1 Samuel 16 - A New King Anointed

Previously in 1 Samuel, we saw King Saul put to the test a second time.  He was told to destroy all the Amalekites, along with everything they had.  Saul destroyed the Amalekites, but he kept the king and the best of the livestock alive.  He did this for fear of losing popularity with the people, and justified it by stating they would offer the best of the animals as a sacrifice to the Lord.  However, the Lord was not pleased with Saul’s partial obedience, and sent the prophet Samuel to tell him that to obey is better than sacrifice.  Sinning out of ignorance is still sin, but sinning willfully demonstrates a heart that is not submitted to the Lord and the authority of His word.  Rebellion is rejecting the will of God in exchange for the idol of self.  This was Israel’s first king, and the Lord wanted to set a precedent that He holds His leaders to a higher standard.  The Lord told Saul a second time that the kingdom would be taken from him, and Saul, rather than truly repenting, insisted on Sameul honoring him before the people.  Saul would reign for several decades, but this reign would not pass to his children and likely was cut short due to his sin.  In this chapter we will see the Lord send Samuel to anoint another king that will replace Saul.

The Lord spoke to Samuel, stating, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?”  Samuel was still mourning the loss of Saul, but the time of mourning was past.  The Lord was done with Saul as a leader (not as a person), and He was ready to anoint another king.  He continued, “Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”  The horn of oil, again, is symbolic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon one’s life.  Samuel asked the Lord how he should do this, since Saul would kill him if he found out.  This was a legitimate concern, since this would have been considered treason by Saul.  The Lord told him to take a heifer, go to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice, and then invite Jesse.  It was common place for Samuel to travel around the country to offer sacrifices, so this would not have seemed suspicious to Saul.  The Lord told him to anoint the one He would name.  Interesting that the Lord did not tell Samuel ahead of time who would be anointed, but He expected Sameul to go in obedience first.  Often times, the Lord will give us one step at a time in order to teach us trust and obedience.  Then, once we have obeyed, He will give us the next step.

So, Sameul went to Bethlehem, and when he arrived, the people trembled at his presence, asking if he came peaceably?  They had previously seen the Lord, in response to Samuel’s prayer, send rain during their wheat harvest, and they, no doubt, had heard of Samuel’s hacking of Agag in pieces.  He told them he came peaceably, and to sanctify themselves for the sacrifice he was going to offer.  He also consecrated Jesse and his sons.

As Jesse’s sons began to come before him, Samuel looked at Eliab the oldest, and said that surely the Lord’s anointed was before Him.  However, the Lord responded, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  Even Samuel fell into the trap of looking at things in the natural.  We so easily gravitate to what we can see: we pick our leaders by how they look, how they carry themselves, whether or not they are charismatic, etc., but this is often to overlook what is in their heart.  This is what the nation had done in choosing Saul.  The Lord had given them their request, but this time the Lord was choosing His king.  Then Jesse called Abinadab before Samuel, but Samuel said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Next, Jesse caused Shammah to pass before Samuel, but Samuel said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Jesse had all seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said that the Lord had not chosen them.

Samuel, maybe puzzled at this point, asked if he had any more sons present?  Jesse replied that there was the youngest, and “There he is, keeping the sheep.”  This gives us some incite into what Jesse and his sons thought of David: He was so lightly esteemed that Jesse did not even call for him when Samuel arrived.  Instead, he was left to keep the sheep, the lowest job often left to servants if the family could afford them.  This was probably largely due to his age, but could have also been due to David’s heart for God that the rest of them did not possess.  One commentator said the following of David: “You may not be intellectual or well thought of in your family circle; you may be despised by others for your faith in Christ. Perhaps you had only a little share in the love of your parents, as David did. But remember that those who are rejected of men often become beloved of the Lord.”  In fact, the name David means beloved.  We have no biblical evidence that David complained or became embittered by this, but he simply did his job to the best of his ability in obedience to his father.  This time of keeping the sheep was no doubt a time of preparation for God’s calling on David’s life.  Taking care of sheep would have taken a man of great care and patience.  He also would have had time to seek the Lord, and learn to trust Him in the dangers that came with being a shepherd.

Samuel told Jesse to go bring him there, for they would not leave off the matter until he came.  So, Jesse sent for David, and had him brought in before Samuel.  We are told that David was ruddy (red headed), bright (light colored) eyed, and good looking.  He was a good-looking kid, but probably not someone you would think of as kingly material.  Josephus states that David was 10 years old at this point.  When Samuel saw him, the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!”  So, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of God came (rushed) upon him from that day forward.  David was a godly boy, but now he had been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be king.  The Spirit would remain on him the rest of his life, but he was not ready to reign as king at this point.  The next 20 years or so would be the preparation for that.  We may have a tendency to think it would be all down hill for David after this, but, in fact, his troubles were about to begin.  After anointing David, Samuel went back to Ramah.

