1 Samuel 16 - Introduction
XVI. (1 Samuel 16:1) David. — His early History. — His First Connection with Samuel. — His Meeting with King Saul.... [ Continue Reading ]
XVI. (1 Samuel 16:1) David. — His early History. — His First Connection with Samuel. — His Meeting with King Saul.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW LONG WILT THOU MOURN FOR SAUL? — The constant references to the influence Saul acquired, and the love and admiration he attracted, is a striking feature in this most ancient Book of Samuel, where the fall and ruin of the first Hebrew king is so pathetically related. Though it tells us how Saul w... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WILL KILL ME. — The unhappy mental malady of Saul must have made rapid progress. The jealous king was indeed changed from the Saul who even, in his self-willed rebellion against the Lord, was careful to pay honour to Samuel. But now the aged prophet felt that if he crossed the king’s path in any... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT ANOINT. — From very early times the ceremony of anointing to important offices was customary among the Hebrews. In the first instance, all the priests were anointed (Exodus 40:15; Numbers 3:3), but afterwards anointing seems to have been reserved especially for the high priest (Exodus... [ Continue Reading ]
TREMBLED AT HIS COMING. — The appearance of the aged seer, with the heifer and the long horn of holy oil, at first terrified the villagers of the quiet, secluded Bethlehem. The name and appearance of the old seer was well known in all the coasts of Israel. Why had he come thus suddenly among them? H... [ Continue Reading ]
PEACEABLY: I AM COME TO SACRIFICE. — The answer at once re-assured the villagers. He had simply come to perform the usual rite of sacrifice among them. The reasons of his coming were unknown, but his mission was one alone of blessing. There was nothing unusual in his sanctifying Jesse and his sons.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE LOOKED ON ELIAB. — There was something in the tall and stately presence of the eldest born of Jesse which reminded the old man of the splendid youth of Saul. Eliab seemed to Samuel in all respects a fit successor to the great warrior whom the Lord rejected. But the Divine voice gave no reply back... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN OF HIS SONS. — These seven, with David, the youngest, make eight. In 1 Chronicles 2:13 only seven of the family are recorded: one apparently of that bright band of youths died young.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE HERE ALL THY CHILDREN? — For a moment the prophet is uncertain. The command from the Eternal Friend to come and anoint “the son of Jesse of Bethlehem” had been definite, but the sons of Jesse had passed before him, and no sign had been vouch-safed to him indicating that God had chosen one of the... [ Continue Reading ]
ANOINTED HIM IN THE MIDST OF HIS BRETHREN. — The history here simply relates the bare fact that the young shepherd was anointed in the presence of his brethren. No words of Samuel on this occasion are recorded; we are left, therefore, uncertain whether any reason was given for the choice of David, o... [ Continue Reading ]
AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD. — The form in which the evil spirit manifested itself in Saul was apparently an incurable melancholy, which at times blazed forth in fits of uncontrollable jealous anger. When Saul’s attendants, his officers, and those about his person, perceived the mental malady under whic... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS... THOU SHALT BE WELL. — It has been a well-known fact in all ages that music exerts a powerful influence on the mind. We have several instances in ancient Greek literature, where this influence is recommended to soothe the passions or to heal mental disease. Pythagoras, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED ONE OF THE SERVANTS. — The Dean of Canterbury calls attention to the fact that the word in the original here rendered “servants” is not the same as was translated by “servants” in 1 Samuel 16:15. In each of these passages the Hebrew word rendered “servant,” no doubt signifies officers... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESSE TOOK AN ASS. — It was and is ever customary in the East to acknowledge obedience and subjection with a present. Jesse, the sheik of Bethlehem, would thus be expected on sending his son to the court of Saul to acknowledge his sovereign by some token of homage. The nature of Jesse’s gifts s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE BECAME HIS ARMOUR-BEARER. — But probably only for a very short time. David returned, we should conclude, to Samuel, whose pupil and friend we know he was. The seer was watching over the young man with a view to his lofty destiny. Saul apparently, from his question in 1 Samuel 17:55, “Whose so... [ Continue Reading ]
DAVID TOOK AN HARP, AND PLAYED WITH HIS HAND. — “The music,” beautifully writes F. D. Maurice, “was more than a mere palliative. It brought back for the time the sense of a true order, a secret, inward harmony, an assurance that it is near every man, and that he may enter into it. A wonderful messag... [ Continue Reading ]