1 Samuel 16:11-13 sits inside this longer paragraph.
7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one, either.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one, either.” 10Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.” 11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
12He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. 14Now Yahweh’s Spirit departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. 15Saul’s servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. 16Let our lord now command your servants who are in front of you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. Then when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will play with his hand, and you will be well.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 Hebrew, are the children ended?
Hebrew, are the children ended?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–13 1Sa 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here…
1Sa 16:11 And 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.
Ver. 11. Are here all thy children?] God will say to such as make not a full confession of their sins, Are here all?
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There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.] Him God called "from following the ewes great with young, to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance." {Psa 78:71} {See Trapp on "Psa 78:71"} Our vocation likewise to glory and virtue is gratuita, et inopinata {Eph 1:5}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–13 He keepeth the sheep; and consequently is the most…
He keepeth the sheep; and consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment. Either therefore he did not thoroughly understand David’s great wisdom and valour, or he judgeth him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his providence, that David’s choice might plainly appear to be God’s work, and not Samuel’s or Jesse’s design.
We will not sit down, to wit, to the feast.
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Quest. How could David be admitted to this feast, being, as it seems, not sanctified with the rest of his brethren?
Answ. 1. It is not strange if the prophet, by God’s direction, dispensed with the ordinary rule, in a person so extraordinary, both for his piety and the dignity to which he was chosen.
2. It is not affirmed that David did sit down with them to the feast, but only that they would not do so till he came. And when he was come, and Samuel had done what he intended with him, David, for aught we know, might depart, and the rest sit down to the feast; for David was not now actually raised to any higher degree, but returned to his former employment; as we read below, 1Sa 16:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–13 And Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy…
And Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy children?.... For neither of these being the person God would have anointed king, and yet it was one of Jesse's sons that was to be anointed, he concluded he must have more, at least one more, and therefore puts this question to him:
and he said, there remaineth yet the youngest; or, "the little one" (c); not of a little diminutive stature, for he was a mighty man, a man of strength, courage, and valour, Sa1 16:18 or of a puerile age, for the Jews say (d) he was now twenty nine years of age; but that is not likely, he hardly exceeded more than twenty, or was so much; thereabout he might be; but he is so called because he was the youngest son, as we render it:
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and, behold, he keepeth the sheep: and from following them, he was taken and anointed king; see Psa 78:70. Some of the greatest of men have been taken from rustic employment, as Moses, Gideon, Saul, and others:
and Samuel said unto Jesse, send and fetch him; out of the field by a messenger:
for we will not sit down till he come hither; that is, at table, to eat of that part of the peace offerings which belonged to the offerer Samuel, and which he had invited Jesse and his sons to partake of.
(c) "parvulus", V. L. (d) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 36.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 Keepeth sheep - And consequently is the most unfit…
Keepeth sheep - And consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment. Either therefore he did not understand David's wisdom and valour, or he judged him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his providence, that David's choice might plainly appear to be God's work, and not Samuel's, or Jesse's. David signifies beloved: a fit name for so eminent a type of the Beloved Son. It is supposed, David was now about twenty years old. If so, his troubles by Saul lasted near ten years: for he was thirty years old when Saul died. Samuel having done this went to Ramah. He retired to die in peace, since his eyes had seen the salvation, even the scepter brought into the tribe of Judah.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12–13 Verse 12. He was ruddy] I believe the word…
Verse 12. He was ruddy] I believe the word here means red-haired, he had golden locks. Hair of this kind is ever associated with a delicate skin and florid complexion.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11–12 1Sa 16:11. Behold, he keepeth sheep — And consequently…
