Have you ever thought of having children? What God would say about them? What does He say about you?
From this point on the main character of 1 Samuel is David, mainly in his relationship with Saul. He is considered the greatest kings of the Israelites. We see in chapter 15 that he is anointed by Samuel and begin his service before Saul as a musician. After his battle with Goliath and the Philistines in chapter 17, the remainder of the book shows his dealings with Saul as he lives his life as a fugitive from Saul.
David is anointed king in this chapter and enters into Saul’s court. God rejected Saul as king in chapter 15 due to his disobedience and non repentance. He then removes His Spirit from him in chapter 16. Saul’s court knew that God had rejected him and sent an evil spirit to torment him. When we are not walking by the power of God, those around us can tell something is amiss. When we refuse to repent and attempt to suppress the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, they know something is wrong. What do our words and actions show others about our lives?
God calls David as king, the rightful king, and gives to him His Spirit who indwells him from that day forward. David is from the tribe of Judah and of the town of Bethlehem. He is rightfully king by prophecy (Genesis 49.8-12) and king by character (1 Samuel 13.14 and 16.7). First Samuel 16.13 describes a man after God’s own heart. This is a man who allows God to live in and through him. First Samuel 16.18 displays how this manifested itself in David’s life.
- I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite (he was in line to be king; he had heritage)
- who is skillful in playing (he used his gifts to bring others closer to God and people recognized it and were able to praise God because of it)
- a man of valor (he did not live in fear–see chapter 17–but trusted God to do what He promised much like Joshua believed what God said in Joshua 1 and Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.7)
- a warrior (he trained himself to become better at what was expected of him–see chapter 17)
- prudent in speech (he spoke wisely, without haste–James 1.19)
- and a man of good presence (he was respectable and respected)
- and the Lord is with him (this is the most important, God was with him because he joined God in His work. God wasn’t with David’s vision, but David was in alignment with God’s goal).
This chapter introduces David as king. The next chapter appears to be out of chronological order but is placed here to affirm David as king, as Saul’s replacement. More on that tomorrow.
How are people in your sphere of influence seeing God in you today?