I Samuel 161-13 David
In 1809 a little French man called Napoleon was marching through Austria and for a while it looked like all the world would fall under his command. Yet only historians and military buffs could tell you the battles that were won by Napoleon in 1809. Yet in 1809 many thousands of children were being born – many hardly rated a raised eyebrow. And yet in that year the following great men of literature, science and politics were born – Charles Darwin, Robert Charles Winthrop, Edgar Alan Poe, Alfred Tennyson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Gladstone, and Abraham Lincoln. The lives of these statesmen, thinkers and writers would mark the genesis of an era. But nobody cared about those nobodies while Napoleon was moving through Austria. Funny but more people’s lives have been touched by those nobodies than by Napoleon.
If you and I had been living in 1020 BC the same could have been said about us. All of us would have been focused on a king named Saul, the first king of Israel. Meanwhile, a ‘nobody’ was keeping sheep for his father on the Judean hillside near the little village of Bethlehem. A little boy named David whom nobody noticed . . . except God.
Allow me to set the background to our passage from 1 Samuel 16 for you. Eli, the high priest, and his wicked sons are dead. Samuel, the last of the Judges is an old man. His sons have turned away from God and led wicked and shameful lives (1 Samuel 8.1-3). We read in 1 Samuel 8.5 that the people want a king to rule over them. Their hearts desire is to be like the nations around them. Samuel warns them of the dire consequences of a king but the people are determined. We read that their request actually breaks the heart of Samuel and that God points out to Samuel that the people’s request is actually a rejection of God (I Samuel 8.7-8). The people chose Saul to be their king. It is said that he stands head and shoulders above all the other men of Israel. He initially looks like the perfect choice as king but ‘appearances are deceptive.’ Saul openly disobeys the word of God and we read in 1 Samuel 15.24-35 of his disobedience and his concern that Samuel not let on in public that he has sinned before God and against God. Samuel does not humiliate him in public but announces that he never wants to see Saul again – and he does not until the day of his death. Saul is rejected by God for his sin and Samuel mourns that fact. Enter chapter 16.
However before we turn to chapter 16 turn with me to 1 Samuel 13.13-14 READ. I want you to keep those words at the forefront of your mind as we go through this passage from I Samuel 16. Remember the statement ‘ a man after his own heart.’ That is the key to understanding 1 Samuel 16.
1 Samuel 16.1-3 Man panics . . . God provides.
Let me say this to you at the very beginning of this exposition of chapter 16 – God is never at a loss to know what to do and he is never in a panic. God does not die because a man of God dies. He does not change just because a man of God changes. He does not lose his way just because one of his people loses his way. God is not taken by surprise by any event or turn of circumstances. Turn to verse 1 and look at what God says to Samuel. Samuel is in the depths of despair. He is mourning Saul. Saul had started with such promise. He really seemed to be the man for the job but it has ended in disaster. Disaster for Samuel, for Saul and for the people of God. Yet note what God says to Samuel. ‘How long are you going to mourn Saul?’ I Samuel 9.2 tells us that Saul was an impressive young man but 1 Samuel 15.23 shows his character flaws – ‘rebellious and arrogant.’ Samuel mourns this but God tells him to get up and go to Bethlehem, to Jesse’s house because he has chosen one of his sons to be king over Israel. I have no doubt that Samuel had a genuine love for Saul and that his mourning is a genuine grief at how far from God Saul had wandered and hence the people had drifted also. Samuel was genuinely distressed at the spiritual bankruptcy of Saul and the people – not for him gossip about Saul’s sin, nor gloating over his ‘failings.’ No. Genuine sorrow at the failure of a promising instrument of God. Genuine sorrow for the spiritual welfare of the people to have to live under such a king. But God is not at a loss what to do here. His plans are not thwarted by Saul’s failure as king. He instructs Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse because God has chosen a king from amongst his sons. A king whose ‘heart will after his own (God’s heart).’
We immediately have Samuel’s response – verse 2 – Fear of Saul. Fair enough response, after all Saul is king and if he finds out that the prophet has anointed another king – murder will be the response. Echoes of what would come a millennium later when another king would be born in Bethlehem and the then king hears about it. At this moment in time Samuel’s eyes are fixed on Saul but God wants Samuel to move his gaze beyond Saul, beyond his failings and back to God again. So in verse 3 God instructs him to take a heifer to offer a sacrifice. Now at this point you might be tempted to think that God was using subterfuge to keep Samuel safe from Saul – but that is not true. A heifer was needed to offer a sacrifice in order for both consecration and anointing. Remember the Law required sacrifice in order for both. God calls Samuel to hear his voice, to listen to his command and to obey – he was to lift his gaze away from Saul. He was to no longer mourn Saul because God had rejected him and had chosen David. Samuel was to obey no matter about his fear of Saul – he was to fear the Lord more than Saul.
