First Samuel chapter 16. The last two Sunday evenings we saw the fall or decline or rejection of Saul by the Lord in chapter 15. So we have the anointing of David here tonight. David is anointed in verses 1 to 13 and then he meets Saul in verses 14 to 23.
And essentially what we have in 1 Samuel, the God of history, the Lord of Providence, is focusing here in this book on two men, the decline of one and the rise of the other. And it's not simply in terms of their political savvy or their ability to navigate the contours of the administration of a kingdom. The focus is more inward. Saul was a wretch and a rebel against the living and true God.
David, however, is a man after God's own heart, not a sinless man, but rather a submissive man, and therefore we see God's blessing upon him. So beginning in chapter 16 at verse 1, Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, saying, I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons.
And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. But the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do.
You shall anoint for me the one I named to you. So Samuel did what the Lord said and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. So it was when they came that he looked at Eliab and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one.
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these.
And Samuel said to Jesse, are all the young men here? Then he said, there remains yet the youngest. And there he is keeping the sheep. And
David Brought and Anointed
Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. So he sent him and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with bright eyes and good looking. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one.
And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing Spirit from the Lord troubled him.
And Saul's servants said to him, Surely a distressing Spirit from God is troubling you. Let our Master now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp, and it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing Spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well. So Saul said to his servants, provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech and a handsome person.
And the Lord is with him. Therefore, Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me your son David, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. So David came to Saul and stood before him.
And he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. And so it was, whenever the Spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, thank you very much for the Word of God. We thank you for the history of Israel and the dealings of a gracious God with the covenant people.
We thank you for David, that wonderful king, that king after your own heart, or that man after your own heart, who is typical of his greater Son, even the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you for that one that came into this world, sinners to save. and how we praise You and bless You that You've included us in this wonderful plan of salvation. We would ask, Lord God, that as the Gospel is preached throughout the earth, more and more sinners would come to know Him as Lord and Savior. Forgive us now for all of our sins.
Guide us by Your Holy Spirit. Help us to understand the written Word, and may it affect us, and may it be a means of edification in our own hearts and lives. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
So as I said, the focus has been on Saul up to this point. Now the direction changes or the spotlight changes, and it will focus on David. Though Saul will not be gone, Saul will indeed engage in a great deal of oppression and persecution in terms of David. David not only has to face the Philistines, but he has to face Saul as well.
And so when we come to this particular section, will notice that when the Spirit comes upon David, that doesn't mean the absence of trials. It is actually the opposite. When the Spirit comes, the difficulties come. And so this is one thing that we ought to appreciate in this passage.
We'll draw that out a bit more during the course of our exposition. So as I said, the chapter breaks down into two sections. First, the anointing of David in verses 1 to 13, and then secondly, the meeting with Saul in verses 14 to 23. In essence, We have God choosing David, and then we have Saul inadvertently and unknowingly choosing David himself.
The Anointing of David
So let's look first at this anointing of David.
Samuel Sent to Bethlehem
We notice that the prophet Samuel is sent to Bethlehem according to verses 1 to 10. The situation is found in verses 1 to 4. There is the mourning of Samuel. Notice in verse 1, the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
The obvious connection is to chapter 15 at verse 35. So we will allow, for the moment, a bit of mourning on the part of Samuel. Certainly, Israel is now in a very deficient situation. Their king has been rejected.
Their king is no longer the favored one of God Almighty. And therefore, the nation as a whole will suffer if this in fact persists. So Saul is mourning over this, but God now commands him to go to Bethlehem. Notice what he says in the middle of the verse. fill your horn with oil and go, I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons.
Now go back for a moment to chapter 13. We already see this announced that Saul was not going to be the one from whom a dynasty of kings would follow. Because of Saul's rejection of the Lord, the Lord ultimately rejects him. In 1 Samuel 13, verse 13, and Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly.
You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself, here it is, a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded Him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And then in chapter 15, as we saw last week, specifically in verse 26, But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul sees the edge of his robe and it tore.
So Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours. who is better than you. So this is the man after God's own heart. This is David, the one that is distinguished, the one that is to be chosen and anointed, and the one that will ultimately occupy the throne and reign over a united kingdom. Under David there is great blessing, but under David as well there is great warfare, because David was in fact a man of war, and he is the one that basically vanquished the enemies of Israel to establish the kingdom.
So we have this command by God to go to Bethlehem, and then Samuel registers this complaint in verse 2. Notice what it says. Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.
That is not an unfounded suspicion on the part of Samuel with reference to Saul. No king wants to see somebody be a replacement. And as well, later on in chapter 22, when Saul gets wind that the priests at Nob tried to give safe harbor or did give safe harbor to David, Saul ordered the massacre of those priests at Nob. So Samuel's fear or Samuel's concern is not without warrant in this particular instance.
Nevertheless, God assures him that what goes on is of the Lord, and certainly he needs to be obedient, and he needs to be compliant to this. So God tells him to take a sacrifice, go to Bethlehem, and that being the foil, then call or invite the man Jesse and his sons, so God could identify the particular king of the sons of Jesse. Now certainly there are many things in this chapter that are sort of foundational for the rest of the Bible. The root of Jesse.
Jesse is mentioned in the book of Ruth. Jesse is mentioned in Isaiah the prophet. Jesse is mentioned in Matthew chapter 1. Bethlehem as well is rich in biblical symbolism as being the place from whence Messiah will hail.
In many respects, brethren, what we have in 1 Samuel chapter 16 is the origin of the Messiah according to his humanity. With the distinction of David as the king over Israel, we know that it's Jesus who will come from that line, the line of Judah, the specific family or lineage of David. And so what we find going on in here is most glorious in terms of redemptive history. So he goes to sacrifice and then notice what we find specifically in verses 4 and 5.
So Samuel did what the Lord said and went to Bethlehem and the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, do you come peaceably? Why would they do that? Why would they have this fear? John Gill explains.
For he being now an old man and seldom went abroad, they concluded it must be something very extraordinary that brought him there. And they might fear that as he was a prophet of the Lord, that he was come to reprove them or denounce some judgment upon them for their sin. Kind of like when you're a kid and you are told that you must go to the principal's office. Typically, you are paralyzed with fear at the thought of having to go see the principal.
Because usually it's not the case that you go see the principal and they say, I want to give you a chocolate bar and hail you for being such a wonderful student. It's the same sort of thing as when you're driving down the street and the RCMP is behind you. You're doing everything right, but there's nevertheless this nagging fear that they're going to get you. So the elders in Bethlehem are curious as to why Samuel wants to come.
Samuel says, we're going to have this sacrifice, and I want to see the sons of Jesse in particular in order to distinguish and identify the king, the man, after God's own heart.
The Search for the King
Now notice the search for the king in verses 6 to 10. We have the first son, this man called Eliab. Verse 6. So it was when they came that he looked at Eliab and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.
But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature. This is one of the issues that affected people with reference to Saul. Saul was a man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Saul was a formidable looking character.
Saul was one that if you looked at, you'd say, yeah, he ought to be the king. He's a strong, fit, well, physically able man. Well, Samuel has that same mindset with reference to this son Eliab. So Eliab comes and Samuel says, surely the Lord's anointed is before him.
But then notice the principle that God the Lord gives in verse 17. 7. Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees. That doesn't mean there's some different way about the object that is perceived or seen.
Rather, the emphasis follows. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Now that is an absolutely crucial distinction that we need to understand. David didn't look all that great. Not that he was ugly.
Verse 7 tells us that he, or verse 12 rather, tells us that he was ruddy, he was handsome, and all that sort of thing. So God's not about, find the most gross looking character and let's exalt him to be the king. No, that's not the issue, but the issue also isn't it's the physical appearance that is the measure of a man. It is what's going on in the heart of the man.
Our brother indicated with reference to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Imagine if you didn't know Paul was Paul. Imagine if you didn't know he was the great apostle to the Gentiles, that he was a theology machine, that he knew scripture, that he knew theology, that he was the one who wrote the book of Romans, and he came to interview for a particular job at a particular church. And in this interview process, he reports to the people that are interviewing him the things that Ryan said.
