God asked Samuel how long he was going to mourn for Saul. Samuel was in distress, but he must move on (v1-3). There was time for mourning but in God’s sight, that was now over. God’s work must go on, it is never stopped by man’s failure. He told Samuel to go and anoint someone else in Saul’s place. It would be one of Jesse’s sons, a Bethlehemite. Jesse was a grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:17-22). Jesse was not chosen at random this was God’s plan coming to pass.
Unsurprisingly, Samuel was afraid and said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” Saul would have considered it as treason, but The LORD said that He would show Samuel what to do. “Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to The LORD.” 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.””
Previously Saul was appointed for the people, they wanted a king, but now, God said, “you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”. This king was for God. God was still ruling. The people’s choice had failed, this one was for God.
Despite his fear, Samuel did as God commanded. Some may think that God was telling Samuel to lie, but it was not so. He did go to sacrifice, and he did invite Jesse and some of his family to witness it. He went to Jesse’s house saying he was to offer a sacrifice thus getting all the family together for him to see.
When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the town were afraid. No doubt they had heard what Samuel had done to Agag and wondered what he had come to them for. They asked him if he had come in peace, and he replied that he had, and had come to sacrifice to The LORD. He invited them to come to the sacrifice. together with Jesse and his family (v4,5).
Sure enough, he looked over all the sons (v6-10) – Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah and four un-named others but the LORD rejected all of them, before we come to David. If we look at 1 Chronicles 2:13 we are told the names – Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea (or Shammah), the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai,the sixth Ozem and the seventh David. Seems to be a discrepancy! It is suggested that there were initially eight sons, but one had died by the time we get to the period of 1 Chronicles when the summary of the families was recorded.
Here we find one of the greatest verses in the Bible(v7) “The LORD said to Samuel, (as he looked at Eliab (v6)) “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.” “
We have no option but to look at the outward appearance, we cannot see into a person’s heart. Samuel was doing just that, but The LORD told Samuel that He could see the heart. However, we can seek The Lord’s will in these matters, and He will direct us.
We can only look at the outward appearance, we try to enter into the mind to see a person’s intentions, but we don’t really know. Much of our judicial system is based on this premise – (the Latin is ‘Mens Rea’ meaning intent, guilty mind) and that is often what makes it so difficult in criminal cases to come to a difficult decision with absolute certainty. It is nigh impossible to do this in an unerring way and that is why there are some miscarriages of justice as the benefit of the doubt has to be given to the accused. Any offence has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Sadly, we are often guilty of this in the church, being judgmental. How much trouble this causes? Things are not always as they seem to be, looks can be deceiving. The lesson is that appearances are not the most important criteria. Remember Jesus said, “Judge not that you be not judged”. He wasn’t saying that we cannot judge. We do have to make judgments, but we must look at ourselves first so that we are not in danger of being judged. It should cut down the amount of judging and finding fault that we often do. We must ask ourselves, ‘Am I what God wants me to be”. We can be an unforgiving lot! Even if we do forgive, we find it difficult to forget. God forgives and forgets (or perhaps more correctly, He chooses not to remember) our sins. We cannot fool God by our outward façade, God sees right through to the heart.
None of them were God’s choice, they were all potential kings, but God had only one in mind. Jesse had produced the ones he thought would be suitable, but there was one absent. Samuel asked if there were any more (v11). Jesse seemed to be almost dismissive, ‘Well, there’s the youngest (probably early teenage) who is looking after the sheep’. I don’t know if Jesse forgot about David or merely discounted him. Samuel’s reply is interesting, ‘Send for him, we will not sit down until he comes’. He was so unimportant that Jesse did not include him at the feast. After all, he was the youngest, so surely, it can’t be him! God often chooses the most unlikely to do great things for Him. Samuel said, “We will not sit down until he comes.” If this was literally, and I believe it was, shows how important it was for David to be brought to Samuel. It could have been a long stand for we don’t know how far away David was. It could have been another way of saying, ‘We cannot rest until we have done this’, it was important to Samuel to carry out this task, after all, he was anointing God’s chosen, next king.
Are we so committed that we won’t rest until we’ve done the work The Lord has given us?
Keeping sheep was a hard job and a dangerous one. They faced lions, wolves, bears and thieves who wanted to steal sheep. I guess that normally a servant would do it, but it seemed that they didn’t have servants so the youngest did it. For David, keeping sheep meant he had to trust in God and from what we know, he did, as the many psalms which he composed give evidence. (See Psalms 8, 19, 23, 29 are a few.)
His time with sheep was clearly, a time of training for future things. People are like sheep, and they require as much care and protection. It is thought that David was only a teenager when this took place.
David is brought before Samuel. He is described as ‘ruddy’ which usually means red. It may well have been that he was weather-beaten through being outside. He also had bright eyes, indicating that he was very alert, as one would need to be guarding the sheep from predators, and was good looking (v12,13). This one was God’s choice, and God told Samuel to anoint him. This he did in front of his brothers, and God’s Spirit came upon David from that day. What his brothers must have thought we don’t know, but Samuel was certain that David was the right one because he was a man after God’s own heart (See 1 Samuel 13:14). Of course, Samuel couldn’t see that, but God did, and He made it known to Samuel. The oil on his head was an outward indication of the working of God on David’s heart – The Spirit coming upon him.