Follow me God says. I know you don’t know what is happening. I know you have genuine fears but follow me, trust me. Friends you know you really do not have to be smart to follow God – just obedient. God’s instruction to Samuel is simple – go to Bethlehem, to Jesse’s house because I have chosen one of his sons to be king. Samuel is not told which son – he is just told to go. All this time David is completely oblivious to God’s hand guiding events to anoint him king of Israel and placing him in the lineage of Christ Jesus. All this time David is tending sheep strumming on a harp. Fighting the odd lion or bear in between. For David this was just like any other day as a shepherd but things would change forever by the end of it.
1 Samuel 16.4-10 Man chooses . . . God corrects.
Verse 4 begins with a very simple statement: ‘Samuel did what God said.’ Simple but significant. Samuel obeyed God. He set aside his fear of Saul. He set aside his grief over Saul and the people and he obeyed the word of God to him. We read that the elders of Bethlehem come out to meet him and they are troubled and afraid on account of his visit. Why? Well it might be that they have heard all is not well between Saul and Samuel and Samuel’s presence in Bethlehem may mean trouble with Saul for them. So they naturally ask ‘Do you come in peace?’ Samuel allays their fears and instructs them to consecrate themselves for the offering of the heifer. This was a pretty normal thing for the prophet to be doing in their midst. Now we do not know what ‘consecrate yourselves means’ but obviously there was some sort of cleansing ritual or ceremony to go through before they, along with Samuel, could bring their sacrifice before God.
Verses 6-10 Eliab (meaning ‘My God is Father’), comes before Samuel and he immediately thinks ‘yes, here he is’. Samuel looks at this fine figure of a man, tall, and obviously a leader – just like Saul, has Samuel learnt nothing? But God speaks into the heart of Saul – No – don’t consider the physical here, I have rejected him. Why? Well in the next chapter we come across Eliab and we encounter a man who is negative and critical in spirit and who looks down and is condescending towards his younger brother David. We read all of this when David brings food to his brothers when they are with Saul fighting the Philistines. Eliab whilst looking the part, having the right image does not have the right heart before God to be king. Then God speaks these amazing words – verse 7 READ.
I want you to listen to some verses of Scripture which I think are important in understanding what God is saying here:
Jeremiah 17.9 – here is a warning about the heart of man.
Proverbs 4.23 – here is some advice about the heart of man.
I Samuel 13.14 – here is God’s desire for the heart of man.
Matthew 5.7-8; Mark 12.38-40 – here is Jesus’ concern for the heart of man.
Why this concern with a man’s heart? Listen to this Mark 7.21 READ. Out of a man’s heart comes his true nature and character. If the heart of a man is turned away from God (as in the case of Saul) then out of it will come evil. But if it is turned towards and after God (as in the case of David) then out of it will come blessing. Now I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to say here – this is vitally important. The choice here is about election to office – the position of king. It is not about election to salvation – eternal life. God’s election to salvation is on the basis of his grace, his love and his foreknowledge. His choice of someone to a position of authority in his kingdom is on the basis of their heart response.
Turn with me for a moment to Psalm 57.7 – what do we read there? David’s heart was stedfast, fixed on God. It was not fickle, nor easily swayed but fixed on God. Turn with me to Psalm 51.5 – David knew his heart was not perfect but sinful. That is why in Psalm 13923-24 he asks God to test his heart, to reveal the deceit and sin therein. Turn to Psalm 23 and what do we learn about David’s heart?:
Verse 1- my shepherd – a believing heart.
Verse 2 – makes me lie down… - quiet heart and an attentive heart towards God.
Verse 3 he leads me in paths of righteousness – a heart turned to holiness of life.
Verse 4 valley of shadow of death – confident heart.
Verse 5 my cup runneth over – grateful heart.
Verse 6 surely goodness and mercy – a persistent heart – not wistful.
When god looked into the heart of Eliab he did not see those things. He rejected him to be king – but Eliab was still one of God’s people – he was not rejected in that sense but not chosen for the position of king. The same comes to pass with Abinadab (My divine father is noble), with Sahmmah (heard by God) and with the other four sons of Jesse. As each son passes before Samuel God tells him ‘No, this is not eh one I have chosen.’ If Samuel had gone on outward appearance then he would have chosen the wrong man. Learn a simple lesson there – outward appearance is not everything. Someone may look right, have all the right credentials, the right image etc but still be the wrong man for the job. We humans are impressed and deceived by outward appearances. God looks at the heart when he is considering someone for a position of authority in his kingdom – remember that.
