When Others Reject Us

“Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Ps.27:10

Have you ever felt the sting of rejection or been misunderstood by those who should know and love you best? That is a very difficult thing for us and it was a feeling that the shepherd, David understood very well. When Samuel was sent on a mission to find the next King to replace Saul, God sent him to the home of Jesse.

Jesse had eight sons. After hearing from Samuel’s lips, that he was there to anoint the King God had chosen, Jesse brought his first seven sons in for Samuel to get acquainted with. Samuel asked if there were any others. “Yes, there is another…the youngest,” Jesse stammered. In those days, the word “youngest” not only referred to his age, but also his rank. Jesse hadn’t considered David kingly material. The minute David walked into the presence of Samuel, God spoke to Samuel’s heart and said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” (I Sam. 16:12NASB) Samuel took the oil and wordlessly obeyed his Lord.

Perhaps feeling the lack of value from his own father and brothers prepared David for what was to come. This may very well be the setting for David’s words, “Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Ps.27:10

David’s heart had been prepared for leading God’s people because he had been tending his father’s sheep for years. Was it spending time alone with only sheep to talk to that made David sensitive to God’s leading? The solitude and quietness could have been factors which allowed David to hear God’s voice as He was shaping the heart of this sensitive shepherd to lead a very stubborn people.

Loneliness and rejection or a lack of value in the eyes of others can be very devastating. When we feel this way, we need to remember David’s words in this verse, “the Lord will receive me.” The Lord did receive him. He chose him as King, a King after God’s own heart. God has chosen You to be His child! “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it to you.” John 15:16 Rejoice in that truth! Thank you, Abba Father, that you love me so much that nothing can separate that love! Amen.

*copyrighted 2001