1 Samuel 16 & 17: God Looks at the Heart
IN CHAPTER 16 OF 1ST SAMUEL WE ARRIVE AT A POINT OF GREAT TURNING.
UP TO NOW WE HAVE STUDIED HOW SAMUEL THE PROPHET WAS CREATED FROM THE MOST DIFFICULT LIFE OF HIS MOTHER HANNAH,
WHO HAD TO ENDURE MUCH SUFFERING TO ARRIVE AT HER MOMENT OF HUMBLING AND SUBMISSION TO THE LORD BEFORE GOD EXTENDED HER HIS MERCY IN HIS PRE-PLANNED SOVEREIGN WILL.
WE STUDIED THE GROWTH AND MATURITY OF SAMUEL AFTER HE WAS GIVEN TO THE TABERNACLE EXACTLY AS HANNA HAD PROMISED, GIVING HIM TO THE LORD AS A LIFETIME NAZARINE.
SAMUEL CAME TO BE THE LORD’S PROPHET, PRIEST, AND JUDGE OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE.
SAMUEL SEEMED WELL CONTENT WITH THAT LIFE UNTIL THE CHOSEN PEOPLE DEMANDED AN EARTHLY KING WHICH SAMUEL RESISTED UNTIL GOD TOLD HIM HE WAS NOT REJECTED BUT IT WAS GOD HIMSELF THAT HAD BEEN REJECTED AFTER ALL HE HAD DONE FOR THIS DIFFICULT & STIFF NECKED PEOPLE.
GOD TOLD SAMUEL TO GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WISHED AND GOD CHOSE A MAN FROM BENJAMIN NAMED SAUL TO BE THE PEOPLE’S KING.
GOD SOVEREIGN WILL WAS SO CLEARLY EVIDENT IN THE CHOICE AND ANOINTING OF SAUL WHO WAS AN EXCELLENT PHYSICAL SPECIMEN BUT WAS UNABLE TO FULLY SERVE GOD AND WAVERED BETWEEN HIS OWN SELF IMPORTANCE AND DEFIANCE TO THE LORD.
SAMUEL HAD GREAT FAVOR IN HIS HEART FOR SAUL AND HE WAS CONTINUALLY DISHEARTENED AT THE DISOBEDIENCE AND OUTRIGHT REBELLION SHOWN BY SAUL.
AFTER THE MOST UNFORTUNATE EPISODE OF THE WAR AGAINST THE AMALEKITES WHEN SAUL ALLOWED THE KING TO LIVE AND BROUGHT SOME OF THE LIVESTOCK BACK ALIVE, SAMUEL WAS DONE WITH SAUL.
TO FULLY OBEY THE LORD’S COMMAND SAMUEL HIMSELF HAD TO TAKE A SWORD AND CUT KING AGAG INTO PIECES.
GOD WAS DONE WITH SAUL AS WELL.
NOW IN VERSES 1-13 WE ARE GIVEN THE COMMAND GIVEN TO SAMUEL BY GOD TO LOCATE AND ANOINT ANOTHER MAN TO BE KING OF ISRAEL.
THE LORD HAD ALREADY CHOSEN THE MAN BUT UNTIL NOW HAD NOT SHARED THE CHOICE WITH HIS PROPHET.
THE NEW CHOICE IS TO BE DAVID, WHO AT THAT TIME WAS STILL A YOUNG MAN WORKING ON HIS FATHERS FARM IN BETHLEHEM, THE YOUNGEST OF EIGHT SONS OF JESSE, FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH.
WHILE SAMUEL WAS STILL MOURNING OVER THE REJECTION OF SAUL, GOD REBUKED HIM SOMEWHAT, ASKING HOW LONG WILL YOU MOURN, SEEING I HAVE REJECTED HIM?
FILL YOU HORN WITH OIL AND I WILL SEND YOU TO JESSE.
FOR I HAVE PROVIDED ME A KING AMONG HIS SONS.
SAMUEL QUICKLY RESPONDED THAT IF SAUL FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS MISSION, HE WOULD KILL HIM.
THE LORD TOLD THE PROPHET TO TAKE A HEIFER WITH HIM AND SAY HE WAS COMING FOR A SACRIFICE AND WISHED TO SHARE IT WITH JESSE.
GOD FURTHER TOLD SAMUEL THAT HE WOULD BE SHOWN WHAT TO DO WHEN HE ARRIVED, AND THAT GOD WOULD POINT OUT THE NEW KING FOR SAMUEL TO ANOINT.
