April 12, 2026
God Cares About Me
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
Have you ever felt unseen?
1 Samuel 8:4-5 NIV
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
1 Samuel 9:2 NIV
Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.
1 Samuel 10:23 NIV
They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.
The world we live in is very impressed with outward appearances.
1 Samuel 10:24 NIV
Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
1 Samuel 13:13 NIV
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.”
People may be impressed with outward appearances, but the Lord sees something much deeper.
Psalms 34:15-16 NIV
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.
1 Samuel 13:14 NIV
“But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
God sees everything: What will He find when He looks at you?
2 Chronicles 16:9a NIV
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
1 Samuel 16:1 NIV
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
1 Samuel 16:3 NIV
“Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
1 Samuel 16:6 NIV
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:10 NIV
Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
1 Samuel 16:11 NIV
So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
Jehovah Jireh – God sees and will see to it.
God sees me, God knows me, & God values me… even when others do not.
1 Samuel 16:12 NASB 1995
So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
1 Samuel 16:13a NIV
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.
To anoint is a verb describing the action. The Anointed One is a noun describing a person. The word “Messiah” (Hebrew) or “Christ” (Greek) both mean the Anointed One.
Matthew 3:16-17 NIV
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
In the same way that God accepted David, in Jesus, we can be assured that God accepts us, too.
Ephesians 1:5-6 NLT
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.