THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

  • 2 Samuel 16:7

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It captures the essence of what the Father desires of His children. We as faulty Christians constantly judge others by the outward appearance. Yet, our loving Father, full of grace and mercy, judges the heart. 

It reminds me of the song, The Little Drummer Boy. This song was composed by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers, it later became a huge song known around the world and recorded time and time again over the years. I am sure we have all grown up hearing this song. To be honest, I did not like this song.  I just thought the song was ridiculous. I never understood it and I simply didn’t understand the complexity of the song until I started to break it down. 

The song starts off as a little boy learning about a baby Jesus being born. He was curious, so he decided to go see the baby that he heard about. The story says that he came when the wise men were there. The wise men all had gifts that were considered precious and valuable during that time; gold, frankincense and myrrh. The little boy was very poor, all he had was his drum. 

We see in the song, that he thought he had no gift to bring that was fit for a king, all he had was his drum. Nevertheless, the boy decided to play his drum, as small of a gift as it was. When he was playing, he saw the face of Jesus smile at him. He was playing his best for the king.

We as children of God are like this little drummer boy. We see all these other Christians who have other “gifts” that are thought of as cool and more exciting. But you see, God is more focused on your heart than the gift. The little boy had nothing, all he had was himself and he laid it before the king. We need to realize that God loves us so much that his desire to come humbly before the throne of grace and say “Father, here I am, I have very little to give, but I am yours to use for your glory.” When we come to the realization that God is so loving and so good and desires your gift from the heart, you will begin to understand the way the Father sees you; as His child.