1 Samuel 16:1-23

Israel’s First King

1 Samuel

Helen Pocock

Chapter 16

Samuel *anoints David

v1 The *Lord said to Samuel, ‘You should not continue to be sad about Saul. I do not accept him as the king of *Israel now. Fill your jar with oil and go. I am sending you to a man whose name is Jesse. He lives in the town of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king’.

v2 But Samuel said, ‘If I go, Saul will hear about it. He will kill me’.

The *Lord said, ‘Take a young cow with you. Tell the people that you have come to give a *sacrifice to the *Lord. v3 Invite Jesse to the *sacrifice. I will tell you what to do. I will show you the person that you must *anoint’.

v4 Samuel did what the *Lord told him to do. He arrived at Bethlehem. The leaders of that town went to meet Samuel. The leaders trembled because they were afraid of Samuel. They asked him, ‘Have you come for a peaceful visit?’

v5 Samuel replied, ‘Yes. I have come to offer a *sacrifice to the *Lord. *Consecrate yourself. Then come to the *sacrifice with me’. Samuel *consecrated Jesse and his sons. Then Samuel invited them to the *sacrifice.

The *Lord did not allow Samuel to be sad about Saul for a long time. God had now chosen a new king. Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:17-22). Samuel went from his home in Ramah to Jesse’s town of Bethlehem. The road went past Gibeah where Saul lived. Saul knew that God would choose a new king to replace him. Samuel was afraid that Saul would be jealous about the new king. And Saul might be angry enough to kill Samuel. So the *Lord told Samuel to give a *sacrifice to him. Samuel could then tell people the truth. But he did not tell them the main reason for his visit. Samuel trusted God and obeyed him.

The leaders of Bethlehem were afraid of Samuel because he was a *prophet. He spoke words from God. He went to towns as a judge (7:15-17). But this was a peaceful visit.

‘Consecrate yourself’. ‘Consecrate’ means to ‘make holy’. They had to separate themselves from things that made them not holy. (Leviticus explains what these things were.) Then they washed and put clean clothes on. This showed that they had made themselves holy. God is holy. He wants his people to be holy. (In Exodus 19 the *Israelites had to *consecrate themselves before God gave Moses the 10 laws.)

v6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab. Samuel thought, ‘I am sure that the *Lord has chosen this man’.

v7 But the *Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at how handsome or tall Eliab is. I have not chosen him. The *Lord does not look at people the way that other people look. People look at the outside of a person. But the *Lord looks at their spirit’.

v8 Then Jesse called to his son Abinadab. Jesse told him to walk past Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The *Lord has not chosen this man’. v9 Jesse told his son Shammah to walk past Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The *Lord has not chosen this man’. v10 Jesse made 7 of his sons walk past Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The *Lord has not chosen any of these men’. v11 Samuel asked Jesse, ‘Do you have any more sons?’

Jesse answered, ‘I have one more son. He is the youngest. He is looking after the sheep’.

Samuel said, ‘Tell him to come here. We will not sit down to eat until he arrives’.

v12 So Jesse sent for him and took him to Samuel. This young man was handsome and healthy. He had beautiful eyes.

The *Lord said to Samuel, ‘I have chosen this man. Go and *anoint him’.

v13 The name of the young man was David. Samuel took the jar that was full of oil. He *anointed David by pouring the oil over him. Samuel did this in front of David’s brothers. The Spirit of the *Lord came on David in a powerful way that day and stayed ever since then. After this, Samuel went back to Ramah.

Verse 7 is very important. It shows us that God does not behave like us. God sees what people are like inside, in their spirit (1 Kings 8:39; Psalms 139; Luke 16:15; John 2:25). He knows about each person’s character. He knows whether they will trust and obey him. This is most important to God. Samuel thought that God would choose Eliab because he was handsome and tall. People like handsome men. And the *Israelite army would look good with a tall strong king as leader. But Saul was tall and handsome (9:1-2) and he was not a good king.

Samuel listened to God. God said that he had chosen one of Jesse’s sons. But God did not choose any of the sons who walked past Samuel. Jesse had not invited his youngest son to the *sacrifice. Perhaps Jesse thought that he was too young to come. But Samuel had to see Jesse’s youngest son David. He looked handsome, but God saw that he had a good spirit too. Samuel obeyed God. He *anointed David with oil. David’s brothers saw this. But we do not know if anyone else from Bethlehem was there. The Spirit of the *Lord came on David that day. The *Hebrew word means that the Spirit ‘rushed’ on David with power. In Acts 2:1-4, the Holy Spirit sounded like strong wind as he came from heaven. In the *Old Testament the Spirit of the *Lord (the Holy Spirit) came on people for a particular job. The Spirit also left people when they did not obey God. But the Spirit of the *Lord did not leave David.