Verse 1 of chapter 2 in 1 Corinthians, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech. So he's going to tell you in this interview committee, I don't really speak that well, kind of like Moses. Moses says, I don't have the oratory skills to stand before the king of Egypt and demand, let my people go. So if you had this Paul the Apostle, and then he says, I don't really have a lot of wisdom either, according to human wisdom.
One thing I do do is I preach the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm also riddled with weakness, fear, and much trembling. My speech and my preaching, they're not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but they do come in a demonstration of the spirit and power. I would suggest that in these mega churches, they're looking for these polished, well-able men to serve and function in that capacity as celebrity pastor.
We wouldn't have the Apostle Paul. We would reject the Apostle Paul. We would say, oh no, you've got to be a skillful orator. You've got to be able to speak like an angel.
You've got to have the boldness and the earnestness and the stability and the surety. You need to be a CEO. You need to lead men. You need to have all of these requirements in order to function properly in this capacity.
We would reject Jesus as well as Jews did in the first century. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. When we saw him, we hid, as it were, our faces from him. There was nothing alluring about him.
There was nothing attractive about him. You didn't say, wow, look at that fellow. He ought to function as the Messiah of Israel. No, we often focus on the externals to the neglect of what's really going on inside the heart of a man.
And the Lord says as much. Don't look at Eliab just because he's an impressive physical specimen. Rather, it's a matter of the heart. Those are the persons that will serve God and serve him faithfully and dutifully.
Dale Ralph Davis makes this observation. He says the text, 1 Samuel 16, 7, then contains a warning to prophets and others among God's people. It provides a revelation of our need. It shows us the discernment we lack.
Only God's wisdom is adequate for directing His kingdom. There is at least one thing we can seek to do. Beware of the impressiveness of external appearances. Now, if the man is a man after God's own heart, and he is additionally ruddy, bright eyes, and good-looking, well, win-win.
But it's not the case that we neglect the man after God's own heart, provided he is ruddy, he has bright eyes, and he is good-looking. Brethren, the most important thing is what is inside a man's heart, and that's what God looks upon. And that's why I say, for instance, in a New Covenant situation, we look at 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1, because it doesn't say if the man is six feet tall. I've often thought it's not good to be under six feet tall in this present world.
I always feel keenly shorter than all of my, especially Dutch brethren, in terms of height. But with reference to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, there's no physical thing, no physical demand. He's got to have 18-inch guns. He's got to have a barrel chest.
He's got to be able to bench press 225 for reps. That's not in there. It's virtue. The measure of a man is what he is before God and what he is before others in terms of graces and gifts provided to him by the living and true God.
So we go back to 1 Samuel chapter 16, and even Samuel himself falls into this. He sets his eyes upon Eliab, and he says, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. So God issues that necessary corrective. It isn't what's outside in a man, but rather it's on the inside.
And then he surveys the other sons according to verses 8 to 10. So Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by, and he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.
Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. And Samuel said to Jesse, Are all the young men here? Notice that Jesse didn't trot David out.
He trots out the others, but he doesn't even conceive of the possibility that the youngest among them would actually be the one that God the Lord would use. Samuel has to ask, is there another brother? Samuel has to ask, is there another son? So as far as Jesse is concerned, he's not even going to bring up this son, David, because obviously it's not going to be the youngest, obviously it's not going to be the one that simply is the shepherd boy, obviously it's not going to be the one who's too young at this particular time and perhaps hasn't distinguished himself in the manner in which the other sons of Jesse had.
So Samuel investigates. Samuel said to Jesse, are all the young men here? Then he said, there remains yet the youngest, and there he is keeping the sheep. Well, we know the story, we understand the situation, that David is in fact the man after God's own heart.
And that's what we find there in verse 11. Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. So he went and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with bright eyes and good looking.
