1 Samuel 16: 1 – 23
My what a coincidence
16 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. 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 armor bearer. 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.
The phrase "just a coincidence" is commonly used to dismiss an odd occurrence as something unimportant but actual reported coincidences may not be unimportant. A coincidence is generally when two unrelated events seemingly have a connection that they shouldn't. Sometimes, it is the timing of the events that seem to connect them, such as saying "I'm hungry," then having a coupon for a free sandwich blow up against your leg. Sometimes it is the context, such as speaking of a person you rarely see shortly before they call. On rare occasions, people will report an urge to go to a place they wouldn't normally go, where they find something they needed and would not have found otherwise; in these cases, the connection between the events starts to look decidedly strange. Is the person being led to what they need, or did they somehow know where it was before they went?
Coincidences shouldn't be mistaken for prophecies or omens, although all three categories sometimes blend together. In a prophecy an event is actually predicted to happen, where in a coincidence there is no such attempt at foreknowledge. Omens, events believed to signal ill-luck, also imply foreknowledge in the form of a warning, which also does not occur with the simpler coincidences.
Today we are going to look at similar unique things that just seem to happen. However, when you look and think hard about the possibilities of all the right factors coming together you have to admit that the perfect timing is strange indeed. Are they all just a coincidence?
Commencing with his anointing this second half of the book traces David’s introduction to the bible, his rise to be a powerful general and subsequent victories against the Philistines, his coming under the suspicion of Saul, his flight from Saul and struggles for survival, (along with a band of men whom he builds up who will be the foundation of his future success), his loyalty and respect towards Saul as Yahweh’s ‘anointed’ when he has him at his mercy, all finally leading up to Saul’s death fighting against the Philistines.
There is a certain irony in what follows. The people had chosen a king in order that they might find security in him, but their security is now to be revealed as resting in a war leader by the name of David, on whom Yahweh has poured out His Spirit as He did on the judges of old. So it turns out that they are after all still dependent on Yahweh to provide them with a war leader, and this is because of the failure of their king who cannot, for example, cope even with a giant, as a result of the fact that the Spirit of Yahweh is no longer on him. How much wiser they would have been to continue to trust in Yahweh and look only to Him. When we think that we know better than God it can only result in disillusionment.
It is a sad reflection on what Saul’s reign had become that the elders of Bethlehem were apprehensive at the thought of the arrival of Samuel. This suggests that there were murmurings among the people at this time against Saul’s behavior, with a good deal of political support being thrown behind Samuel, so much so that the elders did not know quite what Samuel’s intentions were in coming to Bethlehem. Samuel was still a power in the land religiously speaking and it is quite probable that Saul, while still fearing Samuel as a prophet, had made known what would happen to anyone who sought to use his name to cause an uprising.
Saul would undoubtedly have been feeling very bitter against Samuel, and we are shortly to learn that things had got worse than that, and that his rejection by Samuel and The God of Israel Adoni Yahweh had so affected him that it had caused deep clinical depression to develop, and probably even schizophrenia. Saul became unstable, and he began to manifest symptoms such as violent mood swings, paranoia and delusion.
16 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.”
Samuel mourned Saul’s fall from grace for some considerable time. He had nothing further to do politically and had plenty of time to think over and watch the consequences of Saul’s failure and to him it seemed a tragedy. Moreover, the fact that Saul had become suspicious of possible rivals for his throne is suggested by Samuel’s fear that if he was even suspected of anointing someone to replace Saul it was quite likely that Saul would act rapidly and have him put to death. Thus, he had much to mourn, fear, and grieve over.
We will note that our Holy Majestic God Yahweh called Samuel to task because of his mourning, asking him how long he was going to carry on with it in view of the fact that He, Yahweh Himself, had rejected Saul from being king over Israel. You have to stop and think about this from our Holy Lord’s viewpoint regarding the evil done by Saul. In truth Samuel should have been in tears over the way our Great God was insulted, dishonored, and so shamefully treated.
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.’
Samuel, who was aware of Saul’s present moods and disposition, was not enamored with the suggestion. He knew that if even a hint of his doing such a thing reached Saul’s ears he himself would become the victim. It was better not to get involved with possible rivals to Saul’s throne. It is a significant indication of Saul’s downward slide that even Samuel feels that he is not safe.