Samuel went back to his home at Ramah. He had completed the task that God gave to him. The writer mentions Samuel only once more (at the end of chapter 19) before his death in 25:1.

David is a very important person. We read more about his life than about the life of anyone else in the Bible, except for Jesus. The account of David continues in the rest of 1 Samuel. It goes through all of 2 Samuel and finishes with David’s death in 1 Kings 2:10. David was a *shepherd. David looked after his father’s sheep. David wrote Psalms 23. He described God as a *shepherd. This is picture language for how God cared for David. Jesus said ‘I am the good *shepherd’ (John 10:11-16). Ezekiel 34 and 1 Peter 5:1-4 call leaders ‘*shepherds’ and God’s people ‘sheep’. David understood how God wanted him to lead the *Israelites.

v14 But the Spirit of the *Lord had left Saul. The *Lord sent an evil spirit to Saul. It made him afraid and made him have troubles. v15 Saul’s servants said to him, ‘We know that God sent an evil spirit to give you troubles. v16 If you command us we will go. We will look for a man who can play a *harp. When the evil spirit comes from God, this man can play his *harp. Then you will feel better’.

v17 So Saul said to his servants, ‘Find someone who can play a *harp well. Bring him to me’.

v18 One of the servants said, ‘Jesse lives in Jerusalem. He has a son who plays well. His son is a strong, brave soldier. He is wise when he speaks. He is handsome. The *Lord is with him’.

v19 So Saul sent men to Jesse with a message. Saul said, ‘Send your son David to me, the son who looks after the sheep’. v20 So Jesse got some loaves of bread, a leather bag that was full of wine, and a young goat. He loaded them onto the back of a *donkey. He sent them to Saul with his son David.

v21 David came to Saul. He began to serve Saul. Saul loved David. David became one of the men who carried Saul’s *armour. v22 Saul sent a message to Jesse. He said, ‘David pleases me very much. Let him stay and serve me’.

v23 So, when the evil spirit came from God to Saul, David played his *harp. Then the evil spirit would leave Saul. And Saul would feel better.

Saul continued to rule the *Israelites until he died many years later. But the Spirit of the *Lord left Saul because God did not accept him as king now. Verse 14 shows that God can control evil spirits. He sent the evil spirit to Saul to punish him with troubles. And Saul started to become ill in his mind. He sometimes got afraid, depressed or jealous. Later he tried to kill David several times. Saul’s servants knew why this had happened to him. They also knew that music could help people feel calm and happy again. A harp is a musical instrument. The Bible also calls it a ‘lyre’. It has many strings. Genesis 4:2 mentions a lyre.

David must have fought in some of the battles that Saul had led in the past. The other men saw that David had a good character. They knew that the *Lord was with him. (This happened before the Spirit of the *Lord came on him in power.) Saul invited David into the king’s house. In those days, it was a custom to give gifts to a king. So Jesse sent David with gifts of food and wine. Saul did not know that God had chosen David as the next king. God had *anointed David as king. However, David became Saul’s servant.

David served Saul as a skilled musician. David played his *harp when the evil spirit came to Saul. As David played, the evil spirit left. It may have left because of the music or because of the Spirit of the *Lord on David. Saul loved David and depended on him. Later David carried Saul’s *armour to the battles. That showed how much Saul trusted David.

anoint ~ to mark a person with oil to show that God has chosen him for a special job.
Lord ~ the name of God in the Bible. The special name of God that he announced only to the Israelites (Genesis 3:13-15). It links God with his covenant (promise) to them.

Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
sacrifice ~ to give something to God, usually an animal, grain or wine; to ask God to forgive sins as the priest killed an animal. This sacrifice was a special animal. The priests killed and burned it on the altar.

sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
altar ~ a table, where the priests burned animals and gave other gifts as a sacrifice to God or false gods.
consecrate ~ to set apart for holy use.
consecrate ~ to set apart for holy use.
prophet ~ a person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.

Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.

Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
shepherd ~ a person who cares for sheep.
harp ~ a musical instrument that has many strings.
donkey ~ an animal like a small horse. Donkeys can carry heavy loads on their backs. People ride on them.
armour ~ special clothes that protected soldiers.