THE ELDERS OF THE CITY OF BETHLEHEM ARE FEARFUL WHEN SAMUEL ARRIVES KNOWING THAT IT MAY NOT BE GOOD NEWS WHEN THE PROPHET OF GOD SHOWS UP. THEY ASK IF HE IS PEACEABLE. SAMUEL’S WORDS PUT THEIR MIND AT EASE.
HE SAYS HE HAS COME TO OFFER A SACRIFICE AND THEY ARE INVITED TO ATTEND. THEY ARE TO CONSECRATE THEMSELVES AND JOIN SAMUEL IN THE SACRIFICE AND FEAST. IN ADDITION SAMUEL CONSECRATES JESSE AND HIS SONS AS INVITED GUESTS.
SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVING SAMUEL BEGAN THE SELECTION PROCESS REVIEWING ALL OF THE FIRST SEVEN SONS SHOWN TO HIM, BEGINNING WITH ELIAB, WHO WAS A FINE CHOICE AND SAMUEL SEEMED SURE THIS WAS THE MAN.
QUICKLY GOD CORRECTED SAMUEL INSTRUCTING HIM NOT TO LOOK SO MUCH ON THE COUNTENANCE OR WHAT A LARGE MAN HE WAS FOR THE LORD SAID HE DOES NOT LOOK UPON THESE THINGS, BUT RATHER LOOKS ON THE HEART.
HERE IS GIVEN A MESSAGE FOR ALL OF US WHO TEND TO JUDGE PEOPLE BY WHAT WE SEE, NOT BY WHAT THEY SEEM TO HOLD DEAR TO BELIEVE IN OR WHETHER THEIR HEART MAY BE RIGHT WITH THE LORD.
MANY SEEM EXCELLENT TO US WHO ARE NOT. WE MAKE THIS MISTAKE OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS WE WANT TO FORM OUR IMPRESSION IMMEDIATELY ON WHAT WE SEE.
SO JESSE HAD HIS SONS PASS BEFORE SAMUEL ONE BY ONE UNTIL ALL SEVEN HAD BEEN VIEWED BY THE PROPHET. GOD’S CHOICE WAS NONE OF THESE MEN.
SAMUEL ASKED IF THESE WERE ALL THE CHILDREN, AND JESSE SAID THAT THERE WAS ONE MORE SON, A YOUNG LAD, WHO WAS IN THE FIELDS KEEPING THE SHEEP.
SAMUEL TOLD JESSE TO FETCH HIM AND NO ONE WILL SIT IN REST UNTIL HE HAS COME.
IN VERSE 12 DAVID ARRIVES. WHAT ARE WE TOLD ABOUT HIM?
“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.”
HE WAS A HANDSOME LAD BUT THAT IS NOT WHY THE LORD CHOSE HIM. GOD KNEW HIS HEART AND HE WAS SOLELY GOD’S CHOICE.
WE WILL FIND LATER IN HIS LIFE THAT HE SOUGHT TO FOLLOW GOD AND WALK WITH HIM, DESPITE HIS FAILURES.
HE WANTED FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND GOD LOVED HIM AND WE ARE TOLD IN SEVERAL PLACES THAT HE WAS A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART.
IN VERSE 13, SAMUEL TOOK THE HORN OF OIL AND ANOINTED DAVID TO BE KING AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAME UPON DAVID FROM THAT DAY FORWARD.
THE MOMENT OF DAVID’S FILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS A STRONG SYMBOL OF THE APPROVAL OF THE LORD AND THAT SPIRIT WOULD NEVER LEAVE DAVID AS LONG AS HE LIVED.
IN THAT MOMENT OF DAVID’S FILLING, WE SEE IN VERSES 14-16, THAT GOD WITHDREW HIS SPIRIT FROM KING SAUL.
THEREFORE THE SPIRIT OF GOD DID NOT GUIDE TWO KINGS, BUT ONLY DAVID FROM THAT MOMENT ONWARD.
IN THAT MOMENT WE ARE GRANTED EVEN FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD, THE WORKING OF HIS WILL, AND HIS GRACIOUS ALLOWING ALL READERS OF 1ST SAMUEL A GLIMPSE INTO SOMETHING RARELY ALLOWED FOR THE MORTAL EYES OF THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD TO SEE.
WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS REMOVED FROM SAUL, AN EVIL SPIRIT WAS PLACED WITHIN HIM REPLACING THE HOLY SPIRIT HE HAD CARRIED BEFORE.
