David,-The Shepherd Boy Series

Introduction: David was a very colorful character in the Bible. From a humble beginning in life, God used him to accomplish many things, eventually becoming king over all Israel.

Not every person will have a “shepherd-to-scepter” life or encounter, such as what happened to David. Every believer in the Lord came and will come to faith in Him personally, uniquely, and individually. In fact, there is no record in Scripture just when David did become a believer, but the important thing is that he lived and died as a genuine believer.

This story of David, then, begins with an arrival by Samuel the prophet, an affirmation by the Lord that none of Jesse’s sons would be king except David, and ends with an anointing. But the story doesn’t end there. What did David do after he had been anointed?

I The arrival of Samuel

Text, 1 Samuel 16:1-5, KJV: 1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

The story of David actually begins with God’s rejection of Saul as Israel’s first king. Years before this, the people of Israel began with their call to Samuel, “Give us a king! We want to be like the other nations around us (1 Sam.8:5, paraphrased)”. Had they forgotten God’s desire for them, that they would always be a special (“peculiar”, Ex. 19:5 and Deut. 14:2) people for Himself. Even though they had followed God but rejected Him many times, as recorded in the Book of Judges, God still loved Israel (and still does today!), and He will fulfill every promise He made to them.

When Samuel heard the nation’s request, presented by the elders, he spoke with God about it and heard God Himself give some heart-breaking words: “They haven’t rejected you, they’ve rejected Me. Give them a king like they asked for, but tell them exactly what will happen (1 Sam 8:6-9, paraphrased). Samuel did that but the people persisted, “We want a king!” Once again, God told Samuel to give them what they wanted. I Samuel 9-10 tell more about Saul and how he was selected, and chapters 11-14 describe selected events in Saul’s reign.

But when we come to 1 Samuel 15, trouble is brewing, because God gave Saul one command, and that was to completely destroy one of Israel’s enemies. Saul did not completely obey, then made excuses for why he had not completely followed God’s command, and finally heard the words no monarch ever wanted to hear; “You have rejected the Word of the LORD and now the LORD has rejected you from being king (1 Sam 15:25)”. There is no indication Saul ever truly repented of this disobedience and sin against God. There is a lesson for us all, here, that even though we are not called to destroy enemies, we can still face God’s rejection if we continue to disobey Him. Paul would later warn believers about the dangers of disobedience, such as becoming “a castaway”, in 1 Corinthians 9.

Now that Saul had just received his notice of rejection, what was going to be the next step? Enter Samuel, with God’s command to first go to Bethlehem and find the next king. Perhaps afraid of Saul, Samuel asked God, in so many words, “Uh, are You sure about that? Saul might have me put to death if he finds out that I’m looking for his replacement!” God put Samuel’s mind at ease by giving him a legitimate reason to visit Bethlehem: to perform a sacrifice.

And that’s what Samuel did.

He got ready to go to Bethlehem, bringing a heifer along. It’s interesting that of all the other animals specified for various offerings, such as bullocks, goats, rams, lambs, pigeons, and so on, the heifer is not often mentioned. God used the sacrifice of a heifer as part of His covenant with Abram (later, Abraham) in Genesis 15 and gave detailed instructions about the offering of a red heifer (were there heifers in other colors?) in Numbers 19. The last mention of heifers before this incident is in Deuteronomy 21, if anyone in Israel ever found a body in a field and the killer was not known. Regardless, Samuel had God’s approval to visit Bethlehem and to bring a heifer with him for an unscheduled sacrifice—there is no mention of any holy day or feast day in the text.