This sermon was preached on Sunday, June 14, 2015. The texts for this sermon were: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13, Psalm 20 , 2 Corinthians 5:6-10,[11-13],14-17 , and Mark 4:26-34 . I was forced to watch a horrendous remake of Cinderella on a plane ride recently. It’s possible the film may have been more enjoyable had I forked over the five bucks for a pair of headphones, but I figured I knew the Cinderella story well enough already that I didn’t need to hear the dialog. We all know the Cinderella story—the meek and gentle child forced to do chores while everyone else goes off to a party to compete for the chance to become royalty. It’s a classic underdog story. And it’s pretty tempting to read today’s passage from the first book of Samuel that way, too. Poor little David isn’t invited to the party when the famous prophet Samuel comes over to anoint the next leader of Israel. While all the rest of his seven brothers audition to be king, David’s assigned to sit off in the ...