1Sa 16:11. Behold, he keepeth sheep — And consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment. Either, therefore, he did not understand David’s wisdom and valour, or he judged him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his providence, that the choice of David might plainly appear to be God’s work, and not Samuel’s or Jesse’s. David signifies beloved; a fit name for so eminent a type of God’s beloved Son. It is supposed David was now about twenty years old. If so, his troubles by Saul lasted near ten years; for he was thirty years old when Saul died. Samuel, having done this, went to Ramah. He retired to die in peace, since his eyes had seen the salvation, even the sceptre brought into the tribe of Judah.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 We will not sit down ... - . literally,…
We will not sit down ... - . literally, we will not turn round to sit at the table.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Young son, (parvulus,) "a little one;" (Haydock) or the…
Young son, (parvulus,) "a little one;" (Haydock) or the youngest, who might be about 15, (Calmet) or 28. (Seder. olam. iii.) (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–13 HE ANOINTS DAVID. (Sa1 16:11-14)
HE ANOINTS DAVID. (Sa1 16:11-14)
There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep--Jesse having evidently no idea of David's wisdom and bravery, spoke of him as the most unfit. God, in His providence, so ordered it, that the appointment of David might the more clearly appear to be a divine purpose, and not the design either of Samuel or Jesse. David having not been sanctified with the rest of his family, it is probable that he returned to his pastoral duties the moment the special business on which he had been summoned was done.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12–13 12. Ruddy — אדמוני, red; it may refer either…
12. Ruddy — אדמוני, red; it may refer either to the face or the hair, but as it is used of the hair in Gen_25:25, we prefer so to understand it here and in 1Sa_17:42. These three are the only passages where the word occurs. Esau and David were alike in being red-haired, as well as in their wandering habits and skilful use of weapons. It is said that red hair was regarded as a rare mark of beauty in the East.
Of a beautiful countenance — Rather, beautiful as to the eyes. This indicates that his eyes were keen and penetrating, enlivened by the fires of genius, and beaming with a generous warmth, by which the hearts of men and women were alike affected.
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Goodly to look to — That is, of a comely and prepossessing appearance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–13 11. we will not sit down] We will not…
11. we will not sit down] We will not sit round the table for the sacrificial feast.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 (11) Are here all thy children?—For a moment the…
(11) Are here all thy children?—For a moment the prophet is uncertain. The command from the Eternal Friend to come and anoint “the son of Jesse of Bethlehem” had been definite, but the sons of Jesse had passed before him, and no sign had been vouch-safed to him indicating that God had chosen one of these youths of whom the father was so fond; so the seer asks, “Are these all thy children?”
There remaineth yet the youngest.—Why David was kept in the background is uncertain. He, clearly, was different to the stalwart band of elder brothers who were grouped round their father. Although fair to look on, his beauty was of a very different type to that of his brothers, probably, compared with Saul and his own brothers, little of stature, with reddish-brown hair and a fair complexion. His father and the men in the village thought less of him than of his dark, tall brothers: at all events, Jesse thought him of too little account to present to Samuel. But, as so often, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and in a moment Samuel saw that in the ruddy shepherd boy—small of stature, and held of little account in his father’s house—he beheld the future king of Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Vers. 11, 12. Are here all thy children? The…
Vers. 11, 12. Are here all thy children? The word literally is lads, na"arim. The elder sons must have been nearly or quite grown up, but David was probably a mere boy, and as such had not been thought worthy of an invitation, but had been left with the servants keeping the sheep. The prophet now orders him to be summoned, and marks his value in God"s sight by saying, We will not sit down till he come hither. The verb literally means, we will not surround, i.e. the table, though at this time the Jews did sit at meals, instead of reclining on couches, as in the days of Amos and our Lord. We gather, moreover, from Samuel"s words that the selection of the son that was to be anointed took place while the preparations were being made for the feast. At the prophet"s command David is fetched from the flock, which was probably near the house, and on his arrival the prophet sees a ruddy boy, i.e. red-haired, correctly rendered in the Vulgate rufus, the colour loved by all painters of manly beauty, and, from the delicacy of complexion which accompanies it, especially admired in the East, where men are generally dark-haired and sallow-faced. Moreover, he was of a beautiful countenance. The Hebrew says, "with beautiful eyes," and so the Syriac and Septuagint rightly. He was also goodly to look to, i.e. to look at. These last words give the general idea of the beauty of his face and person, while his bright hair and delicate complexion and the beauty of his eyes are specially noticed in the Hebrew.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Send and fetch him, for we will not sit…
1Sa_16:11
Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.