We must remember that The Spirit of The LORD had not yet been given as we experience Him today. In those days before Pentecost (Acts 2), the Spirit came upon people for certain tasks and then, sometimes left (e.g. Saul, Samson). We now receive The Holy Spirit forever (Acts 2.38). We can quench Him and grieve Him. If we do not have The Spirit we do not belong to Christ.
David is first mentioned here, whereas before, God had told Samuel that the next king would be a man after God’s own heart, but there was no indication who that would be, until now.
Samuel did not hold a coronation, that wasn’t his job, he simply anointed the one chosen by God, and the next step would be left to God to raise him up at the right time. It was many years before David became king, (see 2 Samuel 5:4 he was thirty) much took place in that period, even to the point of Saul trying to get rid of David, but David was under God’s protection. In that time, David learned many more lessons which would make him fit to be king. Samuel simply left and went to Ramah. From this humble beginning, David would become one of the greatest men in the Bible, and the One who was the greatest of all, Jesus, would be known as The Son of David.
We don’t have to wait long before things begin to happen, and The Spirit of God left Saul, and, God sent a distressing spirit upon Saul, which troubled him (v14). It was not an evil spirit because God would never do that. It is suggested that when The Spirit left Saul, God’s protection was removed. God sent a distressing spirit. Without God’s presence and protection, there is little wonder that Saul would be distressed. Satan, the evil one, would be more than ready to attack him.
As Christians, we have the presence of The Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell in us at conversion, thus we can experience God’s protection, and He will never leave us.
Saul may have thought that he was free to do as he pleased, but in fact, he became in bondage to himself and his sin.
Saul’s companions realised that he was in a bad state and suggested to him that music may calm him (v15-17). They seemed to recognise Saul’s situation more than Saul did. He was not beyond repentance, which he could have done, but mainly, he did not. Many people are in that situation today. It may be classed as mental illness, but that is not always the case, and it was not the case with Saul. His problem came through disobeying God.
Music is one of God’s creations, and it can be used to create various moods. It can soothe and it can enflame a person. I think it was Billy Graham, the American Evangelist, who once said that the gospel music sung by choirs, audiences and soloists, was a preparation for people to hear the Word of God. Music can be used to rouse an army and silence a troubled mind. I’ve been involved in Christian music for well over sixty years, and still enjoy it immensely. One of the highlights of my life was to conduct a choir of over 150 people singing Gospel songs. I’ve sung in choirs, conducted choirs and accompanied choirs and gospel singers. It can lift your heart and draw you closer to God. It is amazing how singing words of Scripture help you to remember it. I have to say, however, that some modern, so-called Christian music, leaves a lot to be desired, and thirty or forty years ago some of today’s music wouldn’t have even been recognised as Christian music. But I suppose that is down to taste. One thing we must always be careful with is that we do not ‘worship the music or the musicians’, it can be become idolatry. All our Christian music must point us to God, and worship of Him and Him alone.
Saul’s associates suggested that a skilful harpist should be found so that when the distressing spirit was upon Saul, all would be well. Music is especially used today for relieving stress, although I can’t say how successful or otherwise it is. People try all sorts of things to counteract distress and a troubled state, but there is only one lasting remedy – the presence of Jesus Christ. One can assume that the distressing spirit would come and go, so that this would help him to get out of the distress. Saul agreed and told them to provide such a person.
Society tries all sorts of meditation, new and old religions and forms of religious practices, to try to rid themselves of the unease and emptiness that being without Christ inevitably brings. The only way to peace is to deal with the sin question and to remove the guilt and condemnation which the unsaved person is plagued with. Other methods may bring temporary relief, but the only lasting way is repentance, turning from sin to Christ by faith and receiving Him as Lord and Saviour and receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
One servant found a son of Jesse, skilful musician, mighty man of valour, man of war, prudent in speech and handsome. What qualifications these were, very commendable and necessary for the job, but there was something far more important, The LORD was with him (v18). All these qualities in one, what a find! This was none other than David.
We don’t know how long has lapsed between the beginning of this chapter and now, but David is still with the sheep, still doing the menial job. One might have thought that after Samuel’s visit and anointing of David, he would have been put on more important duties. He’d been told that he was the next king, one would have thought he would have been treated differently, rather than being in danger out in the fields at the mercy of wild animals and thieves. Even though David knew that he would one day be king, he continued in his work and left the rest to The LORD, and His timing. He could have been strutting around, practicing his ‘kingship’, but he wasn’t, there was no change in his desire to serve his father and protect the sheep. He still continued in the menial tasks until God was ready to exalt him.
Saul sent messengers to Jesse with a request for David to be sent to Saul (v19-23). It seemed that Saul was aware that David was with the sheep. Jesse sent David with a donkey loaded with bread and wine, and a young goat to Saul. He didn’t have to force his way into the palace or demand his rights as the next king. Apart from Jesse and his family, no-one except Samuel knew about David’s anointing. Saul certainly didn’t. It was amazing how God worked in this way, that Saul would invite his own successor into the palace. The LORD opened the door for him. It seemed that Saul received him with open arms and made him his armour bearer, to go alongside him. Very much like Joseph who was brought up in Pharaoh’s palace and learned the ways of royalty, so David would do the same, learning to live like a king.
It may have seemed that the position was only temporary at first, but, because David found favour in his sight, Saul then asked Jesse to allow David to stay in his position in a more permanent capacity, and David’s music was effective in changing Saul’s mood when the depression came upon him.
