1 Samuel 16 Commentary
When the LORD speaks to Samuel about the next king, you sense in the tone that Samuel was deeply affected by Saul’s downfall. It was a father’s sorrow, but the LORD doesn’t want us to dwell in disappointments.
The all-knowing God had been raising David for this very purpose. Samuel is commanded to anoint the shepherd boy as Israel’s next king. But there is a problem.
The LORD understands Samuel’s fears and provides a way out – the softer side of divinity.
This chapter is highlighted by the famous statement: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
In the process of emphasizing salvation as the function of grace, we end up with faith without works. It is a shame that we often ignore the fact that the LORD scans through communities and families looking for suitable hearts. David is a suitable heart. One by one, the elder brothers pass by and fail the test.
Shouldn’t we be looking at our hearts more than anything else? Shouldn’t the cleanliness of the heart be of utmost importance to every saint? Won’t this be the right time to abandon the thought that the LORD uses probability to randomly select His tools? Shouldn’t we be flooding heaven’s mailbox with requests to have our hearts worked on?
The chapter gives us two parallel reports. In the first instance, the Spirit of the LORD comes powerfully upon David. In the second instance, the Spirit of the LORD departs from Saul.
The consequence on David is that he grows into a brave warrior and a worshipper. Since the red carpet wasn’t laid for David immediately, David must have gone back to tending his sheep.
We could guess it’s under this anointing that he killed both the lion and the bear on two different occasions. Remember and contrast the effect of the anointing upon both Samson and David. It’s under this anointing that David writes many beautiful psalms to his God.
The saint under the anointing should write and sing songs of praise to the Creator God. The Lion and Bear battles symbolize our battles with principalities and authorities in the heavenly realms.
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