THIS INDWELLING OF THE EVIL ONE WITHIN SAUL WAS NOT A MISTAKE FOR GOD DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES.
THIS EVIL ONE WAS FROM THE LORD AND WAS SENT TO TROUBLE HIM.
AS WE HAVE TAKEN ON THIS STUDY OF THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD AND ITS WORKINGS, WE BEGAN WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY GOD TO IMPLEMENT HIS SOVEREIGN WILL ARE KNOWN AS HIS PROVIDENCE.
THERE ARE MORE THAN A FEW INSTANCES OF SCRIPTURE WHICH DEMONSTRATE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE.
THIS MOMENT IS ONE OF THOSE INSTANCES.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN PSALM 78:49 WHEN GOD SENT EVIL ANGELS TO TORMENT HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN JOB 42:11 WHERE WE ARE TAUGHT THAT IT WAS GOD WHO WROUGHT THE EVIL UPON JOB AS SATAN HAD DISAPPEARED AFTER CHAPTER TWO.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN JUDGES 9:22-23 WHERE GOD SENT AN EVIL SPIRIT TO DO HIS BIDDING,
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN MICAH 1:12 WHEN GOD SENT EVIL UPON JERUSALEM.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN 2ND CHRONICLES 18:20-22 WHERE GOD SENT A LYING SPIRIT INTO AHAB’S FALSE PROPHETS.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE IN JOHN’S GOSPEL, CHAPTER 13, VERSES 26-27 WHERE SATAN HIMSELF IS ALLOWED TO ENTER AND POSSESS JUDAS ISCARIOT TO DO THE DARK WILL OF GOD THAT THE CROSS BE ASSURED FOR JESUS FOR THIS WAS WHY HE CAME.
WE SEE HIS DARK PROVIDENCE WHEN HE SENT A THORN INTO THE FLESH OF PAUL, REFUSED TO REMOVE IT, AND SAID IT WAS SENT AS A MESSENGER OF SATAN.
NO EVIL SPIRITS ACT INDEPENDENTLY OF GOD’S SOVEREIGN WILL AND PURPOSE. EVEN SATAN WAS LIMITED IN HIS WORK AGAINST JOB BY GOD’S COMMANDS.
THESE BEINGS ARE INSTRUMENTS OF GOD’S HOLY WILL AND SCRIPTURE PROVES THIS FACT OVER AND OVER.
THE SERVANTS OF SAUL RECOGNIZED THE CHANGE AND SUGGESTED THAT MUSIC MIGHT HELP TO SOOTHE SAUL’S DARK MOODS.
ONE SERVANT KNEW OF DAVID’S TALENT ON THE HARP AND SAUL SENT FOR HIM ASKING JESSE TO ALLOW HIM TO COME TO HELP SAUL IN HIS SLIDE INTO MADNESS.
JESSE AGREED AND SENT DAVID WHO BECAME A FAVORITE WITH SAUL AND THE KING ASKED JESSE TO ALLOW DAVID TO STAY WITH SAUL.
DAVID ACTUALLY BECAME THE ARMOR BEARER OF THE KING AS WELL AS HIS FAVORED MUSICIAN.
HOW DOES A YOUNG MAN WHOSE FAMILY DID NOT EVEN CONSIDER A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR KING RISE TO THAT POSITION WHEN A PARANOID KING IS ALREADY ON THE THRONE?
WHAT NO ONE YET REALIZES IS THAT GOD WILL PROVIDE DAVID WITH ALL HE NEEDS TO BE ISRAEL’S NEXT KING.
IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, HE IS STRATEGICALLY PLACED IN THE PRESENCE OF SAUL AS HIS ARMOR BEARER, WHERE HE CAN LEARN HOW A KING SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT RULE.
DAVID IS NOT CHOSEN TO IMMEDIATELY REPLACE SAUL, BUT IS FIRST PLACED IN A KIND OF INTERNSHIP, LATER TO BE MENTALLY, MORALLY, AND SPIRITUALLY GROOMED FOR THE KINGDOM, WHICH WILL BE SEVERAL YEARS COMING.
SAUL’S SIN IN CHAPTER 15 IS THE END FOR SAUL.
IT IS NOT THE END OF SAUL’S REIGN, BUT THE END OF SAUL’S OPPORTUNITY TO TURN AND REPENT. HE NEVER DOES.
ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT YET WIDELY KNOWN, ISRAEL HAS A NEW KING.
THERE ARE SOME CHOICES GOD MADE IN HIS WISDOM OF CHOOSING DAVID.
IT PLEASED GOD TO ANNOUNCE THAT PARTICULAR MAN IN ALL OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL FROM WHICH CHRIST WAS TO PROCEED WAS DAVID, WHO WOULD HOLD GOD’S ETERNAL COVENANT GOING FORWARD.
OF ALL OF THE THOUSANDS OF DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM THE MARK OF DISTINCTION WAS GIVEN TO DAVID WHILE HE WAS STILL SO YOUNG AS TO BE NOT IMMEDIATELY SHOWN BY HIS FATHER JESSE TO THE PROPHET.
THE PROPHET ISAIAH REVEALED GOD’S WISDOM IN 11:1:
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:”
THIS CONNECTION IS FURTHER CEMENTED IN SCRIPTURE IN REVELATION 22:16 IN THE WORDS OF JESUS HIMSELF:
“… I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
THE PROPHET SAMUEL HAD TO BE GIVEN A SPECIAL DIVINE REVELATION IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY HIM.
WHEN JESSE AND HIS SONS STOOD BEFORE SAMUEL, SCRIPTURE SAYS SAMUEL:
“… Samuel looked on Eliab and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him…”
(1 SAM 16:6)
BUT IT WAS NOT TO BE AND IN VERSE 7 GOD TOLD SAMUEL TO LOOK NOT ON HIS COUNTENANCE AS HE HAD REFUSED THIS OLDER BROTHER AND LOOKED ON THE HEART OF THE YOUNGEST BROTHER.
GOD’S PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE ELECTION IS COMING FORTH ONCE MORE.
ISAAC WAS CHOSEN, NOT ISHMAEL.
JACOB AND NOT ESAU.
ISRAEL AND NOT THE EGYPTIANS TO HOLD HIS TRUTH.
ELDEST SONS ALL PASSED OVER TO APPOINT THE YOUNGEST.
THE HISTORY PSALM GIVES US EVEN MORE EVIDENCE IN PSALM 78:70-72:
“He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”
THE CHOICE OF DAVID WAS MORE THAN THE CHOOSING OF A NEXT KING.
HE WAS NOTED AND EXPLAINED AS WHERE GOD SETTLED HIS EVERLASTING COVENANT, PLEASING GOD TO SINGLE OUT THIS SPECIFIC MAN WHO SHALL FORESHADOW THE COMING OF CHRIST.
DAVID’S THRONE AND CHRIST’S ARE SPOKEN OF AS ONE IN LUKE’S GOSPEL 1:32 SPEAKING OF JESUS:
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.”
SPEAKING OF DAVID IN HIS GREAT PENTECOST SERMON, PETER RECONFIRMS THE CONNECTION IN ACTS 2:29-30:
“… let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.”
IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT GOD ANOINTED DAVID AND TOOK AWAY THE CROWN FROM HIM WHO WAS HIGHER IN STATURE THAN ANY OF HIS PEOPLE AND GAVE IT TO ONE WHO WAS STILL A LAD IN BETHLEHEM WHERE JESUS WOULD FIRST DRAW BREATH.
DAVID WAS SUBJECTED TO A TIME OF TESTING TO ARRANGE HIS GROWTH BOTH PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY TO PREPARE HIM FOR HIS KINGSHIP.
GOD PLANTED HIS OWN SPIRIT IN HIM AND IN THE SAME MOMENT PLANTED IN SAUL THE SPIRIT OF THE EVIL ONE, PROVIDING DAVID WITH MUSICAL TALENT TO OVERCOME SAUL’S WORST MADNESS.
THE STATUS OF THIS MAN DAVID IS PLACED SO FAR ABOVE ALL OTHER MEN THAT IN JEREMIAH 30:9, AN EVEN GREATER PROMISE IS MADE OF HIM:
“… they shall serve the Lord their God, and David, their king, whom I will raise up unto them.”
THE TIME OF TESTING THE LORD PLACES UPON DAVID TO PREPARE HIM INCLUDES HIS DAY OF COMBAT AGAINST THE PHILISTINE GIANT, GOLIATH.
DAVID HAD NOT YET REACHED THE AGE OF 20 WHEN HE COULD HAVE BEEN A FULL TIME SOLDIER IN ISRAEL’S ARMY, LIKE HIS OLDER BROTHERS.