Kind of intriguing, isn't it? On the one hand, God says, I don't look upon the external man. And then we have this description of the external man. Again, it's not the case that as long as he's godly, he can look terrible.
He can look horrible. No, certainly there are gifts and graces necessary, even in terms of the administration of a kingdom, that a man, a physical man, ought to present himself well. He doesn't have, you know, hair all over the place, and he's not, you know, scratching himself and smells and all that sort of thing. So there is a sense where the man needs to at least be able to visit with other kings and dignitaries and not offend them with his stench and those sorts of things.
So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with bright eyes and good-looking, and the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one. This is the one. Again, Davis says, Yahweh is about to find the man after his own heart, which does not mean a sinless heart, as subsequent events will show, but at least a submissive heart in contrast to Saul.
That is what you need to keep in your mind as we move through the David narratives. David is not a perfect man. When we get to 2 Samuel, we will see that in spades. We will see David do horrific and terrible things.
So the idea of a man after God's own heart does not mean a sinless man, but as Davis says, it means a submissive man. Saul did not have that. Saul was not a believer. Saul was not walking in union with God Most High, whereas David was.
And then we see this anointing in verse 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went down to Ramah."
Meeting with Saul
Now we have this massive contrast between verses 13 and 14. As we move into this next section, the meeting with Saul, David meets with Saul, we see that the Spirit has departed from Saul according to verse 14. Now we take that idea from a New Covenant perspective and say, does that mean that Saul lost his salvation? Did he receive the Spirit when he believed the gospel, and now he is destined to hell?
No, this isn't salvific. The Spirit of God came upon Saul to enable him to administrate the kingdom of God on earth. The Spirit of God doesn't simply save sinners. The Spirit of God also activates or energizes certain men to conduct a specific function or role within the context of either kingdom or church.
So do not understand this. as if Saul somehow was saved and then he lost his salvation. No, it was the Spirit of God on him to engage in the task of the work of being the king over Israel. So the Spirit comes upon David, but David as well had the Spirit in a salvific sense. Remember in Psalm 51, when he is rehearsing his sinfulness before God. when he is confessing his wretchedness before God in the case of Bathsheba and Uriah.
He says, take not thine Holy Spirit from me. That's salvation. David knew the Lord. David had the Spirit in that sense of being a redeemed sinner.
Redeemed because he looked in faith to his greater son, Jesus Christ. But in this particular section, with reference to the anointing by Samuel, he is receiving the Spirit in order to enable him to govern the kingdom that was on earth at that particular time. So in this meeting with Saul, we see in verse 14, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and then intriguingly, and the distressing Spirit from the Lord troubled him. This is a bit of one of those theological conundrums.
The margin is correct. It is literally an evil spirit from the Lord. That gives some persons cause for concern when they read that, but I suggest that it ought not. It simply underscores the reality that our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases.
He is sovereign over evil spirits. He uses evil spirits in his providence to bring this meeting together such that Saul will meet with David and David will enter into the very royal court in Gibeah.
God's Sovereignty Over the Evil Spirit
So when we see that distressing spirit from the Lord or that evil spirit from the Lord, again, the reality is that God is over all things. He is sovereign over all things, and the idea may be that the spirit is evil or bad because the effects of his possession are negative and destruction for the object. You'll see that distressing spirit or that evil spirit again in chapters 18 and chapter 19. Now notice what the servants of Saul say.
It's intriguing, as you go through these narratives, oftentimes the servants of kings are very perceptive. The servants of kings oftentimes make very good recommendations. The servants of kings have a lot on the ball when it comes to navigating through these particular junctures.
The Servants' Counsel and Providence
Well, verse 15, Saul's servants said to him, surely a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Again, that's a very perceptive theological remedy on the part of these servants. I'm not so sure if I saw somebody flipping out or I saw somebody in his condition, I would automatically conclude that it was a distressing spirit from the Lord. I'm not sure I'd have that wherewithal, but in this instance, these servants had it.
And their suggestion, Let our spirit, or rather, let our master now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well." Music calms the savage beast, essentially, is what these servants are saying. John Gill's comment here is very intriguing. He says, music being a means of cheering the spirits.
