Go Before You Know

Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 16. We are picking up right after Saul has been rejected as king. Samuel, the prophet, the man of God, is at home. And he is mourning. He is grieving over Saul. He anointed Saul. And now Saul is rejected. He is grieving over what could have been, what should have been.

We are going to meditate on 1 Samuel 16:1-12.

# God Lets You Mourn — But He Asks How Long

In verse 1, the Lord comes to Samuel and asks, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?" He does not say, "Why are you mourning?" He does not scold Samuel for grieving. He lets Samuel mourn. The Lord knows that we are human. He knows we have feelings. He knows we are pulled in different directions by our emotions. He is aware of all of that. He lets you mourn.

But He asks, "How long?"

Especially when what you are mourning is something the Lord has already rejected. Saul was rejected by God. Samuel is carrying something that God has already let go of. And the Lord is saying, "I understand your grief. I understand your pain. But how long are you going to hold on to something I have already released?"

Some of us are mourning things that God has already moved on from. Relationships that ended. Opportunities that closed. Plans that fell apart. God is not dismissing your pain. But He is asking you: how long will you stay here?

# God Speaks Even When You Are Down

Here is what I love about this passage. Samuel is not at the temple. He is not at the altar. He is not in a place of worship. He is at home, grieving. And God still speaks to him.

That is what we see in Psalm 23 as well. "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." When you are walking through the valley, He is with you. When you are down, when you are broken, when you do not know what to do, the Lord is still speaking.

Samuel was not seeking God in this moment. He was sitting in his grief. And God came to him. If you are a man of God, a woman of God, God will speak to you. Even in your lowest moment. Even when you are not trying to hear from Him. He will find you where you are.

And I want to say this as well. Ministers of God go through mourning. A lot of times we think pastors, evangelists, men and women of God are so full of the Holy Spirit, so full of anointing, so full of the Word, that they do not have to go through difficult seasons. They do not have to grieve. They do not go through negative situations. But that is not what we see here.

Samuel was the greatest prophet in Israel. He had served the Lord since childhood. He had seen the hand of God move in incredible ways. And here he is, at an old age, mourning. We need to pray for our pastors. We need to pray for our evangelists. We need to pray for the ministers of God, that when they go through mourning, they do not break. And at the right time, they come out of it.

# Fill Your Horn and Go

And what does God say to Samuel? "Fill your horn with oil and be on your way."

That is the way out of mourning. Action. Fill your horn with oil. Oil represents anointing. Go to the presence of God. Be anointed. Pray. Speak in tongues. Worship. And then move. Take steps.

Move towards Bethlehem. Move towards the Word of God. Move towards worship. Fill your heart and be on your way. That is the only way out of mourning. Nothing else will work. You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself all day. You can replay the situation over and over in your mind. But the only way out is to fill up and go.

Think about what Paul and Silas did in Acts 16. They were beaten, thrown in prison, feet in stocks. And what did they do? They praised and worshipped God. And there was a great earthquake. The prison doors opened. That is what happens when you worship in your lowest moment.

Think about the apostles in Acts 1. They were afraid. They were hiding. And they prayed and worshipped. And the Holy Spirit was poured out.

When your mind is cluttered, when you do not know what to do, what do we do today? We take out our phones. We scroll Facebook. We scroll Instagram. We scroll WhatsApp. And that blocks God's voice. We will not be able to hear what the Lord is saying because we have filled ourselves with noise instead of oil.

Fill your horn with oil. Worship the Lord. Pray. And go.

# Go Before You Know

Here is the part that I want you to carry home today. In verse 1, God says, "I have chosen one of his sons to be king." He does not say, "I have chosen David." He says, "one of his sons."

Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." A lamp shows you the next five steps. It does not show you the whole journey. It does not illuminate the destination. It shows you where to place your feet right now.

God says, "Be on your way. I am going to show you the next king. But I am not going to tell you exactly who it is yet."

A lot of times we want to know everything before we take the first step. We want the full plan. We want every detail mapped out. We want certainty before we move. But that is not how the Lord works. The Lord tells you something. He expects you to be obedient. Even if it is uncertain. Even if there is fog. Even if you are in a dilemma. The Lord is expecting you to take the first step. He is expecting you to obey. And then He will show you the next thing.

Go before you know.

And Samuel asks, "How can I go?" Even the greatest prophet, the man who has heard God speak, the man who has seen the hand of God move, he asks, "How?" Because God is always doing things that we do not understand. He is always doing more than we can think or ask for. It is natural to ask "how."

And what does the Lord say? "Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord." When you do not know how, sacrifice. Worship. Praise. That is the answer. Your cluttered mind, your overwhelmed heart, the answer is not to figure it out on your own. The answer is to worship.

It is better to ask the Lord "how" than to figure it out in your own way. Samuel could have tried to figure out which son it was on his own. He could have analyzed it. He could have made a list. But he went to the Lord. And the Lord showed him.

# God Teaches You Principles and Expects You to Use Them

When the sons of Jesse are paraded before Samuel, something interesting happens. Jesse's first son, Eliab, walks by. He is tall. He is impressive. And Samuel thinks, "Surely this is the one." He is very certain.

But God corrects him. Verse 7: "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him." And then God gives him the principle. "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

God did not just say, "This is not the one." He gave Samuel the principle by which to judge. And here is what is remarkable. After verse 7, God goes quiet. Jesse brings the next son. And Samuel says, "The Lord has not chosen this one." And the next son. And the next. God is not speaking. Samuel is acting on the principle God gave him.

Do not expect God to micromanage every decision. Once God gives you a principle, act on it. If you do not have a principle, go to the Lord and ask. But once He reveals it, use it. Be faithful in what He has shown you. Pray. Read the Word. Go to church. Serve people. Whatever the Lord has revealed to you, be faithful in it. And at the appropriate time, He will speak again.

# The Rejected One Is Chosen

Finally, in verse 11, Samuel has gone through all the sons and none of them are the one. And he asks Jesse, "Are these all your sons?"

Jesse did not even invite David. He did not even consider him worth bringing to the prophet. David was out in the field, tending sheep. The other sons were soldiers. They were respected. They were the ones you bring to the party. David was the youngest, the overlooked one, the one nobody thought was important.

Men may forget you. Men may not invite you to the table. But the Lord, as David wrote in Psalm 23, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." He prepares a banquet for you. Men may overlook you, but the Lord will not.

And when David comes, verse 12 says he was glowing with health and a fine appearance and handsome features. Do not misunderstand what God said in verse 7. He said, "Do not look at outward appearance." That does not mean the one He chooses is not handsome. David was handsome. But what set him apart was that the Spirit of God was with him.

When you wait for the Lord's choice, it carries everything. Not only the blessing and the anointing, but everything you need. The outward and the inward together. Wait for the Lord. Do not rush ahead. Do not settle for what looks right. Wait for what God has chosen, and it will have both the spirit and the beauty.

# Go With What The Lord Tells You

The Lord lets you mourn, but He asks how long. He speaks to you even when you are down. The way out is to fill your horn with oil and go. And go before you know. God will show you the next step, not the whole path. He gives you principles and expects you to act on them. And the one He chooses may not be the one the world would pick, but it will carry everything you need.

Go before you know. Fill up and go.

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