Scripture
Today we begin a sermon series on “The Life of David.”
John Butler writes, “David was a man of many hats. He was a king, a warrior and a shepherd as most realize; but he also wore other hats….He was a son…a shepherd…a singer…a servant…a soldier…a sufferer…a seer…a supplicant…a scholar…a sovereign…a sire…a spouse…a sinner…a saint…and a savior who delivered Israel from their foes better than any other king of Israel ever did, and who foreshadows the Great Savior, Jesus Christ, Who was born in David’s Bethlehem and of the seed of David and Who is referred to some dozen times in Scripture as the ‘Son of David.’ ”
David’s story begins in 1 Samuel 16, where we read that God sent Samuel to anoint David as the next king of Israel.
So, let’s read about David being anointed as king in 1 Samuel 16:1-13:
1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then 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 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
Introduction
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. We have not had many popes in recent decades. The way in which the pope is selected is fascinating to me. As I understand it, all eligible cardinals (under the age of 80) gather in a private meeting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope when the previous pope has died or resigned. A papal election is called a conclave. Once the conclave begins, the cardinals are not allowed to leave or have any communication with the outside world until the pope is selected. A cardinal must receive a 2/3 majority of the votes to be declared the next pope. There are four ballots per day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Voting can take many days before a pope is selected. Voting is done on paper ballets which, once recorded, are burned in a small stove in the chapel. Chemicals are added to the burning to produce either black smoke or white smoke. White smoke coming from the chimney is a sign to the massive crowds outside that a new pope has been elected.
According to Roman Catholic Church doctrine, the conclave is guided by God. But, as one cardinal told the National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen, “I was never whapped on the head by the Holy Spirit. I had to make the best choice I could, based on information available.”
King Saul was the first king of Israel. However, God’s rejection of Saul paved the way for the selection of a new king, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). God directed his prophet Samuel to go and anoint this new king.
Lesson
David’s selection as king in 1 Samuel 16:1-13 shows us how God selected a king for his people.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Samuel’s Grief (16:1-3)
2. Samuel’s Obedience (16:4-5)
3. Samuel’s Surprise (16:6-10)
4. Samuel’s Anointing (16:11-13)
I. Samuel’s Grief (16:1-3)
First, look at Samuel’s grief.
Years earlier, the people of God no longer wanted to be ruled by judges. Instead, they wanted a king so that they could be like the other nations around them (8:20). God granted them their request. Saul, a handsome young man and a head taller than any of his peers, was chosen to be king. But Saul turned out to be disobedient to God, and was rejected by God.
Saul, who had seemed so promising, turned out to be disobedient and despotic. Things looked dismal for God’s people.
Samuel was filled with grief over the terrible situation. In verse 1a, the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?” Samuel was filled with grief because of Saul’s disobedience and his rejection by God as king. Samuel had just told Saul about God’s rejection of him, and had gone to his home in Ramah where he continued to mourn over Saul.
Having rebuked Samuel for his grief, the Lord said to Samuel, “Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (16:1b). How wonderful! How marvelous! God was about to remedy a terrible situation. Literally, the Lord said to Samuel, “I have seen for myself a king among his sons.” The Hebrew word that is translated as “provided” in verse 1 is translated as “seen” almost 900 times in the Old Testament. There are three other occasions where the word is translated as “provided,” and they all occur in Genesis 22. That is where Abraham took his son Isaac to the land of Moriah to offer him there as a burnt offering. As they traveled, Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:7–8). Literally, Abraham said, “God will see for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” God, who sees all things, provides lambs and kings for his sovereign purposes.
There is a lesson for us here: The Lord is in sovereign control over everything and, even when events seem most dismal, he is preparing marvelous displays of his power and glory. A.W. Pink wrote, “Man’s extremity is always God’s opportunity.” You may be going through a difficult time in your life. I urge you to trust God; he sees all and is working out his sovereign purposes in your life.
But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me” (16:2a). Samuel was understandably afraid of Saul whom he had just told was rejected as king by God. Samuel would have to go from Ramah to Bethlehem via Gibeah, Saul’s home town (15:34). Saul would be furious to hear that Samuel was anointing someone else as king over Israel.
So, the Lord said to Samuel, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you” (16:2b-3). Some people have trouble with Samuel saying, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord,” because it is not entirely true. The footnote in The ESV Study Bible is helpful here when it states, “This was a true but incomplete statement of the reasons for Samuel to come to Bethlehem (see v. 1), and yet the Lord told him to say it, so it should not be considered morally wrong. It seems that telling part of what one knows to be true, in order to conceal other information, is morally right in some situations, particularly adversarial situations such as this one. Moreover, the Lord had the right to hide his intentions from Saul, who had proved himself faithless.”
