1 Samuel 16:4-18

And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem.

Samuel’s visit to Bethlehem

1. How much history is entwined around one locality! The very name of a village recalls events most momentous to the world, and fills our minds with the memories of the past. “Man is a materialist, and he tries to give a material magnitude to memorable places; but God chooses any common spot for the cradle of a mighty incident, or the home of a mighty spirit.” “Twenty years ago,” says the writer from whom we have just quoted, “Some English voyagers were standing on a flat beach within the Arctic Seas. From the excitement of their looks, the avidity with which they gazed into the ground, and the enthusiasm with which they looked around them, it was evident that they deemed it a spot of singular interest. But anything outwardly less interesting you could hardly imagine. On the one side, the coast retreated in low and wintry ridges; and on the other, a pale ocean bore its icy freight beneath a watery sky; whilst under the travellers’ feet lay neither bars of gold nor a gravel of gems, but blocks of unsightly limestone. Yet it was the centre of one of nature’s greatest mysteries. It was the reward of years of adventure and hardship; it was the answer to the long aspirations and efforts of science--it was the Magnetic Pole. The travellers grudged that a place so important should appear so tame. Bethlehem was “little among the thousands of Judah” in its palmiest days, and it has not advanced in civic greatness since; yet one of the most celebrated spots of which the world is proud. While yet without its village, it had a hallowed name in Hebrew story as the birthplace of Benjamin and the burial place of Rachel. There were the fields of Boaz, where Ruth gleaned behind the reapers amidst the golden sheaves. There Jesse held his patrimony, and in his dwelling was the nativity of the minstrel king. There was anointed the man after God’s own heart to be the king of Israel, by which his native village was made the mother of a long line of princes. Here halted the star that had guided eastern sages to behold the King of kings. And behind the khan, in one of the oxen’s stalls, a wayfaring woman “brought forth her first-born son, because there was no room for her in the inn;” and in that babe of Bethlehem the incarnate God was manifest. Many have gone far to behold this sacred spot, and have lingered devoutly over its scenes as they recalled the glorious events of which it has been the theatre.

2. Samuel had felt it hard to bow to the decree of God, and sorrowed so much as to receive a rebuke--the only one recorded as spoken by God to him. He was reluctant to go to Bethlehem even after his commission. He “shrunk from this task which added all that was wanting to confirm the doom of Saul. He sought to shun the duty by expressing apprehensions for his safety should Saul hear of the transaction.” “How can I go? If Saul hear it he will kill me.” This was a question of inquiry, perhaps, rather than of distrust--a question such as Manoah put regarding the angelic visitant to his wife, and such as the Virgin Mary proposed when she asked regarding the unparalleled annunciation which Gabriel had made to her. Samuel sought counsel from the Lord in his extremity, that he might be enabled to fulfil the Divine command. It was not that he shrank from duty, however trying, but that his way might be opened up for its discharge. God suggested a way: “And the Lord said, take an heifer with thee, and say. I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.” This removed the great difficulty, and guaranteed Divine wisdom to direct his conduct. How safely might he go when he had the counsel of God--when he was assured of strength and wisdom according to his day! It is ever thus with obedient faith in following the path of duty. The believer may go on when he has the word of God to encourage him. The Lord opened up Samuel’s way by suggesting an exercise that concealed his chief object. He was to take a heifer with him, and call Jesse to the sacrifice and feast. This seems to have been not an unusual occurrence. A similar occasion took place when Saul was first apprised of the kingly dignity awaiting him. It was quite an event in Bethlehem that the venerable prophet should be there. The people held him in very high esteem, and felt an awe upon their spirits in his presence. His was entirely, so far as they were concerned, a religious errand. He declared his purpose thus:--“I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord; sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” So Samuel desired the purification of the sanctuary to be passed by those that joined with him in the sacred ordinance. They were to wash their clothes--indicative of the spiritual cleansing of the heart which is essential to the right observance of the sacrifice. Samuel assisted in the exercise, he performed for them the priestly service, as Moses did for Israel and gob for his sons. It is meet that there should be special preparation for holy services. It is true that believers are always understood to have a right to privileges; but they have not always the fitness. They may have been backsliding; their hearts may have been polluted; they may have become entangled in worldly cares. A season of preparation is, therefore: proper and useful. How solemn it makes a communion when you go from the laver to the table, and from the robing room to the banquet hall! How sweet it makes the fellowship when you realise acceptance, and have communion with the Father, and with the Son, and with the Holy Ghost! That sacrifice at Bethlehem had its joys; and its blessed influence would long be felt by Jesse and his sons. But ere they sat down to feast upon the offered victim, Samuel had another ceremony to perform.

3. He sought a special interview with the sons of Jesse, that he might set apart one of them for a high dignity in the future history of the Hebrew commonwealth. The Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, of 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. The beautiful is not always the true nor is that real beauty which is merely outward. In man the material is superseded by the moral. The nation of highest cultivation in heathendom worshipped the beautiful to the neglect of the moral. Greek religion was aesthetic, not holy. The goodly countenance fascinates, and then too often deceives; but it is “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price.” The opinions of God an those of men are much contrasted here. “The Lord looketh on the heart.” Solemn thought! He knoweth fully all that characterises the inward and spiritual nature of man. The quaint, but spiritually-minded John Berridge thus wrote of his heart: “O heart heart, what art thou? A mass of fooleries and absurdities, the vainest, craftiest, wickedest, foolishest thing in nature.” Beholding himself in the mirror of God’s word, his opinion agreed with that of God. David must have had a similar view of his when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

4. The man after God’s heart at last, was found! The captain of the people of God, who would fulfil in his rule all the will of God, was selected. The great type and the earthly progenitor of the Messianic King, and the pledge of Israel’s greatness, stood out before the prophet’s eye. Samuel’s grief was assuaged. We are thus introduced to one whose personal history and typical character are of undying interest to the Church of God. Genius was born with this son of Jesse. Music and poetry were a part of his nature, and received a high development from his ardent cultivation. His harp often beguiled the loitering day or the weary night, as he watched his flocks; and, when a minstrel was sought to soothe by melodious sounds the agitated mind of Saul, whom God’s spirit forsook, the young Bethlehemite was made musician to the king. David was a poet, and sang his own Hebrew melodies to his tuneful harp. He was godly, and dedicated his music to the praise of Jehovah. He was profoundly acquainted with the word of God, and while setting many of its heroes of faith and events of grace to music, he was permitted to add largely to the volume of inspiration. Samuel rejoiced in David ca the day of his anointing, though he saw not yet all things put under him. In like manner may the believer rejoice in the Son of David and the Son of God, though he sees not yet all things put under His feet. We have a pledge of his future government of all things after God’s own heart in what He has already done. (R. Steel.)