1 Samuel 16:8-208Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 9Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 10Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. 11And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12And 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. 13Then 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. 14But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 16Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. 17And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 18Then 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. 19Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. 20And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. (1 Samuel 16:8‑20)
Mistaken in thinking that Eliab was the one the Lord had chosen, Samuel was now prepared to wait on the Lord, and so one by one six more of Jesse’s sons passed before him, but he said, “The Lord hath not chosen these.” He then asked Jesse if these were all the sons he had, and Jesse replied that he had one more, the youngest named David who kept the sheep. We see another contrast between David and Saul here, for Saul had been hunting for his father’s asses, those stubborn unclean animals, when Samuel found him to anoint him as king, but David was keeping sheep. Jesse then sent for David, and Samuel said, “We will not sit down till he come hither.” How beautifully we see in all this the figure of the true Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was despised and forgotten because of the lowly place He took to save His “sheep,” nevertheless He is the rightful King. Just as Samuel said they would not sit down till David came, so we ought not to expect rest here in this world where He was cast out. We cannot “sit down”—we cannot rest—until He comes, but then when He has His rightful place we shall rest with Him above.
When David came in and Samuel saw his beautiful countenance, he recoized at once that he was the chosen king, for the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he.” Surely in this way we can say of our blessed Lord, the true King, that He is “the chiefest among ten thousand... yea, He is altogether lovely.” Song of Sol. 5:10, 1610My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. (Song of Solomon 5:10)
16His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. (Song of Solomon 5:16). The nation of Israel, His brethren, could not see any beauty in Him, but despised Him, as was David by his brethren, but blessed be His name, He has opened our eyes to see His loveliness.
But we read “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.” How solemn this was. Perhaps we should remark here that the Spirit of God did not indwell believers until the day of Pentecost (John 7:3939(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39)). That which marks out the present dispensation as distinct from all others is the presence on earth now of the Holy Spirit of God. He dwells here as a divine Person (1 Peter 1:1212Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)), as well as in the bodies of all believers (1 Cor. 6:1919What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)). This was not so in the Old Testament, for then the Holy Spirit came upon those who prophesied, but did not indwell them. The Holy Spirit, who now indwells believers, will never leave them, though we can grieve this divine guest within. Thus we read, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:3030And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30).
When the Spirit of the Lord, who had once come upon Saul, departed from him, then an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Such is the government of God upon one who is given up to the power of the enemy. Saul’s sernts suggested that a man be found who could play a harp, so that when Saul was troubled by the evil spirit the sweet music would relieve him. One of his servants suggested that David should be brought before Saul, for he was a skilled harpist as well as a prudent man, and the Lord was with him. Saul therefore sent for David to stand before him and he loved him greatly.
ML 09/19/1954