1 Sam 16:1-13 – David is Anointed King

1Sam 16:1-3

1. The prophet Samuel was naturally saddened that King Saul had failed as king and had been rejected by God. But as it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, there is a time for everything; “⁴ There is a time for weeping, and a time for smiling. There is a time to mourn, and a time to dance. “(Ecclesiastes 3:4). Samuel has mourned for a while and now it’s time to move on with his life.
   1. When you are going through sad events, it is good to grieve, but not for long. Exactly how long that time is is often individual, but it’s never good to spend the rest of your life stuck in grief. Sometimes you need a friend to humbly but firmly inform the mourner that now is the time to move on.
2. It is good to know that God does not allow His plan for Israel to stand or fall with the failure of one man. Saul has failed as king, so God calls David to be the new king.
   1. When a person falls into sin and fails, there is always time for repentance and restoration. For example, it took 25 years from the time Saul was rejected by God to the time he died, and it was only 1.5 miles from Saul to the prophet Samuel. In other words, Saul had plenty of time and opportunity to repent.
   2. But if a person with a mission falls into sin and no longer has God’s confidence to be a leader, God can raise up a new leader.
3. God sends the prophet Samuel to Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king of Israel.
   1. Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:17).
4. The prophet Samuel hesitates to go to Bethlehem because Saul will perceive the anointing of a new king as treason if he finds out. The road from Ramah, where Samuel lived, to Bethlehem went through Givah, where Saul lived.
   1. But the prophet Samuel should know better than to question God’s plan. Samuel should know that it is always safer to be in God’s will, even if it means danger, than to disobey God.
   2. Perhaps Samuel hesitates because he doesn’t really want to anoint a new king but instead still hopes Saul will repent.
5. In response to Samuel’s hesitation and fear, God tells Samuel a little more of his plan.
   1. Most of the time, God leads us step by step without telling us his whole plan, because otherwise we might not dare at all or find it hard to believe that God will do such great things in our lives.
   2. When God gives us a mission or a calling, we rarely see the mission in its entirety. It is better for us to know only the next steps and therefore to depend on God’s continued guidance.
   3. But with every step that God leads us, he shows that he is faithful and will continue to lead.
6. When Saul was chosen as king, Israel got a king they wanted, but now God chooses a king He wants. Saul was a king after his own heart, but David is a king after God’s heart.
   1. When looking for a new leader in the church, it is easy to choose leaders according to “human” criteria. People look for a pastor who looks like a good pastor, is a charismatic speaker, can play the guitar and sing, etc. These are not negative qualities for a pastor or church leader, of course, but the most important thing is “character”, i.e. having a pure heart that loves God and puts other people higher than oneself.

1Sam 16:4-5

1. In the previous chapter, Samuel killed King Agag of the Amalekites and broke with King Saul (1 Sam 15:33-35), and it is quite possible that this is why the people of Bethlehem are uncertain about Samuel’s intentions. But Samuel assures them that he comes with peace.
2. Some offerings were burned completely, while many other offerings, such as community offerings, were partially burned and the rest eaten by the assembled.
   1. This sacrificial ceremony was a combination of a religious ceremony and a meal, much as the Lord’s Supper originally was (1 Corinthians 11:17-34).

1Sam 16:6-10

1. When Samuel sees Eliab, one of Jesse’s sons, he makes the same mistake as the people did when they asked for a king who outwardly “looked” like a king (1 Sam 9:1-3).
   1. The last time, Israel got a king they wanted, a handsome young man who “looked” like a king on the outside, but on the inside thought more of himself than of God. Now, when God gets to choose a king, he does just the opposite; he chooses a little boy who doesn’t look like a king at all, but who has a good heart turned toward God.
2. As close as Samuel was to God, he falls short when it comes to seeing into another person’s heart. Not even a prophet can see into a man’s heart, only God can.
   1. God states a fact, i.e. that “a man sees what is before his eyes, but the Lord looks to the heart”. We should do our best not to judge other people by their appearance or external talents. But we should also realize that it is impossible for us to see into another person’s heart and that no matter how hard we try, we cannot see if a person is inwardly honest, faithful, saved, etc.
   2. Saul is therefore forced to leave the selection of a new king to God and trust that God knows best. Therefore, prayer and fasting should never be underestimated when looking for new leaders for various church activities.
3. Jesse’s other sons were not necessarily “bad” just because God did not choose them to be king, but ultimately it is God’s right to choose whom He wants and He had decided on David.