Our Holy Master God, however, assured him that there wouldn’t be any problems. All he had to do was go about his normal priestly duties and arrange for a sacrifice in Bethlehem to The Supreme God Yahweh. This kind of thing was expected of him from time to time and would cause no suspicion, especially as he could genuinely say that he had received a word from Yahweh to do it. The suggestion was not one which involved deceit. The sacrifice was to be a genuine one. It was to be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. But only Samuel knew the depths of the praise and thanksgiving that was due because the anointed of Yahweh was to be revealed.
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.”
Then he was to call Jesse to participate in the sacrifice, at which point He Himself would tell him what he had to do. It was at this point that he would then be required to anoint the person whom Yahweh named to him.
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?”
However, when Samuel did arrive in Bethlehem, no doubt having made his purpose of sacrificing at their location widely known, the elders of the city met him rather apprehensively. This may have been because they were aware that when Samuel offered special sacrifices it usually indicated that there was trouble expected from the Philistines, or it may have been that they were expecting a prophetic rebuke for some failing in Bethlehem that Samuel knew of. But in view of the link with Samuel’s own fear in verse 2 it may well suggest that Saul’s reign had become somewhat more tyrannous as he grew more and more suspicious. Thus they may have feared that the sacrifice was to be a signal by Samuel to arouse men to civil war, something which could only bring Saul’s wrath down on Bethlehem. Possibly Saul’s actions taken against any town about which there were rumors had become well known. (We only have to think of what he was later willing to do to the innocent priests at Nob to recognize what he was capable of doing - 22.11-19).
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.
But Samuel assured them that he had come with peaceful intentions that should not give them any concern. All they had to do was prepare themselves for participation in the sacrificial feast by sanctifying themselves. They would do this by washing their clothes and presumably also by abstaining from sexual relations which could render them unclean (Leviticus 15.16-18). At the same time he contacted Jesse and his sons and called them to join them at the sacrifice. This participation in the sanctification of this particular family provided him with a good reason for being in Jesse’s house, and later returning to eat with them. What follows could have taken place at at the sacrificial meal following the offering of the sacrifices.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!”
Eliab (‘God is father’), the eldest, was the first to meet Samuel and one look at him suggested to Samuel that this was the one who was to be God’s anointed.
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.”
Samuel was to learn a lesson that day and it is an important fact that all people need to remember. While men looked at the outside and the general appearance, The Omniscience All Knowing God looked at the heart. If the heart was right Yahweh could do the rest. Thus while Eliab was both tall and handsome, he was not the one. We can in fact compare this description of Eliab with the previous description of Saul (9.2). Here we have described man’s choice for a king. But the difference was that this time Yahweh was determined to give to the people someone whose heart is right. This time they were not to have ‘a king like the nations’.
8 So Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”
The second son to come up for inspection was Abinadab (‘my father is willing’). But Samuel recognized that Yahweh had not chosen him.
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”
The third son to pass before him was Shammah. The individual mention of three sons indicates the completeness of the search. We should also note that these were the three sons of fighting age in the family (17.13). But still this was not Yahweh’s choice.
10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”
In the end seven sons passed before him, the seven indicating divine completeness. But still Yahweh’s chosen had not been found. We can now imagine Jesse getting a little disheartened as each son was rejected and even Samuel must have been getting puzzled.
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.”
Once he had had to reject all Jesse’s sons who were present he knew instinctively that there must be another son. For he knew that Yahweh would not have misled him. Sadly Samuel understood by the Father Jesse had to think hard that he forgot a son. So Samuel turned to Jesse and asked him whether all his sons were there. The reply came that the only one that was left was the youngest who was looking after the sheep. So Samuel declared that he must be fetched, and that they would not sit down for their meal until he had arrived.
It might have not been a memory lapse on Jesse’s part. David was only a boy and it is possible that Jesse might have thought that a boy couldn’t be in the selection process, so he left him out.
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!”
So, Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ‘ruddy’ probably means that he had reddish hair which was unusual for Israelites, for they usually had black hair. He was also radiant and handsome. But what was most important was that Yahweh said, ‘Arise and anoint him, for this is he.’ Here was the chosen one of God.
