Ep. 177 — Is It True? + ”Least Likely To Succeed”
Least Likely To Succeed.
David, Least Likely To Succeed. The Statue of David by Michelangelo, housed at Galleria del Academia di Firenze in Florence, Italy.
I never knew how badly I wanted to see it. I never knew the history behind it, or the incredible story underneath its beauty and perfection. Proof that you don't know what you don't know, and that experiences yet to be lived on the road ahead are shocking and stunning in the best way, even when we have no clue what they are or will be. David, literally “Least Likely To Succeed” according to his father.
It just so happened to read 1 Samuel 14-16 today. When Samuel comes to Bethlehem to anoint a king from the house of Jesse, David is not even invited to the party. He's not even considered a possibility. And when Samuel has seen all the other sons of Jesse, it doesn't even occur to Jesse to mention him.
It is not until Samuel asks, “Are here all thy children?” That Jesse responds, “There remaineth yet the youngest. And behold, he keepeth the sheep.”
In Jesse's defense, I don't read that Samuel told him he was looking for the next king. David, though not invited to the sacrifice, is now summoned from the pasture. “…And he sent and brought him in.”
”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 brethren. And the Spirit of God came upon him from that day forward.”
God saw something in David that he could work with, though he was overlooked by even an earthly father. God committed himself to work with the flawed, raw material of David's life to form a man after his own heart. This theme from David's life ties into the famous statue bearing his name.
From an article on contexttravel.com, David predates Michelangelo. It was merely a rough slab of marble for 35 years, deemed unusable for a sculpture until Michelangelo worked his magic. The story goes like this, and I have read this from multiple sources.
The statue of David was originally commissioned in 1464 by the Opera del Duomo, the group responsible for decorating this gorgeous church, as part of a series of large statues for the Florence Cathedral. The project was originally awarded to Antonio di Duccio, despite his inexperience with large-scale “sculpture. Duccio traveled to the quarries nearby Carrara to select a marble block, but his inexperience led him astray.
He hewed a tall but narrow block full of imperfections, tiny holes, and visible veins. The quarry struggled to prepare and ship the massive block, and when it finally arrived in Florence, Duccio realized his error and gave up on the project.
The block was untouched for ten years until Antonio Rosolino tried to salvage the piece. He too quickly deemed the marble unusable, and the block lay in the courtyard of the Opera del Duomo for another 25 years.
In 1500, an inventory of the cathedral workshops described the piece as “a certain figure of marble called David, badly blocked and supine.” A year later, documents show that the Opera were determined to find an artist who could take the large piece of marble and turn it into a finished work of art.
They ordered the block of stone, which they called “el gigante,” the giant, to be raised on its feet so that a master experienced in this kind of work might examine it and express an opinion. Though Leonardo da Vinci, among others, were consulted, and Andrea Sansovino also was keen to get the commission, it was Michelangelo, at 26 years of age, who convinced the Opera that he deserved the commission. On August 16, 1501, Michelangelo was given the official contract to undertake the task.
He began carving the statue early in the morning on September 13. Michelangelo's biographer, Asconio Conviti, wrote that it was known from archive documents, that he worked on David in utmost secrecy, hiding his masterpiece in the making until 1504. Conviti wrote that when it rained, he worked soaked, and he was so engrossed in the project, he is said to have slept sporadically. And when he did, he slept with his clothes and even his boots still on, and he rarely ate.
Michelangelo committed himself to work with, to sculpt a flawed block of marble that others had given up on and deemed unusable. Like the David of history, this masterpiece of marble began and twice abandoned was least likely to succeed.
Yet Michelangelo requested the commission. All these years after its original removal from the quarry, it was still full of imperfections, tiny holes and visible veins. All the faults and blemishes that others walked away from were still there, yet he wanted this project.
Michelangelo asked for the commission. On August 25th, when we entered the Academia del Galleria and walked down the hallway toward David, I was moved to tears. I didn't know this backstory. I was an unprepared tourist, yet still moved by the grace and perfection of this towering and enduring work of art. Tears rolled down my cheeks as we approached the statue. He is that awe-inspiring. He is that beautiful and that perfect. Tear-provoking perfection.
Millions of visitors, one million to eight million, depending upon which site you read, visit Michelangelo's masterpiece each year. People come from all over the world and stand in line to see this timeless work of art. And when you see it, the word “flaw” could never come to mind. The Statue of David originally unveiled 500 years ago, stands at 17 feet high, roughly the height of a two-story building.
While you could never think flawed, you would likely think “perfection:” the final result of an arduous process from an impossible block of marble. And it is breathtaking.
All because Michelangelo had vision for something that others overlooked. He is quoted as saying,
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
And all because Michelangelo committed himself to completing what others had walked away from.
He wasn't even given a blank slate. His predecessors had already created the hollow between the legs, which played into his plan and final design. Yet he worked, as I've read, in utter secrecy day and night for three years to provide the beauty from impossibility and even from others' mistakes.
It was badly blocked. The vision and tenacity of this great talent certainly paid off. Once “least likely to succeed” is now “most likely to be visited.”
So it is with David's life, though forgotten and excluded when the great prophet came to his home, God had already told Samuel when he saw David's older brother, “Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, but the Lord for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh at the heart.” God looked at what some might deem least likely to succeed and crafted one of the most visited lives in all of scripture.
God worked in secrecy and used the chisels and files of affliction and enemies and unlikely scenarios and failures and wilderness seasons to create the towering masterpiece that is the life of David, a man after his own heart. This backstory has been such an encouragement to me the last few weeks, maybe because I have had people walk away, maybe because I often feel impossible, like I'm way too much work. When I hear myself talk at times or look at what the Lord has to work with in the raw material of my life or see the damage that's already been done, I feel like an impossibility.
This story resonates. That block of marble has struck a chord in my heart. It's been a reminder to get my pride and my eyes off of my flaws and onto the Artist who is still wielding the hammer, the one who has a vision for my life and more for every life.
He is visionary and he is committed. His talent and capability supersedes anything Michelangelo could have ever dreamed of. He himself is the image of the invisible God, and he is all the perfection of deity “in bodily form.
And He is committed to seeing His image formed in those who are His. “Until Christ be formed in you,” (Galatians 4:19) This word formed is #3445 and is only used one time in the Bible.
It means “to form, literally until a mind and life is in complete harmony with the mind and life of Christ.”
Wow! This is the goal and aim of the Artist.
His image formed in me, in us. And how committed is he? The answer is found in Philippians 1:6:
”He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
New Living Translation says, “And I am certain that God, who began the work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day of Jesus Christ's return.”
Michelangelo unveiled David on September 8, 1504, and one day, on the day of his return, Jesus will pull back the curtain and reveal all he was doing and creating in secrecy. He will show off the masterpiece of His saints. He will showcase lives who were once abandoned by others, those with complicated storylines, those who had been damaged by others and by themselves, those once thought lost least likely to succeed, those once thought impossible. On that day, He will prove through the masterpiece of His church that His creative power, His redemptive force, and His determined commitment can overcome any flaw, any history, no matter who else previously gave up on those purchased by His blood.
Oh, what the Artist can do in lives voted “least likely to succeed.”
“He's not done with me yet. He's not done with you yet.
There's so much more to the story. You're not done with me yet.”(Maverick City)
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.