II. Samuel’s Obedience (16:4-5)
Second, note Samuel’s obedience.
In verse 4a we read, “Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem.” Many want God’s blessing but do not want to obey his commandments. Commentator Michael Bentley notes, “The blessing that comes from obeying the Lord is a theme that runs all the way through the Bible.” Let us never forget that truth!
But Samuel’s obedience did not mean that things went entirely smoothly for him. When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” (16:4b). They perhaps assumed that the arrival of a prophet of God meant trouble for them. But Samuel reassured them that he had come peaceably. In fact, he went on to tell the elders of the city, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And Samuel consecrated the elders, including Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice (16:5).
III. Samuel’s Surprise (16:6-10)
Third, observe Samuel’s surprise.
After the elders, Jesse, and his sons, had consecrated themselves by washing themselves, and perhaps even their clothes, they arrived at the sacrifice. When they came, Samuel looked on Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn son, apparently a tall and handsome man, and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord surprised Samuel and said to him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him” (16:6-7a).
Samuel was surprised because Saul was a tall and handsome man when he was selected to be king (1 Samuel 9:2). But Saul had proven to be unworthy to be God’s king over Israel. God went on to explain that external features were an insufficient criteria for selection to be king. The Lord said to Samuel in verse 7b, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” By the way, the same Hebrew word that is earlier in verse 1 translated as “provided” is here in verse 7b translated as “sees” and “looks.” So, literally, verse 7b reads, “For the Lord sees not as man: man sees on the outward appearance, but the Lord sees on the heart.”
But more is going on here in verse 7b. Earlier, in chapter 13, Saul had offered an unlawful sacrifice, that is, unlawful worship, to the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:13–14). Commentator John Woodhouse insightfully observes:
“A man after God’s own heart” has been taken in popular Christian jargon to mean a particularly godly man, a man with a heart like God’s. But I do not believe that the words can mean that. “A man after God’s own heart” means a man of God’s own choosing, a man God has set his heart on. “A man after God’s own heart” is—if I can put it like this—talking about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart.
So, 1 Samuel 13:14 and 16:7 teach us about God’s sovereign purpose in election rather than on some quality in man.
Samuel knew that God had told him that one of Jesse’s sons would be the next king, and so Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these” (16:10). Not one of Jesse’s seven sons were chosen by the Lord to be the next king. The Lord had not yet seen for himself a king among Jesse’s sons.
IV. Samuel’s Anointing (16:11-13)
And fourth, notice Samuel’s anointing.
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep” (16:11a). It is not entirely clear to me why the youngest, which could also be translated as “the smallest,” was not with his father and seven brothers. I think that perhaps Jesse’s youngest son was only twelve years old, because at thirteen years of age a boy was then considered a man and old enough to participate in Jewish sacrifices.
Regardless of the reason, Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” And he sent and brought him in (16:11b-12a). Presumably, they did not have to wait too long, because after a while, the youngest son arrived. Ironically, the text says, “Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome” (16:12b). Woodhouse says, “The description is of an attractive-looking boy, but hardly a potential king.”
Nevertheless, the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward (16:13). The Lord had selected David, and so Samuel anointed him, that is, he “messiahed” him, as king over Israel, although it would be many years before he would actually begin serving as king.
David was the one on whom God had set his heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and whom he provided for himself as a king (16:1). This is the sense in which David was “better” than Saul (1 Samuel 15:28).
Conclusion
Therefore, having analyzed David’s selection as king in 1 Samuel 16:1-13, we should thank God for his sovereign selection.
Commentator Gordon Keddie writes:
God’s ultimate purpose was to pave the way for the coming of the true and final King, the Lord Jesus Christ. David was to be the first king under the new order; Jesus was to be the last and once-for-all king of the house of David. In Christ, all the promises of the older covenant would be fully published and completely fulfilled as the new covenant in his blood, shed for sinners. David was to point God’s covenant people more clearly than ever before to the coming of the Messiah, who would rule until his enemies became the very footstool of God (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:13).
Gordon Keddie goes on to press home the application of God’s truth to our hearts by asking, “How do you know that you belong to the Lord? How can you know that the Lord is with you, as he was with David in his life?” And then, quoting the Puritan Matthew Henry, he answers, “The best evidence of our being predestinated to the kingdom of glory is our being sealed with the Spirit of promise, and our experience of a work of grace in our hearts.”
I pray that you will know God’s experientially God’s election of you. Just as David was sovereignly elected by God to serve him, so every child of God is sovereignly elected by God to know him and serve him. May God grant you his amazing grace and seal you with his Spirit of redemption. Amen.