We'd all agree with that, at least to some degree or other. Have you ever been struggling on a Lord's Day morning? You feel the spiritual equivalent of a dead fish, and you're dragging, and you're moping, and you come into the house of God, and we call out a hymn or a psalm, and we start to sing, and what happens? You start to come back to life.
The fish breathes, the fish lives, the fish wiggles. You're still a fish, but you're not a dead fish. And that music has had a great remedial benefit upon your own soul. So he says, music being a means of cheering the spirits and removing melancholy and gloomy apprehensions of things, and so of restoring to better health of body and disposition of mind.
That's why I suggest in the public worship of God, we need to be careful with reference to music. Not that it's bad, not that it's wicked, not that it's evil, but it can detract our attention from the true and living God. It's supposed to assist us in singing the praises of God. It's not supposed to entertain us and make us to be consumed with it.
It's a means to an end. The worship of our triune God, it is not the end in and of itself. So I would suggest the churches that have the big bands and the guy that can shred on the electric guitar. That takes attention away from God, and it may produce in the hearer something of a good feeling, but that's not necessarily a good thing.
Brethren, it's truth coming through the mind to the heart that ought to encourage and strengthen the people of God. Certainly music can be an aid and an assistance to that, and we ought not to relinquish our view of that, but at the same time be cautious with reference to this approach. So back to Gil. He says, and that music has had such an effect on the bodies and minds of men is certain from observation and experience in all ages.
Again, I'm reading this more out of a, it's just kind of interesting what he says in this connection. Music has been found to be medicine to various diseases, not only for the curing of the bite of vipers. Again, not sure if I got bit by a viper, I'd turn on Beethoven, but according to Gil, this is a helpful thing. and of the tarantula, but for easing the pains of the sciatica and for helping persons laboring under the disorders of the frenzy. And Pythagoras used to compose the mind and remove the perturbations of it by the use of the harp, the thing here advised to." So whatever's happening in the history of the world, according to John Gill, is certainly happening in this particular passage.
The servants of Saul understand that he has this evil spirit from the Lord. That evil spirit promotes in him distrust. There are instances where he wants to take his javelin and throw it at David or throw it at people. It produces in him that sort of consternation, that agitation, that idea that things are not right.
And so the servants wisely say, you need to find a harpist. Well, isn't that intriguing that in the providence of God, David, the one that's just been anointed to be king and successor of Saul, happens to be an accomplished harpist. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? Brethren, if you ever doubt the providence of God, may I suggest to you, read your Old Testament.
Not that you won't meet with it in the New Testament, but you will be face-to-face with it constantly in the Old Testament, as instances like these happen time and time and time again. How do we get David in the royal court in Gibeah? God sends a distressing spirit, an evil spirit, to disturb Saul. Saul's servants rightly identify his malady and then rightly prescribe the remedy and thus David is in the presence of the king of Israel.
David Enters the Royal Court
So notice in verse 17, so Saul said to his servants, provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Look at verse 1. God says, fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his servants.
Saul is unknowingly inviting into the royal court his own replacement. Saul is unknowingly inviting into the royal court his own replacement. Again, providence, God governs all his creatures and all their actions. The malady comes, the remedy is prescribed, David is the man with the harp and the one who is able to soothe and to calm this man, and this man responds with love.
He loves David. Now, that love is short-lived, to be sure. He doesn't love him forever and ever and ever. Amen.
But rather, at least in this instance, he loves him. So then we have this meeting in verses 18 to 22. We have the recommendation of David in verse 18. Then one of the servants answered and said, please, when you read this, think providence.
This isn't luck. This isn't fortunate. This wasn't, wow, I can't believe things like this happen. The biblical authors are showing us that God is sovereign.
The biblical authors are demonstrating that God does orchestrate all events. Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing. And then notice, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person, and the Lord is with him. And brethren, what the servant says here is sort of overarching in the David narratives.
The Lord is with him. That's what makes him a man after God's own heart. God loves him. God communes with him.
