1 Samuel 16:1-23
David Anointed King
1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? 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.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
But the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!”
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “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.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul
14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 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.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
18 Then one of the servants answered and said, “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.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
Though Samuel still grieved over the direction Saul took after being coronated and misled the people he was supposed to lead under God, he was shaken from the emotions of the situation by the LORD with a reminder that He had rejected him from reigning over Israel due to Saul’s unfaithfulness to His word and will. He would choose another, this time without the consent of a prophet like Samuel or the congregation of Israel. It would instead be the man chosen by the LORD this time, one whose heart was completely (1 Samuel 13:14, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Psalm 89:20-21, Acts 13:22) His. Out of fear for Saul to stop Samuel from anointing the future king, he gathered to sacrifice in a low key manner and waited for God to point out the man chosen by Him when he would be revealed there. Unlike towering handsome Saul, the prophet was to look past the physical appearance. He was reminded that “the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance (Psalm 147:10-11), but the LORD looks at the heart.” Then Jesse had seven of his sons present themselves before Samuel but none of them were the one chosen by God, despite their outward appearance of suitability. Samuel asked if that was the entity of them because the LORD told him the chosen would be of the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) as we now look back and acknowledge (Romans 15:12) the choice of any of us is God’s (Deuteronomy 7:6, 1 Peter 2:4, 9-10, John 15:16, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, ) and not our own. The youngest son David was tending sheep and was called from that lowly task to stand before the prophet to be anointed as God’s choice for a godly leader to rule the people in due time. From that day forward the Spirit of the LORD came upon David to enable him to take his place in that time to come as Saul decreased and he increased in favor (1 Samuel 2:26) with God and men as Samuel before him and the Christ to come (Luke 2:52) from his lineage. As for Saul, his decline was fueled by a distressing evil spirit after the Spirit of the LORD left him, for before Christ came to regenerate us with a new birth, the Spirit did not remain permanently (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 5:5, Romans 8:15-16, 17) on anyone as He does now. The temporary calming for Saul ironically was to have this same anointed David, the man who would be king, come and play soothing harp music to subdue the demon afflicting Saul who was no longer king in God’s eyes. The LORD was with this young valiant man of war and peace as well as good looks because God chose him, not for these qualities, but to use them for His long range plan and glory. We now have the offspring of the king, the King of kings, to comfort us with His Spirit who ever lives in us and keeps the demons at bay from us forever, never more to enter us or keep us from Him. David was the earthly anointed chosen one who God used to bring His Son, the eternal Anointed Messiah-Christ, into the world to rule as our King forever and to drive and keep evil (Matthew 6:13, John 17:11) from us. May we learn from this example of king David to humbly aim the direction of our lives to be men and women after His own heart, loyal and devoted to following our Lord and Savior (2 Peter 1:1, 3:17-18, Titus 2:13) Jesus Christ. Amen.
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