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.
Still there was one other reason for Samuel to visit Bethlehem, and, as mentioned, that was to discover the next king of Israel. Note how God gave Samuel only a small bit of information or guidance at first (“I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.”) as in verse 3. Then God told Samuel to anoint “the one I’ll show you (paraphrased). Now all he had to do was arrive in Bethlehem.
Then when he did get there, imagine the commotion! The elders of Bethlehem didn’t greet Samuel with open arms—more like knocking knees! They “trembled” when Samuel came to town and even asked him, “Are you coming peaceably?” Why would they even ask that? Were they afraid Samuel might execute someone like he had Agag, king of the Amalekites (chapter 15)? Or did they remember when Samuel asked the LORD to send thunder and rain on the very day of wheat harvest (1 Sam 12:16-19)? For whatever reason, these elders were terrified!
II The affirmation of God’s choice
Text, 1 Samuel 6-12, KJV: 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
Verse 5 says Samuel “sanctified” Jesse and his sons. The text does not indicate just how Samuel did this, but “sanctify” has more than one meaning. The root or primary meaning is to set something apart, either for a religious use or other uses. Materials used to construct the Tabernacle came from special freewill offerings (see Exodus 35:4-29) but whatever was donated apparently stayed with the Tabernacle—no one demanded their gift/s be returned.
Still another meaning, as what seems to be the case here, is simply to separate something or someone from other people or groups. Samuel called Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice, “sanctifying” them by setting them apart from the other people of Bethlehem. Jesse and his sons (there is no mention of any females) were also set apart for something holy. Samuel was God’s representative on earth; further, there is no mention of any other priest in the text.
Now came Jesse’s sons, starting with the oldest one, named Eliab. When Samuel saw him, he thought “He’s the one! I surely see the LORD’s anointed one right here!” Samuel, sadly, seems to have the same problem here that the Israelites had when they accepted Saul as their first king—Saul was taller than anyone else in Israel at the time (1 Sam 10:23)!
But Samuel’s hopes were dashed when God told him, “He’s not the one. People look on what they see on the outside but I look on the heart, the real person (paraphrased)”. And later, David got another glimpse of Eliab’s personality when Goliath came to town at a later time.
Samuel looked on each one of Jesse’s sons, including Abinadab and Shammah and the others, not named here, and each one of them were rejected. We can almost understand the fatigue, frustration, disappointment, or any other emotion, when Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all your sons?” After all, Samuel had seen seven of Jesse’s sons, none of whom had God’s approval as the one to be anointed, but he had heard God say “I have provided Me a king among his sons”.
So where was he? He surely wasn’t with the others at this gathering!
Jesse’s reply is not easily understood. He did say, “Yes, I have one more, he’s the youngest, and he’s busy keeping the sheep.” Whether he is downplaying the fact that David was the youngest of his sons, or “if he comes, who’s going to watch the sheep now?”, or “Why do you ask?”, we may never know.
To Jesse’s credit, he sent (someone) to get David and bring him there to the gathering. How long it took for David to arrive is not specified, but David probably ran as fast as he could to get there.
And what a surprise when he did get there! Samuel took a look at this young lad, “ruddy” of complexion and handsome to look at. He was surprised, I’m sure, when the LORD told him, “This is the one! Anoint him!”
This, then, was the affirmation of God’s choice.
III The anointing of David
Text: 1 Samuel 16:13- Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Anointing seems to have been practiced often in the Old Testament. Besides the apparent one-time anointing of Aaron and his sons to be priests (Exodus 29) there were other anointings mentioned in Exodus alone. People, also, were anointed, such as Saul himself when he was told he would be Israel’s king (1 Samuel 9:16 and 10:1, even though the writer chose “poured (the oil) upon his head” in that last verse). Samuel, then, seems to have poured oil on David’s head “in the midst of his brethren”—they all saw this! But how many of them understood what this meant is never revealed.
Something else happened besides David receiving an anointing. He, with only a few others, had the privilege of having the Holy Spirit come upon him, “from that day forward”. Digressing for a moment, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit could and did depart from people. David himself was aware of this many years later when he wrote in Psalm 51:11 a prayer the LORD would not take the Holy Spirit away from him. In these days the Holy Spirit once and for all dwells within every believer and will never leave (John 14:23-26).
But most telling, no matter what David and his family observed, no one seems to have protested, no one seems to have become upset, and no one seems to have denied David as being the LORD’s choice. They seemed to simply go back to their respective businesses, and David seems to have gone back to his sheep. After all, they needed his care and David was wise enough to not try and dethrone Saul at this time. He was willing to receive the anointing, and also to wait for the proper time when the anointing became an actual fact.
There could be a lesson for us here, too. Some preachers were called to preach, and they knew it, when they were quite young. Others received (or obeyed) the call later in life. The important thing is that each one was willing to wait for God’s time to make something happen. David may not have fully understood just what had happened when Samuel poured oil on his head, but sooner rather than later, he became God’s man for God’s people.
Will God do that for me or for you? Remember that He is sovereign. If He wants us or gives one or more of us to succeed, achieve high rank, or influence many people, so be it and God bless those who can go high and go deep to reach people for Jesus. Others may be in lower stations of life, doing ordinary things, but everyone there, too, has a chance to be a wise witness for the LORD. The one thing David did not do was abandon his sheep. He stayed faithful to them until the time was right.
And when the time was right, David stopped being a shepherd and became a king.
But there were challenges ahead before that ever came to pass . . . . .
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