David loves God. David communes with him. There is that reciprocity. The Lord is with him, and David is with the Lord.
Again, for all of David's sins, and for all of David's faults, and for all of David's problems, of which there are a whole multitude, He never turns from the living God. He never rejects Yahweh. He never follows after idols. He never goes a whoring from God, but he maintains fidelity.
That's what it means to be a man after God's own heart. Psalm 51, when David is confessing his transgression, it's as if David gets on the side of God to condemn David. In other words, he sees things according to God's perspective, and thus, God is well pleased with this man, David. So we have this instruction given of the request for David in verse 19, the response of Jesse in verse 20, the blessing of David's presence in verse 21, and then the approval of Saul.
Notice in verse 22, then Saul sent to Jesse saying, please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. This is an intriguing situation. As I said earlier, unknowingly, he has now approved of the man that's going to take his job. He doesn't know this yet.
He doesn't understand the unfolding of God's providence. But for now, suffice to say that David is the man after God's own heart. He's been anointed. And all that needs to obtain is the death of Saul ultimately and the institution, the formal institution or installation of David as the king.
And then there's the summary statement in verse 23, and so it was, whenever the Spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
Application
So I want to make a few observations in terms of practical application.
Sovereign Providence
In the first place, please do not miss Sovereign Providence. God orchestrates. God moves. God governs.
God doesn't haphazardly rule. God isn't deistical. God doesn't just get this creation going and then leave it on its own and then revisit it at the end. God is intimately involved each and every day, not just in the selection of King David over Israel, but in our lives as well. the Westminster Shorter Catechism in defining providence.
It's God's holy, wise, powerful, preserving, and governing all his creatures and all their actions. So it's not just David, it's not just Saul, but it's all his creatures and all their actions. And I would suggest, brethren, that those who have a problem with this are cheating themselves. They are gypping themselves.
They are, in essence, shooting themselves in the foot of a rich and glorious benefit that the people of God have enjoyed throughout the history of the world. Isn't it wonderful to know that whatever transpires is under God? Do you want to live in a world where there's persons that are off the leash, as it were? Do you want to live in a world where there are persons that are autonomous, that are independent, that are doing the sorts of wickedness they're doing without having God over them?
I certainly don't. Whatever comes to pass, whether good or ill, we have this great confidence that God is over all things. Let that be a balm, let that be a tonic, let that be a cordial to your hearts when you recognize that God is over all things. The big things, the small things, the seemingly insignificant things, He's over it all and that has always served as a great benefit and a blessing to the people of God.
God Looks on the Heart
The second observation, we looked at this, the internal consideration of God. He doesn't look at Eliab and say, oh yeah, he's great because he's fit and he's strong and he's built. No, he looks after David because he's a man after his own heart. It's about the heart, brethren.
It's not what we present on the outside, though that should be consistent with what is on the inside. If the inside is right, the outside will be right. Jesus taught this, remember? The Pharisees were those who took pains to clean the outside of the cup, but inside it was filthy, and it was disgusting, and it was wretched, and it was vile.
They would whitewash the tombs, and yet those tombs were filled with dead men's bones. So as long as, in the mind of the Pharisee, everything on the outward was okay, It didn't really matter what the n-word was about. No, the Lord Christ tells us, what we find here in 1 Samuel 16, that God looks upon the heart. That is where we ought to spend our efforts and our energies.
Not to suggest you burn your hair care products or get rid of your soap, but certainly, brethren, you ought to tend to the inner man. How much time do we spend on the outer man relative to the inner man? How often do we conclude in the morning, I better get up early because I need a shower. I better get up early because I need to look presentable.
I better get up early because I need to seek God in private. Does that ever come to pass? Will we ever get up extra early so that we can shower? but that we can also spend time in the presence of God, because it's not just the hair, it's not just the appearance, it's not just eating properly, it's not just pumping iron, but it's also what we are before God in private communion.
The Spirit and Conflict
The third observation is the presence of the Spirit of God. Notice verse 14. I'm sorry, 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. How do the health, wealth, and prosperity, so-called preachers, handle the coming of the Spirit in an individual's life? Well, it's simple.
