Chapter Sixteen
David is Anointed King
16:1 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.”
An unspecified period of time had passed before God asked Samuel how long was he going to grieve over Saul. God had rejected Saul and now it was time to move on! Samuel undoubtedly understood the importance for any king of Israel to be connected to God. If left alone they could easily lead the people of Israel away from God. As such, Samuel likely strongly desired Saul to succeed as king. God now instructs Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go to Bethlehem, to the family of Jesse, for He has “provided for myself” a king from among his sons. On several occasions we have seen that Saul was chosen by the people (see 1 Samuel 8:18; 12:13) and now we read that God said that He “provided for myself” the next king. We know that Jesse was the grandson of Ruth the Moabite, but belonged to the tribe of Judah through the male ancestry of Boaz and others (see Ruth 4:18-22).
16:2 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.”
Samuel is concerned for his life, as he had told Saul that God had chosen someone nearby, a neighbor of his, to be the next king (see 1 Samuel 15:28). That if he is spotted anointing someone that person and himself would be at risk of being killed by Saul, who may be thinking that he could prevent that person from being king. God tells him to go to Bethlehem and take a heifer with him and tell the people that he is there to make a sacrifice to YHWH and that he was to invite Jesse to the sacrifice, then He will show him what to do, which included anointing for God the person who He has chosen and will only identify at that time.
16:4 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.
Samuel did as he was instructed and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came out to meet him, there were trembling in fear as they probably heard about the separation between the king and Samuel. There were potentially several reasons why they may have been afraid including, him arriving to anoint a new king (which he was going to be doing, but in secret), seeking supporters to counter the king’s reign, etc. Any of which could put them in the king’s crosshairs. So they ask Samuel, “Do you come peaceably?” He affirmatively responded and invited them to join him to a sacrifice. The sacrifice appears to be a “Peace Offering” (also known as a Fellowship Offering or Thank Offering), it was the only sacrifice that could be shared as a meal with others, a voluntary offering, see Leviticus 3:1-17; 7:11-36 (click here to read about the various Old Testament offerings). God’s regulations required the people participating to be ceremonially clean which required them to be consecrated (washed and clothes changed, see Exodus 19:10-15). The instruction to invite Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice is repeated at the end of verse five. Interestingly there is no mention as to why the sacrifice was being made, or why it was to be offered in Bethlehem, nor did anyone ask.
16:6 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.”
These verses are critical to understand and vital for every person who desires to serve and please God. Hopefully that got your attention! Samuel looks at Jesse’s oldest son Eliab and thought to himself that he surely is the one that God wants as king. God told him to not look at his appearance or the height of his stature (one of the reasons the people liked Saul, see 1 Samuel 9:2; 10:23), because God did not select him. Why? Because YHWH does not see as a man sees, as they can only see through their eyes seeing outward appearances, but He looks at the heart. This is so important! God is not looking at the action of a person, but what motivates them to do that action. Is it out of love and wanting to serve, or is it because you feel you need to do it out of obligation?
16:8 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.”
Jesse then has each of the next six sons pass before Samuel and none of them were selected by God. Only the first three sons of Jesse are named here, the other names (other than David) can be found in 1 Chronicles 2:13-15. It is interesting to note that Jesse had eight sons (seven here plus David, see also 1 Samuel 17:10-14), but the Bible only records seven names. It is believed that one of the eight died early in life without children or did nothing noteworthy.
16:11 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.”
With God saying “not him” to each of the seven sons, Samuel asks Jesse if all of his sons were there. Jesse tells him that there is one more, he is his youngest son, but he is out in the field watching over the sheep. Samuel asks him to send someone to get him for he will not sit down (Hebrew nā·sōḇ’, to go around, in context likely referring to sitting down around a table) until he comes.
16:12 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.”
Jesse’s youngest son arrives, he was ruddy (Hebrew ’ǎḏ·mô·nî’, to be red), beautiful eyes, and was handsome (Hebrew ṭôḇ’, good, well-pleasing, and rō’·’î, appearance). YHWH told Samuel to anoint him, for this was the one.
16:13 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.
Samuel took the horn containing the oil and anointed David in front of his brothers. Then we are told the Holy Spirit rushed (Hebrew tiṣ·lǎḥ’, to come mightily) upon (Hebrew ’ěl, into, unto, onto, beside, toward) David from that day on. Samuel then left and returned to Ramah.
This is the first mention of David in the book of 1 Samuel, but not the first in the Bible, there are two references in the book of Ruth just before this one (see Ruth 4:17, 22). The name appears more than 1,100 times in the Bible (1,136 times in the ESV).
