that to every preacher, every deacon, every church leader, every officer. I can give you that position, but I want you to still have a servant's heart. Came to serve.

When I came here 25 years ago, Randy Williams Jr. was an usher. He was at the door. But I knew his daddy, and his daddy was a finance man. He was an usher. Randy Williams Jr., the businessman, business success, but always had a servant's heart. Some of our best leaders today at one time were ushers. Some of them still usher. You got to have a servant mentality.

See, that's what shakes folks up when they come, "What? That's the pastor?" Servant. God calls us to serve, serve this present age. He doesn't need you pompous and puffed up, walking around. He doesn't need that. He needs you to serve, he needs you to pray with somebody. No spotlight, no credit, no flower arrangement, no award show. Serve, and God's going to bless you.

If God blesses you, will you serve? If God elevates you, will you still pray? If God opens doors, will you still be humble? If God gives you influence, will you still remember the field? Some folks ask me, "Do you preach at little churches?" I preach everywhere. I remember the field. I remember pastoring a church and inviting folk to come and them looking at me and saying, "How many am I going to be looking at?"

They asked me that, that's what they want to know. And I'm like, "Doc, that's why I'm inviting you because I want to look at some more folk." And I saw that big choir you had, I want you to bring all that and bring that to my little town. I wanted you to bring that energy, I wanted you to show our people possibilities. I don't need you to tell, to ask me what you're going to be looking at, just come and do what I asked you to do.

Some of my friends, they come now and preach, but they preached for me then. And they didn't need the crowd. And some of them were trying to come to me, we just had date conflicts and we couldn't pull it out. But you have to realize because the crown can fool you. It can make you think you've arrived by yourself. It can make you think you don't need God anymore. It can make you forget who anointed you.

You need to look around, I may wear a crown but I'll never forget the field. Oh no, I'm not going to forget where you brought me from. I'm not going to forget the valley experiences, I'm not going to forget the times I had to deal with difficult things. You got to remember, don't let the crown fool you. The good news of the gospel is Jesus understands both field and the crown.

He was born in a manger, not in a hotel, not at the Omni, but a manger. Rejected by his own, despised and overlooked. Crowned with thorns before he was crowned with glory. Hung on an old rugged cross, died for our sins. Stayed in the grave all night Friday, all day Saturday. But early Sunday morning, God put a crown on what the world had crucified. And because Jesus reigns, we can reign. And because Jesus served, we must serve.

Church, don't let the crown fool you. You're blessing us from the morning to the night. You're blessing us all night long. You're blessing us every step that I take, every move that I make. Can't nobody—don't let the crown fool you—can't nobody, you can't take away the joy I have. Joy, Jesus joy, joy. The world didn't give it and the world can't take it away. Don't let the crown fool you.

Thank God you got a corner office. Thank God you got that raise. Thank God you had that opportunity. But don't let the crown fool you because at the end of the day, every knee has got to bow, every tongue has got to confess that Jesus, that Jesus, that Jesus is Lord. Yes, he is. Mother for the motherless, father for the fatherless. Can't nobody, can't nobody.

Do you like the Lord? Don't let the crown fool you. Thank God you're doing pretty good now. You got two nickels and you can rub them together. Thank God, but don't let the crown fool you. You think about some of the richest folk in the world and they leave here. But you got to be able to answer that question. If I were to die, am I going to heaven? And if God were to ask you why should I let you in, can you say, "I'm in relationship with you. I'm your child." That's why you can let me in. I'm not perfect, but I've given it over to you. And today can be your day.

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the World Wide Web. And remember, there's power at the park.