Once you get the Spirit, once you're one of God's children, then you're a child of the King and everything is easy street. It's going to be wonderful. You'll be healthy. You'll be wealthy.
You won't be wise because you're following fools as preachers, but you'll have everything that they consider to be something important. But as I suggested earlier, the Spirit comes upon David. That does not mean the absence of trouble. Davis again says, the gift of God's Spirit is not merely gracious.
Listen to this, because I think we have a bit of the health, wealth, and prosperity in us. We may not say Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland, our favorite teachers, or Creflo Dollar, or some of these other weirdos, but there is in us this idea that I'm the child of the king, and therefore, no bad thing should ever happen to me. No difficulty should ever be in my path. I'm a child of the King.
It ought to be easy street from here on out. I've told you before, my sister used to live in Garden Grove, right next to a street called Easy Street. Well, in the minds of many people that are Christians, when they have the Spirit, they assume that they'll be living on Easy Street. Listen to Davis, "...the gift of Yahweh's Spirit is not merely gracious, it is severe.
God equips David but for conflict, one that will frequently make spying, tingling brawls with lions and bears seem dull." Remember that. In the next instance, next chapter, 17, David is going to go to battle in the Valley of Elah against Goliath. What does he say for his experience? He says that as a shepherd, I used to protect the flock in such a way that I killed bears, I killed lions with my bare hands.
So whatever we do say about David as a physical specimen, he certainly was strong. A man that can pull apart one of those beasts certainly has got some physical bearing that is formidable to some degree or other. But this is what Davis says, one that frequently, the difficulties that he will face make spine-tingling brawls with lions and bears seem dull. No sooner does the spirit touch David than he is catapulted into endless trouble. the envy, anger, and plots of Saul from chapter 18 on.
David, the man with the spirit, will be hunted and betrayed, trapped and escaping, hiding in caves, living in exile, driven to the edge, right to the end of 1 Samuel. We must see this larger view of verse 13 in context of the whole. The spirit comes and the trouble begins. Not just David, brethren.
Turn to David's greater son in Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3. We see another instance, the spirit comes, the trouble begins. Matthew chapter three, verse 13.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me? But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him.
When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So the Spirit comes upon the Lord Jesus.
John tells us, without measure, Christ is endowed according to his humanity with the Spirit for the function as mediator, the mediator of the new covenant. Now look at chapter 4 and verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So you see, the reception of the Spirit does not vanquish the challenges and the hardships and the difficulties associated with living in a sin-cursed world.
That is simply false, that as children of the King, we're never going to have any problems, we're never going to have any trials, we're never going to have any afflictions, we're never going to have any hardships. That's not New Testament Christianity. Read the end of Hebrews chapter 11. to see what the people of God endured for the kingdom of God. Or consider Paul's words in 2 Timothy 3, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Or remember in Acts 14, I know it's going back a long ways to that first missionary journey on their way back to Antioch. They stopped at the various churches, and they strengthened the brethren, and Paul preaches as a sermon, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. Again, Davis makes this observation. If we remember David and his descendant, we begin to understand that this conflict is not a sign of our sin, but a mark of our sonship.
See, the health, wealth, and prosperity guys get it exactly opposite. The fact that there is hardship, the fact that there is trial, the fact that there is affliction is a sign of God's approbation. All those I love, Jesus says to the church in Laodicea, I rebuke. In other words, brethren, if we are living without any discipline, if we are living without any issues, if we are living without any trials or hardships, the Apostle in Hebrews 10 may conclude that we are illegitimate, because all those whom the Father loves, He chastens.
And that chastening is sore, that chastening is painful, that chastening smarts, but that chastening is an indicator that God is for us. And again, that's the gist. He says, if we remember David and his descendant, the Lord Jesus, we begin to understand that this conflict is not a sign of our sin, but a mark of our sonship, that we are not under God's displeasure, but His discipline. The wilderness is not the sign of the Spirit's absence, but the scene of His presence.
