The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.1
We have three personalities: A shepherd boy; a son of a king; and a virgin. They were David, Manasseh, and Mary, respectively.
Jesse and his sons were invited. Samuel considered Eliab. But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”2 King Hezekiah died and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.3 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to . . . Mary . . . “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”4
“There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping sheep.” . . . Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.5 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD . . . For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down and he erected altars to the Baals, . . . . And he burned his sons as an offering . . . and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. . . . Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel. 6 When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!7 And blessed is [Mary] who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”8
David went through testing, temptations, and tribulations.9 Manasseh was judged by the LORD.10 Mary magnified the Lord, and rejoiced in God her Savior.11
When David was confronted for his sin with Bathsheba, immediately, he repented.12 David went through much suffering to the point that his spirit was faint. He found strength by remembering all the things that God had done for him. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.13 The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.14
No matter how far we’ve fallen from God’s grace, the way back is never closed. When Manasseh was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his pleas and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. Afterward he did reforms by destroying all the idols and all the altars that he had built. He commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.15
Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart.16
Notes:
1. Psalm 138:8
2. 1 Samuel 16:1-7
3. 2 Chronicles 32:32-33
4. Luke 1:26-28
5. 1 Samuel 16:11-13
6. 2 Chronicles 33:1-9
7. Luke 1:39-42
8. Luke 1:45
9. 1 Samuel 16-30; 2 Samuel 2-24
10. 2 Chronicles 33:10-11
11. Luke 1:46-47
12. Psalm 51:1-19
13. Psalm 143:1-6
14. Psalm 126:3
15. 2 Chronicles 33:12-16
16. Luke 2:19