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.
Samuel took his horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers. We are not told whether they knew what the significance was of what he was doing. Perhaps only Jesse knew, for it was not after all something that could be allowed to get out. But all that really mattered was that Yahweh knew. David himself may simply have seen it as a sign of God’s promised blessing. Samuel could tell him later of its full significance.
The most important thing in all of this act was that as a result ‘the Holy Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward’. In this lies the explanation for all his future exploits about to be outlined. From this day on he was totally God’s man, and God accompanied him in all that he did, and arranged for him to receive the training necessary for him to be a good and effective king. David may well have felt nothing, and not even have known that it had happened. It was the future that would bring it out.
Then, his responsibility fulfilled, Samuel returned to Ramah. He had no real appreciation of quite what he had accomplished, but he knew that the future was now secure. It was all left in the hands of Yahweh.
Here we see that the Holy Spirit came upon David while at the same time sadly departed from Saul. Yahweh had now rejected him as king. Thus there was no special divine help for him as he fought the Philistines. Fortunately for Israel, however, Yahweh would provide another who did have the Spirit of Yahweh on him, and that was David.
14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Even more horrifying for Saul was that ‘an evil spirit now troubled him’. Please note that an evil spirit did not possess him – it troubled him. I think in our lives we experience to different degrees the same thing. If we sin we move into the enemy camp and have to deal with all kinds of trouble. I tell you right now and memorize this in your hearts to stay close and obedient to our Holy Master God in all that you can.
15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you.
Saul’s behavior made his servants realize that he was ill in spirit and they described it in terms of ‘an evil spirit from God’ (Judges 9.23). In their eyes everything came from God. Thus this had to be true of whatever was disturbing Saul
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.”
His servants then suggested to Saul that he seek out a man skilled in music so that he could play for him when he was going through a bad seizure and assured him that if he did, so it would make him well. The ancients had a great belief in the healing power of music, especially for those who were of unsound mind, and the fact that the music did seemingly help Saul serves to confirm that this was an illness and not spirit possession.
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
Acknowledging the wisdom of their words Saul called on his servants to find such a musician, one who could ‘play well’, so that they could bring him to the court in order that that he might play for him. Now of all of the possibilities of picking out David as the one to play for Saul comes with us all thinking, ‘my what a coincidence.’ There are probably hundreds of skilled musicians and the one selected just happens to be the one that was just ordained as Saul’s replacement. Truly, God was in the mix of all the situations.
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.”
David’s reputation as a musician and a composer of songs had clearly got around especially as noted by this one servant of Saul,
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
Little did Saul realize the status of the one for whom he was sending. In a way our Holy Master was going to give David some training on the ins and outs of being king of Israel in his daily observations of all the things that were going on. He had already begun to prepare David for what lay ahead. So all unconscious of this fact Saul sent to Jesse and asked that his son might come to court to play for him.
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.
I want you to stop and think about this situation from a father’s perspective. You have just witnessed your son being ordained as the new king of Israel. In just a short time you receive notice from Saul that he wants David to come to see him. What would be your thinking? How would you react to this notice? Was Saul asking for David to come and see him, so he could kill him?
For us, who have been blessed with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, the action would be simple. We pray and ask Him directly. I think though if I was Jesse I would pack up the family and go see Samuel and ask what should be done. If Samuel told me that it did not look good, then for the sake of sparing my son I would leave all behind and flee the scene.
Jesse sent a handsome present along with David as paying respect. It was normal in those days to honor a king in this way.
21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.
The result was that David came to Saul, and he ‘stood in his presence’ as befitted a subject to a king. (You did not sit in a king’s presence). David became so pleasing to Saul that he made him one of his close servants. The words for ‘armor-bearer’ or ‘bearer of stuff’ is used elsewhere of close servants, even those who did not carry armor. What this is indicating is that he was pleased enough with him to make him one of several close servants.
22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”
That is why Saul sent to Jesse and requested that David might stay at the court permanently and stand before him as one of his young men, because David had won his favor.
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.
I want to point out to you the mercy and grace of the Lord. For the young man whom Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High picked to replace Saul became the one who offered him comfort and peace.
