1Sa 16:10-13 | KingComments | STEP | The coming of Samuel is in peace, for he comes with a peace offering, and his goal is to anoint David. The offering is for the LORD, and the meal is for Jesse and his sons. To be able to participate in it, consecration is necessary. They need to clean their clothes and themselves. This is what Samuel commands. He takes up the consecration himself. By this act he sets them apart from all the other people of Bethlehem to keep the sacrificial meal with them. Jesse lets his sons come in one by one. He starts with the oldest and tallest. When Samuel sees him, he is clearly impressed by this appearance (cf. ). We see here that even prophets who speak under Divine guidance are as subject to mistakes as other people. We see that also with Nathan ( ). Here we see that Samuel is in fact looking for a second Saul. Eliab’s tall stature is reminiscent of Saul. Our natural hearts are quickly impressed by what we see. We must learn that God has never chosen the first born after the flesh. On the contrary, it is precisely they who are under the judgment of death. He chose not Cain, but Abel, not Ishmael, but Isaac, not Esau, but Jacob. God tells Samuel how He looks at people. It is not about the appearance, but about the heart. This lesson is difficult for us to learn, but it is necessary. The Lord sees the heart that He also knows completely ( ; ; ; ). After the teaching about how God looks at people, the next sons of Jesse pass Samuel by. Every time the LORD says that He has not chosen him. Samuel can happily intercept the voice of the LORD of his own preference. The first Saul has failed. Every next Saul will also fail. We need a man after a completely different model. Even Samuel has yet to learn that. God sees the heart. He knows the heart of David, which is a heart like His own. So seven sons pass by. In the number seven we see how the complete glory of what man is passes by to make way for the eighth. The number eight speaks of a new beginning. [Here we read that Jesse has eight sons, however in the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2 only seven are mentioned ( ).]

‏ 1 Samuel 16:10-13

The Sons of Jesse

The coming of Samuel is in peace, for he comes with a peace offering, and his goal is to anoint David. The offering is for the LORD, and the meal is for Jesse and his sons. To be able to participate in it, consecration is necessary. They need to clean their clothes and themselves. This is what Samuel commands. He takes up the consecration himself. By this act he sets them apart from all the other people of Bethlehem to keep the sacrificial meal with them.

Jesse lets his sons come in one by one. He starts with the oldest and tallest. When Samuel sees him, he is clearly impressed by this appearance (cf. 1Sam 10:24). We see here that even prophets who speak under Divine guidance are as subject to mistakes as other people. We see that also with Nathan (2Sam 7:2-5). Here we see that Samuel is in fact looking for a second Saul.

Eliab’s tall stature is reminiscent of Saul. Our natural hearts are quickly impressed by what we see. We must learn that God has never chosen the first born after the flesh. On the contrary, it is precisely they who are under the judgment of death. He chose not Cain, but Abel, not Ishmael, but Isaac, not Esau, but Jacob.

God tells Samuel how He looks at people. It is not about the appearance, but about the heart. This lesson is difficult for us to learn, but it is necessary. The Lord sees the heart that He also knows completely (Jer 17:10; 1Chr 28:9; Psa 7:9; Jer 11:20 ; Jer 20:12).

After the teaching about how God looks at people, the next sons of Jesse pass Samuel by. Every time the LORD says that He has not chosen him. Samuel can happily intercept the voice of the LORD of his own preference. The first Saul has failed. Every next Saul will also fail. We need a man after a completely different model. Even Samuel has yet to learn that. God sees the heart. He knows the heart of David, which is a heart like His own.

So seven sons pass by. In the number seven we see how the complete glory of what man is passes by to make way for the eighth. The number eight speaks of a new beginning. [Here we read that Jesse has eight sons, however in the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2 only seven are mentioned (1Chr 2:13-15).]

David Anointed

When all the sons have passed by Samuel, he must say that the LORD has not chosen any of them. Then he asks Jesse if these are all the children. Jesse answers that there is another son, the youngest. He did not think of him. None of the seven brothers has thought of him either. They all forgot him. Jesse does not even mention the name of his son, David, but speaks of him as “the youngest”. It is clear that David is not the choice of men. Thus the Lord Jesus was passed by, people forgot Him, and did not pay attention to Him. “For not even His brothers were believing in Him” (Jn 7:5).

Jesse says what David is doing at that moment: “Behold, he is tending the sheep.” In faithfulness he takes care of the few sheep of his father. Samuel gives the order to get David. The way in which Samuel’s first meeting with David takes place is very different from Samuel’s first meeting with Saul. David is with the sheep, while Saul was looking for lost asses that he also did not yet find. David is literally taken from behind the sheep to become king (Psa 78:70).

Jesse obeys and sends for David. That indeed must be, because without David there will be no meal. He is the main character. When he enters, he comes as it were from nowhere. His name is not even mentioned. However, his beauty is being described. The beauty of David is different from that of Saul. He resembles the Lord Jesus (Song 5:10a). He is ruddy, reddish, something special in Israel. He also has beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. This is where his moral characteristics come to expression. His eyes point to his insight which is shaped through his relationship with God. His appearance relates to his behavior, his actions, in which he is also led by God. Samuel must anoint him.

David is anointed in the midst of his brothers. Saul is anointed when he is all alone. David is anointed twice more after this: over the house of Judah (2Sam 2:4), and over Israel (2Sam 5:3). Here, as the Lord Jesus is anointed at His baptism, he takes His place amid the remnant. In Psalm 89 we see the connection between election or choosing and anointing in words which in their fullness apply to the Lord Jesus (Psa 89:19-20; cf. Isa 61:1; Lk 4:18-21; Psa 45:7-8; Heb 1:8-9).

We too are anointed with the Holy Spirit (2Cor 1:21; 1Jn 2:20 ; 27). We have not only received the Holy Spirit in us by faith, but there is also talk of the Holy Spirit Who is upon us. This is especially the case when it comes to do a service for God. There is a direct link between anointing and service. In this context, the Lord Jesus speaks of being “clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49).

At the anointing of Saul Samuel spoke a few words (1Sam 10:1). At the anointing of David, he says nothing, at least not something that is recorded. That is not to say that David did not know the meaning of his anointing. The emphasis is on the fact of anointing.

The true king is anointed now. But it pleases God that the way of his ascending the throne will be as special as his election as king. Who has ever gone such a way to the throne after being anointed, except the Lord Jesus, of Whom David is a picture in so many ways? David is made fit for government, while at the same time the people are made manifest in their wickedness. God uses this wickedness to prepare His chosen vessel for the throne. Through it He teaches David to trust in Him alone. David is probably around twenty years old here. He is thirty when Saul dies. So he suffered from Saul during about ten years.

When Samuel has anointed David, he returns to Ramah. After this we read of him only twice more (1Sam 19:18 ; 1Sam 25:1). He retreats to Ramah to die there in peace, as it were. In David his eyes have seen, so to speak, the LORD’s salvation (cf. Lk 2:27b-30), in whom the scepter came into the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10).