1 Samuel 16.11-13 Man forgets . . . God remembers.
Samuel asks a simple question in verse 11 READ. Isn’t it amazing Jesse has forgotten all about David. He was so unimportant that he was not even invited to the sacrifice and the meal. Commentators tell us that the word ‘youngest’ there can mean ‘least, smallest’. In fact the task of looking after the sheep was usually the servant’s task. David was given the lowest job within the family. But when God called him he was faithfully doing the will of his father, attending sheep. At this point Samuel really does need God’s help. He now has to look beyond the obvious – the sons before him. When Jesse mentions ‘the youngest’ son he adds but ‘he is attending sheep.’ No doubt to the annoyance of all the other brothers and elders Samuel says nothing will happen until this son is brought in before him. Note will you that at this point David is not even mentioned by name – his father calls him the ‘youngest.’ In his father’s eyes he is not that important. In the eyes of the elders he cannot be that important. They, like us, measure a man’s worth by what he has, what he does than what he is. They, like us, are all caught up in a man’s wealth and accomplishments and relegate his character to last. David, why he is the youngest, he owns nothing and he has accomplished nothing. But this little ‘nobody’ was about to become ‘somebody.’
Verse 12 – David is sent for and he enters the picture. He is described as being ‘ruddy and handsome.’ The Hebrew can actually be translated as ‘having beautiful eyes.’ Isn’t that ironic – Samuel was going by what his eyes saw and the one (whose heart was after God’s heart) had beautiful eyes. God tells Samuel to ‘rise up and anoint him, he is the one.’ He was not Samuel’s choice, he was not the elder’s choice, he was not his brother’s choice, he was not his father’s choice but he was God’s choice. He was God’s choice because God knew his heart – it was a heart after God’s own heart. David was not perfect, his heart was not perfect – but his heart was after God – and that made all the difference when it came to God choosing who would be king of Israel.
Verse 13 – we read of the divine approval upon anointing. Just as a thousand years later when Jesus was anointed publicly the Spirit of the Lord would descend upon him – it descends here upon David. You see Scripture is very clear – from Pentecost the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit indwells all those called by God, elected on to salvation but it also makes clear that those whom God calls, chooses for a task, for a position of authority in his church he also anoints – gifts for that task/position.
Conclusion – God speaks … we respond.
In finishing let me say this to you all this morning. God calls us all to come to him for salvation – that is made clear in Scripture. And this morning that call remains ever present before us – he calls us all to repent and to come to him for cleansing and to seek him with all our heart. But at this moment in time in the life of our church God is looking for men and women whose ‘heart is after his own (God’s) heart.’ This morning he is looking for hearts that are turned towards and after him. Hearts that desire intimacy with him. Hearts whose desire is to be in his holy presence and to know his Holy Spirit in harmony with their spirit. 2 Chronicles 16.9 says this – READ. That is what God wants – a heart that is completely his. He is also seeking hearts that are humble before him. God saw David being humble and obedient to his father – tending sheep. Long before David knew anything about the call of God on his life – God saw David. He was humble and obedient. He was authentic before God and people. When no one else was around on that hillside David remained faithful to the task of being a shepherd. When no one else would have seen if the lion or the bear had taken one sheep – David defended them at the risk of his own life – why? Because that was his job. You know straight after this anointing to be king David goes right back to being a shepherd. When he is called to be musician to Saul and Saul goes off to fight the Philistines David goes right back to being a shepherd again – Why? Because that was his father’s will for him and he humble in obedience. He had integrity. Integrity – Hebrew is ‘Thamam’ – which means integrity, complete, whole, innocent, having simplicity of life, wholesome, sound, unimpaired. Once commentator said this of David’s integrity ‘he was bone deep honest’ when no one was looking. Friends ‘you cannot fake it before God.’’ David’s heart was after God’s heart. Samuel could not see it, Jesse could not see it, Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and the elders could not see it – but God could and he did. And so he was chosen and anointed king over Israel.
Let me finish with this – God speaks and we are called to respond. His solutions are often strange and simple – be open. His call in your life is usually sudden and surprising – so be ready. His call is always sovereign and sure – so be sensitive. Don’t try to second guess God. You may feel like a nobody. You may think nobody notices. Nobody would care if you were not here. Nobody notices what I do. This morning you are not a nobody to God but a somebody – and He knows your heart. He has seen your humility, your obedience, your integrity and He is calling you this morning to Himself – the response is yours to make. Remember 1809 – Napoleon marching through Austria – whilst all those little babies were being born unnoticed by the world – who made the biggest impression? 1020BC Saul was on the throne and a little boy was tending sheep on a hillside outside Bethlehem – who noticed? God did and he took a nobody and made him king. Amen.