THE PHILISTINES WERE ONCE MORE THREATENING ISRAEL.
THE TWO SIDES WERE IN A STAND OFF AND FOR MANY DAYS A PHILISTINE GIANT VERBALLY CHALLENGED ISRAEL TO SEND A MAN TO FIGHT HIM, WITH THAT FIGHT TO DETERMINE THE FATE OF THE ARMIES.
CHAPTER 17 TEACHES US THAT THE ISRAELI ARMY WAS FILLED WITH FEAR AND NO MAN, INCLUDING SAUL WAS WILLING TO FIGHT THE GIANT WHO MAY HAVE BEEN NINE FEET TALL AND IN FULL ARMOR.
IN VERSE 23, DAVID FOR THE FIRST TIME HEARD SOMEONE DEFY ISRAEL AND RIDICULE THE CHOSEN ARMY OF GOD.
HE WENT TO THE BATTLE AREA WITH SUPPLIES FOR HIS BROTHERS, AND FOUND HIMSELF HEARING THE TAUNTS OF THE GIANT.
THE SOLDIERS OF ISRAEL CONSIDERED THIS TIME AS A MILITARY MATTER, JUST ANOTHER UGLY MOMENT OF WAR AS THEY FEARED THIS AWFUL GIANT.
DAVID CONSIDERED THIS MATTER A SPIRITUAL MATTER, CALLING GOLIATH “AN UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINE” AND HIS USE OF THAT DESCRIPTION BRINGS ATTENTION TO THE GIANT BEING OUTSIDE THE COVENANT OF ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF THE HEBREWS.
DAVID DETERMINED TO END THIS MATTER BY FIGHTING THE GIANT HIMSELF.
HE WAS STRONGLY DISPARAGED BY HIS OLDER BROTHER, ELIAB, AS WELL AS KING SAUL WHO TRIED TO DRESS DAVID IN HIS OWN ARMOR, WHICH DAVID REFUSED.
DAVID WAS NO STRANGER TO PHYSICAL COMBAT, HAVING FOUGHT AND DEFEATED BOTH A LION AND A BEAR WHO TRIED TO TAKE HIS FATHER’S SHEEP. DAVID HAD KILLED THEM BOTH.
THOSE TRIALS STRENGTHENED DAVID’S FAITH & RESOLVE AND HE WAS DETERMINED TO FIGHT THIS GIANT WHO STOOD AGAINST WHAT DAVID SAW AS GOD’S ARMY.
HIS CONFIDENCE WAS NOT IN HIMSELF BUT WAS IN GOD.
HE SPOKE NOTHING TO THE GIANT ABOUT STRATEGY, WEAPONS, OR STRENGTH.
DAVID’S ONLY WEAPONS WERE HIS SPEED & ABILITY TO FIGHT AT A DISTANCE WHICH IS WHAT HE DID.
HE TOLD GOLIATH IN VERSES 45-46 THAT ALL THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT THERE IS A GOD IN ISRAEL, THAT THE LORD WOULD DELIVER HIM INTO DAVID’S HAND AND THIS DAY WOULD DAVID TAKE HIS HEAD.
DAVID WAS ARMED WITH ONLY A SLING AND STONES HE HAD GATHERED TO USE TO OPPOSE THE GIANT.
GOD GUIDED THE STONE OF DAVID INTO THE FOREHEAD OF GOLIATH AND FELLED HIM AND DAVID DID INDEED USE THE SWORD OF THE GIANT TO TAKE HIS OWN HEAD.
THE LORD KNEW THE HEART OF DAVID AND ALLOWED US A GREAT MESSAGE WHICH STILL HAS MEANING TODAY.
GIANTS, BOTH PHYSICAL & SPIRITUAL CONFRONT THOSE WHO BELONG TO GOD AND OUR COMBAT AGAINST THEM BRINGS VICTORY ONLY WHEN WE ARE READY TO GIVE GOD HIS PROPER GLORY.
SO THE LORD IS NOT FINISHED WITH DAVID, THE ONE AFTER HIS OWN HEART, AND HE SHALL ONCE MORE BE GOD’S LEADER IN THE KINGDOM TO COME AMONG MEN, BOTH IN ISRAEL AS THEIR GOLDEN AGE AND IN THE 1,000 YEAR KINGDOM TO ARRIVE WHEN THE LORD HAS OVERCOME ALL ENEMIES AND HAS PLACED SATAN AND HIS FEARFUL ARMY IN CHAINS.