David in Saul’s Service
16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.
The Holy Spirit which came upon Saul shortly after he was anointed (see 1 Samuel 10:10) left him and was then vulnerable to receiving a harmful (Hebrew rā·‛ā(h)’, bad, evil) spirit. We are told that the evil spirit came from God (see also 1 Samuel 18:10; 19:9). As one could guess, this passage often causes readers to stumble. If God is “all-good,” how or why would He send a harmful spirit to Saul? Some look at the word rā·‛ā(h)’ and say it can be translated as ‘distressing’ or even ‘misery’, not necessarily morally evil. Others say that He only ‘allowed’ the evil spirit to enter Saul. God is indeed all good, but just as He can use a pagan nation to punish His people, He can also allow an evil spirit to torment Saul. While it is true the spirit did not come from Him, it will still do what commands it to do as He is always in charge!
16:15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
It is unknown how Saul’s servants perceived that a “harmful spirit” from God was tormenting him, but their diagnosis was correct. It is believed that they expressed the belief that God’s hand is behind all experiences. But their remedy does not address the problem, it is strictly from a human perspective, it can only provide, at best, a temporary calmness. They suggest to the king that they look for a man who can play the lyre during the times when the harmful spirit is upon him and he will be well (Hebrew ṭôḇ’, to be happy, to seem good, to do right).
16:17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”
Saul agrees and tells his servants to provide for him a man who can play well and hire him. One of the young servants spoke up and told him that he had seen one of the sons of Jesse from Bethlehem who is skilled in playing. He added that he was a man of valor (Hebrew ḥǎ’·yil, strength, might), a man of war, an eloquent speaker, and was a good-looking man. The New Living Translation renders his description as, “a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the LORD is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:18b, NLT) Knowing that David was a shepherd, he may have heard about some of hi wildlife encounters, but referring to him as a man of war is somewhat puzzling. Some commentators believe this was added later after David was king, but this comment comes from one of Saul’s servants not the author. Regardless, it was an accurate description as David proved himself as a brave warrior and a man of war (see 1 Samuel 17:12-55; 18:5-16, 30; 19:8; 23:1-6; 30:16-30).
16:19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
It was the king’s prerogative to select anyone in his realm to serve him. Saul sent word to Jesse to send him David, and Jesse complied taking a donkey and loaded it up with bread, wine, and a young goat and sent David with the donkey to the king.
16:21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
We are not given much detail or a time frame, but the service of David was much loved and Saul made him his armor-bearer. The king sent word to Jesse requesting that David stay with him as he has found favor in his sight.
16:23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
Again without a timeframe, the author gives us a summary of how Saul used David to play the lyre in order to feel better when being tormented by the harmful spirit. When he played, the spirit would leave him.
Considerations
Departure of the Holy Spirit
We read in 1 Samuel 16:14 how God took away the Holy Spirit from Saul (see also 18:12; 28:15-16). We also read in Psalm 51:11 where David wrote, "Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me." (ESV) This troubles some Christians as the Holy Spirit is given to each believer to 'seal' them for eternity (see John 14:15-17; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14). So what is different from the days of Saul to that of the New Testament? Some can argue that the wording in the Hebrew implies a coming “on" or the Holy Spirit coming "upon" a person, versus the New Testament’s indwelling of the Holy Spirit inside each believer, which cannot be removed. And yes, that is true, there is a significant difference between the two scenarios, one has the Holy Spirit ‘visiting’, and the other has the Holy Spirit staying to live there. Technically, Christians should never say, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me," as He will not leave, that's a promise. But what changed? That would be the arrival of Jesus, He has sanctified us, cleansed us of all sin, and now the Holy Spirit can live in every believer. Not from anything we did to deserve His presence, but what Jesus did for us!
God Brings Saul and David Together
We are introduced to David, a young shepherd boy who plays music well enough to get the attention of the king’s servant staff. He gets ‘hired’ to “sooth the soul” of a troubled king. They build a working relationship and the king takes him on as an armor-bearer, not an easy job, but due to his age, this may have been more honorary than a true on-the-battle-ground assistant. Through this story we are exposed several important facts about David. First, he was a great musician, one with eloquent speech, facts that help us see how God raised up from an early age to be such an incredible psalm writer. Secondly, we hear about his bravery and abilities as a warrior. Being exposed to the inner-workings of a kingdom also prepared him to be a leader and eventually king.
Armor-Bearer
Typically brave young men selected by warriors (mostly kings and high-positioned generals) to carry their armor and to fight alongside them during battles (see also Judges 9:54; 1 Samuel 14:6; 23:4). Considered to be similar to adjutants in today's military service.