1 Samuel 16

1 Samuel 16  •  7 min. read  •  grade level: 11
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1 Samuel 16 Here the history of the true king according to God begins, the history of the king according to the flesh having been virtually terminated by his conclusive rejection.
This chapter, as we shall see, gives us a general idea of David’s position before coming to the throne. But first of all, we will consider certain details which are very important for us of Samuel’s character.
When it is a question of human thoughts, even those of a judge and prophet, we find that they are no better than those of any other man. The Word affords us many examples of this. Here the question is not one of positive failures, but by his manner of thinking Samuel betrays a state that is not one of true communion with God. After Saul has been rejected Samuel continues to mourn for him to the point that God must reprove him: “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?” (1 Sam. 16:11And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. (1 Samuel 16:1)). Then instead of rejoicing that God has “provided [Himself] a king,” he responds: “How shall I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me” (1 Sam. 16:22And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. (1 Samuel 16:2)). How shall I go?-when it is God Himself telling him to go! Was it not likewise with God’s servant Moses (Ex. 4) who, faced with the Lord’s commands, raised objections based in appearance on humility (Ex. 3:1111And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11)), on distrust of men (Ex. 4:11And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. (Exodus 4:1)) and of himself (Ex. 4:1010And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. (Exodus 4:10)), but which, in short, beneath an admirable outward appearance hid unbelief and the mistrust of the natural heart?
Finally in verse 6, seeing Eliab, Jesse’s first-born, he says: “Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before Him” (1 Sam. 16:66And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. (1 Samuel 16:6)). Even this man of God is judging according to outward appearance, and God is obliged to reprove him, saying: “For it is not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh upon the heart” (1 Sam. 16:77But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or 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. (1 Samuel 16:7)). Samuel thus was here judging as a man, and his discernment was given over to the same outward qualities that Saul had possessed. With touching grace God condescends to reprove and instruct His servant on all these points.
And so in the end faith predominates: “Samuel did what Jehovah said,” and went ahead, counting on God’s word to direct him. Once he had learned that the Lord looks at the heart, he proves himself faithful and his communion with the Lord is manifest, for he immediately judges that “Neither has Jehovah chosen” the other sons whom Jesse, their father, made to pass before the prophet. At last he anoints the only one of them whom the Lord had chosen. Once in the path of God, Samuel no longer fears. Whereas the elders of Bethlehem “trembled at his coming,” he who beforehand had trembled now reassures them.
David appears on the scene. His character is remarkable from the beginning of his career. Forgotten of his father, who does not remember him except at Samuel’s pressing request; despised of his brothers, of whom the eldest even taxes him with “pride” and “naughtiness of heart” when the Spirit of God is stirring him to action (1 Sam. 17:2828And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. (1 Samuel 17:28)); and lastly, unknown to Saul, to whom his qualities are revealed (1 Sam. 16:1818Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. (1 Samuel 16:18)), who loves him greatly (1 Sam. 16:2121And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. (1 Samuel 16:21)) because of his goodness and because of the care with which he surrounds Saul, but who forgets his origin so completely that he later asks Abner whose son he is (1 Sam. 17:5555And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. (1 Samuel 17:55)). Such was David’s character in terms of his relationships. In appearance outwardly he “was ruddy, and of a lovely countenance and beautiful” (1 Sam. 16:1212And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. (1 Samuel 16:12)).
This world offers different types of beauty. Saul was “choice and comely; and there was not among the children of Israel a comelier person than he.”1 Eliab also had a handsome appearance that captivated Samuel’s eyes, but such beauty alone is of no value except in men’s eyes. There is another kind of beauty that may be joined with outward beauty in men of faith, but that God esteems as being the refection of character: the beauty of a pure soul or of simple faith, the outshining of a heart from which evil and sin are excluded, of a guileless heart. This is the beauty of the little child Moses of whom the Word says: He “was exceedingly lovely,” literally, “fair to God” (Acts 7:2020In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: (Acts 7:20)). This is the beauty of Joseph, “of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance,” but a Nazarite among his brothers (Gen. 39:66And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored. (Genesis 39:6)); this is the beauty of Daniel (Dan. 1:44Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. (Daniel 1:4)), humbly cleaving to his God in order to guard himself from the world’s defilement; and lastly, this is the beauty of David developed in the wilderness by the pastures for the sheep where in secret he experienced the strength and the glory of his God.
But what is this moral beauty added to physical beauty, and yet always incomplete, in the presence of Christ’s beauty? He had no form nor comeliness, His visage was marred more than any man, but all the moral glory that filled Him shone upon His face and shed light all about Him. Grace was poured into His lips, and so it is said of Him: “Thou art fairer than the sons of men... therefore God hath blessed Thee forever” (Psa. 45:22Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. (Psalm 45:2)).
In all these men of faith, as in their perfect Model, true beauty is in reality nothing other than the shining forth of grace. David is the king according to grace and his name means “Beloved.” This character necessarily makes him a suffering man, an afflicted man here on earth, a true type of the Savior.
But the one who knows Jesus finds in Him not only the perfection of the Humble Man and of the Man of Sorrows, but also other character traits, and primarily the beauty of strength. Like David, to his friends “a valiant man” (1 Sam. 16:1818Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. (1 Samuel 16:18)), the Lord is for His own the One who calms the sea and the storm, before whose majesty His enemies recoil and fall backward; who says, “I will,” and the thing is done; who binds the strong man and through His miracles spoils him of his goods.
Like David, He is “a man of war,” and if it is true that He will come to Zion, lowly as in former days and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass (Zech. 9:99Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9)), it is just as true that He will gird His sword upon His thigh, a valiant Man, in His majesty and splendor, and that His right hand shall teach Him terrible things (Psa. 45:3-43Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 4And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. (Psalm 45:3‑4)), that He will sit as Overcomer on a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven, smiting the nations with the two-edged sword going forth from His mouth (Revs. 19:11-16).
God’s providence brings David to the king’s court, but before he reigns his faith must be put to the test by all manner of sufferings. He must be the dependent man, the humbled man, despised, hated, persecuted; in the midst of this life of renouncements and strife he will experience that his God is sufficient for everything. Thus the Lord’s anointed will be tried for many long years in order to manifest to the eyes of the people all the qualities of grace that constitute, according to God’s mind, David’s rights to Israel’s throne and to glory. This grace triumphs in his feelings toward Saul, his relentless enemy.
Hardly is David called to the throne but what Saul’s moral condition changes completely. Until that day the Spirit of God had been with the king according to the flesh, and this explains each of Saul’s successes against the enemies of Israel. Now the Spirit of the Lord comes upon David (1 Sam. 16:1313Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:13)) and departs from Saul, who is left in the power of “an evil spirit from Jehovah” (1 Sam. 16:1414But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. (1 Samuel 16:14)). This is a judgment from God, a chastisement upon the king who becomes henceforth in this history that which he had not been previously: a type of the Antichrist. At the same time God demonstrates that His Spirit alone is capable of raising and dispelling the evil spirit, when David takes a harp and plays with his hand before Saul.