God treats us as sons, perhaps, so we can later tell stories of angels who supported us, or of Yahweh who redeemed my life from all distress. So it is just the opposite in the Christian life. Those who are Christ will understand something of the suffering and the hardship and the trial that the man of sorrows went through on behalf of his people, according to his humanity in the role of mediator as of the New Covenant.
Typological Significance of David
And then finally, the significance concerning the Son of God in 1 Samuel chapter 16. In the first place, I already mentioned this. The man Jesse of the tribe of Judah would forever be associated with the Messiah. That's the whole point of the book of Ruth.
The whole point of the book of Ruth is to take us to that genealogy at the end. That genealogy that is essentially repeated in Matthew chapter 1 to show the connection between Jesus and David and Abraham as well. So this man, Jesse, figures large in redemptive history. The hometown of Jesse, Bethlehem, would forever be associated with the Messiah.
Israel's vindication, Israel's redemption, Israel's blessing originates, according to humanity, in a cradle in Bethlehem. Thirdly, we have the anointing of David would be forever associated with the Messiah. There's just way too many texts to start looking at the scriptural connections between David and the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at his earthly ministry.
He's called Son of David. Persons of faith recognize that. They understood that he was in fact the Messiah. They rightly interpreted the messianic prophecies and promises and saw the connection between David and David's greater son.
And then the final observation is the typical significance of David with reference to the gospel. Think about this for a moment. 1 Samuel 13, God says he's going to get a man who's after his own heart. David was, in fact, a man after God's own heart. But David was sinful.
David had issues. David had problems. David had enough to do to negotiate with reference to himself. He isn't the public figure.
He isn't the federal head. His son, rather, is. The Son of God is a man after God's own heart as well, but without sin. And as we just read in Matthew chapter 3, He fulfills all righteousness.
Why? So that He affirms and confirms that He's God's man, but as well so there's a righteousness to impute to us who stand in desperate need. And not only is he a man after God's own heart to perform God's own righteousness, to impute it to God's own people, but he is that spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, according to John 1 29. So David most certainly is a type of Christ.
We ought never to mitigate against that. We ought never to underestimate that. But remember, the type isn't the anti-type. We live in light of the antitype which is Christ.
We live in light of David's greater son. We see the contours of redemptive history. It'll be ratified in covenant to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. God the Lord will promise that from your loins one will rise up, one will sit upon the throne, and his reign will have no end.
So all of redemptive history is heading that way from David's vantage point. David understands redemption by Christ. David celebrates justification by faith alone. But that doesn't occur because of David.
It occurs because of the Messiah who would come from the line of David. And if you haven't believed on that one, He alone is the one who brings the forgiveness of sins. I think that sometimes we look at 2 Samuel 11 and 12 when we say, why in the world would David have done that? Why in the world would the scriptural author included that?
I think it's a sign or a signification that it is in fact the Word of God. If we were David's biographers, we might just want to sort of bypass the whole Uriah and Bathsheba incident. I mean, that doesn't reflect well on our hero. But the biblical authors put that in under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to underscore this great lesson.
There's one hero in the Bible, and it ain't David. It's David's greater son. Again, earthly speaking, humanly speaking, David was a great king, and in that sense, we could call him a hero. But in terms of redemption, in terms of the reconciliation of God and sinners, the Bible presents to us one man that is holy, harmless, and undefiled.
One man through whom the blessings of the covenant of grace come to us, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ is in 1 Samuel 16, just like he's in the rest of the Bible. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for this anointing of David. We thank you for this story concerning David and Saul. The one serves as a great warning to all of us to check our hearts and to never let the seeds of apostasy grow or develop. The other serves as a great encouragement as to what a man after God's own heart looks like.
Again, not a sinless man, but a submissive man, a man that is ruled and governed by the spirit of the living and true God. Help us likewise to be such men and women. Help us likewise to be commended to the to God and to the Word of His grace, and help us, Lord God, to grow in edification and strengthening, help us to ponder that blessed inheritance that we have in the future, and help us to glorify You and to encourage one another. And we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.