David received the anointing of God, but it states that the Spirit of God departed from Saul.  Old Testament believers did not receive the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit as we do in The Church Age.  What Saul lost was the anointing, and it was because of his stubborn and impenitent heart.  At the same time, a distressing (evil) spirit from the Lord troubled him.  At times the Lord will allow the devil or one of his demons to commit evil, but it is ultimately to fulfil His will and purpose.  God was allowing Saul to be harassed by an evil spirit in hopes that it would drive him to a place of repentance.  Sometimes the Lord will allow the devil to harass us when we are doing what is right in order to refine us and teach us perseverance, but sometimes it is our own doing.  When we walk in sin, it gives the devil or one of his henchmen the right to harass us further.  James gives us some incite on this: he writes, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”  As we can see, it starts with our own sin nature, and when we give into it, it then gives the devil license to come tempt us further.  If we persist in sin, this then gives the enemy grounds to create strongholds in our lives.  This stronghold or tower is simply giving the enemy greater advantage and influence over our thinking and behavior.  However, the answer to this is also found in the book of James: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  Saul could have humbled himself before God and repented, and this distressing spirit would have gone away.  However, he did not, but sought out other solutions which is often the case.  For Saul, this would work temporarily, but eventually this distressing spirit would still gain the upper hand.

Saul’s servants said, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you.  Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp.  And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”  So Saul told them to find him such a man.  One of the servants told Saul, “Look, “I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him.”  If we recall back from chapter 13, Samuel told Saul that the Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and David was that man.  Right away, we learn some things about David: He was a skillful musician.  Playing skillfully is important so that we are not a distraction for those whom we are seeking to lead into worship.  Whatever our gifts or callings are, we should want to do them as skillfully as we can.  “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 COR 10:31) And, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (ECCL 9:10) Notice however, there were more qualities than simply playing skillfully.  David was a mighty man of valor, a man of war.  We are in a spiritual battle, and to be successful in ministry or even life, we must be able to wage that war when necessary.  Paul wrote to Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”  If we cannot endure hardness, but throw in the towel or give into sin when times are tough, we will be a quick casualty in ministry.  David was prudent in speech.  In other words, he was careful in what he said.  Let’s face it, if we were to look back at all the trouble we have gotten ourselves into, our mouths are usually involved, if not the root cause.  Solomon wrote, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.” (PRO 20:23) Again, James writes, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)  Again, he was good-looking.  This is not really that important of a qualification, except that we do not want to be so over-dressed or under-dressed that we draw undo attention to ourselves.  Most importantly, it states that God was with David.  God was with David because David was with God.  God does not pick a man or woman that He wants to align Himself with, but He picks a man or woman He knows will align themselves with Him.

Therefore, Saul sent messengers to Jesse requesting that he send David who was with the sheep.  Like Saul in his early days, David did not seek a kingdom for himself, but went back to his normal job and waited on the Lord to promote him.  So, Jesse sent David with a donkey laden with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat.  David came and ministered to Saul, and Saul loved him so much, he made David his armorbearer.  Then Saul sent to Jesse to ask him to let David stand before him permanently.  Whenever the evil spirit would torment Saul, David would play on the harp.  When David played, the evil spirit would leave Saul, and he would be refreshed and well.  Guzek writes, “God was at work in ways no one could see. It seems plain to us from our distant perspective, but at the time perhaps only Samuel knew what was going on. ‘Unwittingly, Saul was becoming dependent on the one designated to succeed him.’ (Baldwin)”

There are a couple of things to consider here: First of all, the devil does not like it when people worship God, especially when godly individuals are leading it.  David would play the harp, and the evil spirit would leave.  If you or I are engaged in spiritual battle, worshiping the Lord is a crucial weapon in our arsenal, for it is part of prayer.  However, it is not a replacement for repentance and obedience to the word of God.  The time would come when this method would no longer work for Saul.  This brings me to my second point: there is a movement in the church today that emphasizes worship over the sound teaching from the word of God.  People do not know how to act because they are not being taught, and so they continue to walk in sin, giving the devil more advantage in their lives.  A healthy believer and a healthy church will have both worship and the teaching of the word, but the teaching of the word is paramount.  Again, Paul writes, “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” And, Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 TIM 4: 13, 16)  So again, if we want blessing and victory in our lives, we need to be walking in submission to God.  Then we can resist the enemy, and he will flee from us.  Let us apply what we have learned from David thus far: to be skillful in our gifts and callings, a mighty man or woman of valor, a good soldier of Jesus Christ, prudent in speech, and that we walk with God.  In the following chapter we will see the first record of David going to battle.