1Sam 16:11

1. God had told the prophet Samuel that he would choose one of Jesse’s sons to be the new king, but when Samuel sees Jesse’s sons, it is not one of them. Since Samuel knows that God’s word is true, there must be a missing son.
   1. In the same way, today we may find ourselves in situations where what we see before us does not correspond to God’s word. But then we can be sure that it is what we see in front of us that is not right and that God’s word will in time prove to be right. At least if we have interpreted God’s word correctly.
      1. A good example of this is the Assyrian king Sargon mentioned in Isaiah 20:1. Although the Bible mentions this king, no archaeologist had found any evidence that Sargon had ever existed. For critical scholars and scientists, this became an important argument that the Bible is not reliable as far as historical facts are concerned. Since his name could not be found on any inscription or text anywhere outside the Bible, they could not believe that a king with this name had ever existed and that the Bible was therefore a book of fairy tales. But lo and behold, during an 1843 excavation in the Iraqi village of Khorsabad, archaeologist P. E. Botta found 2,500-year-old inscriptions proving that Sargon was one of the first kings of Assyria. Not only that, but Israel is also mentioned, as well as the Assyrians’ conquest of Samaria in one of King Sargon’s inscriptions: ‘I besieged and conquered Samaria and carried off 27,290 inhabitants from there as booty’. For scholars who had held to the Bible’s reliability, this was of course a great success and a good example of how God’s word can be trusted even if the Bible does not seem to be correct.
2. It is clear that Isai’s youngest son, David, was not well liked by his family. Jesse does not even mention him by name, he was not invited to the sacrificial meal and is only allowed to come after Samuel insists that he be present.
   1. Taking care of the sheep was the task of a servant in biblical times. Presumably Jesse could not afford servants, so he had his youngest son do the servants’ chores.
      1. David’s worldly father certainly did not think so highly of his son, but David’s heavenly father did! Jesse made David a servant while God made David a king!
      2. But even though people in Bible times saw shepherding as a low-wage job for servants, God saw that job as a perfect illustration of a good leader! A shepherd must care for his sheep, lead them to green grass and fresh water, must guard them and defend them from wolves, and find them if they run away. A pastor (the Latin word for “shepherd”), in the same way, must care for his parishioners, lead them to the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and he must guard them against error and defend them against false prophets and seek out those who are no longer visible in the church.
      3. Although David was forced to perform the task of a servant, he does not seem to have complained, but rather performed his task faithfully. This gave him time to sing songs of praise to God and to practice his tongue, which he undoubtedly benefited from later. So David’s time as a shepherd was not just something he did in anticipation of becoming king, but an opportunity for David to train to become king.
         1. David is an excellent example of a person who is “faithful in a small way” and is therefore “set over many things” by God (Matthew 25:14-30).

1Sam 16:12

1. When people saw Saul, they saw a tall, stately man who looked just like a king should! But when people saw David, they saw a sweet little innocent boy. At first glance, no one could believe that David could be as good a king as he became. But what set David apart from Saul and all the other young men in Israel was that he was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam 13:14).
2. Exactly how old David was at this time we do not know, but according to Psalm 89:20 he was a “youth” and according to most scholars and historians he was between 10 and 15 years old.
3. David was undoubtedly a man after God’s own heart, but who taught him about God we do not know. Probably it was not his father Jesse, but perhaps, if they were still alive, it was his grandfather’s parents Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:17-22), or his mother, whom he calls “the handmaid of God” in Psalm 86:16.
   1. Regardless of who taught little David about God, the importance of parents’ spiritual care for their children cannot be overemphasized, as David’s son Solomon teaches us in Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it when he is old.” (Proverbs 22:6)

1Sam 16:13

1. Neither David, Jesse, nor anyone else really understood what happened when Samuel anointed David with oil. Only God and Samuel knew that Samuel was anointing David to be the new king of Israel. But from that moment on, God’s Spirit bet with David and further developed and blessed him on his way to the throne.
2. Just as the Spirit of the Lord came upon David with the anointing of oil, so the Spirit of God feeds us anew with baptism. It is not baptism itself that is saving, but baptism is an outward sign that salvation has taken place on the inside.
3. After Samuel has anointed David as the new king of Israel, he goes home. Samuel does not try to make David king by force, but waits patiently for God to do what he has promised.
   1. If God has a specific plan for your life and has given you a specific calling, you can wait in peace for God’s right time. Prepare yourself as best you can for the mission God has given you, but don’t try to take matters into your own hands, wait until God opens the door and calls you to go!