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Taken from the sheepcotes
The story of David opens with a dramatic contrast between the fresh hope of his young life and the rejection of the self-willed king Saul, whose course was rapidly descending towards the fatal field of Gilboa. No bad man drifts down the rapids unwarned, unwept; but the Divine purpose cannot stay till such pitying tears are dried. Nor must we cling to the grave of the dead past, whence the Spirit of God has fled; but arise to follow as He transfers the focus of His operation from the rocky heights of Benjamin to the breezy uplands of Bethlehem, and conducts us to the house of Jesse. In the selection of every man for high office in the service of God and man, there are two sides--the Divine and the human: the election of God, and its elaboration in history; the heavenly summons, and the earthly answer to its ringing notes. We must consider, therefore.
I. The root of David. Once in the prophecy by Isaiah, and twice in the Book of Revelation, our Lord is called the Root of David. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the seven seals thereof. I, Jesus, am the Root and the Offspring of David; the Bright, the Morning Star. The idea suggested is of an old root, deep hidden in the earth, which sends up its green scions and sturdy stems. Davids character may be considered as an emanation from the life of the Son of God before He took on Himself the nature of man, and an anticipation of what He was to be and do in the fulness of time. Jesus was the Son of David, yet in another sense He was his progenitor (Mar_12:35-37). There are four great words about the choice of David, the last of which strikes deeply into the heart of that great mystery.
1. The Lord hath sought Him a man (1Sa_13:14). No one can know the day or hour when God passes by, seeking for chosen vessels and goodly pearls.
2. I have found David my servant (Psa_89:20). There is ecstasy in the voice, like the thrice repeated found of Luk_15:1-32. And was there not some secret glad response to the Masters call, like that which the disciples gave, when Jesus found them at their nets, and said, Follow Me?
3. He chose David to be His servant (Psa_78:70). The people chose Saul; but God chose David. This made him strong. We are immovable when we touch the bedrock of Gods choice, and hear Him say, He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name.
4. The Lord hath appointed him to be Prince (1Sa_13:14). Saul might chafe and fret; but from amid the ruins of his waning power the authority of David emerged as a sin from a wrack of clouds, because God willed it.
5. I have provided Me a King (1Sa_16:1). The Divine provision meets every need, silences every anxiety. In some unlikely quarter, in a shepherds hut, or in an artizans cottage, God has His prepared and appointed instrument. As yet the shaft is hidden in His quiver, in the shadow of His hand; but at the precise moment at which it will tell with the greatest effect, it will be produced and launched on the air.
II. The stem of Jesse. We turn for a moment to consider the formative influences of Davids young life. David says nothing of his father, but twice speaks of his mother as the handmaid of the Lord. From her he derived his poetic gift, his sensitive nature, his deeply religious character. To his father he was the lad that kept, the sheep, whom it was not worth while to summon to the religious feast; to his mother he was David the beloved, and probably she first heard the psalms which have charmed and soothed the world. The lad may have owed something to the schools of the prophets, established by Samuels wise prescience to maintain the knowledge of the law in Israel. They appear to have been to Israel what Iona was to the wild tribes of the North in later times. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The shepherd foreshadowing the king
In the boyish days and deeds of distinguished men, biographers delight to illustrate the adage that the boy is father to the man. In sacred story, the younger child of Rebekah taking hold of his brother by the heel, as if with intent to supplant him; in classical mythology, the infant Hercules strangling in his cradle the serpents sent by Juno to destroy him; in modern history, the schoolboy Napoleon Bonaparte, rearing his snow fortifications in the playground, and teaching his school fellows to attack or defend them--are samples of the shadows of the future that are often projected on the childhood of great men. The early years of King David exhibited more than one instance of this foreshadowing of the future.
I. It, certainly was not by accident, that, when Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, the son on whom the Divine choice fell was at the very moment keeping his fathers sheep. His early employment had a direct and Divine bearing upon his later. In some of his psalms--the beautiful closing verses of the 78th, for example--the Divine connection is transparent. 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 skilfulness of his hands.
1. As a shepherd, keeping his fathers sheep, the sense of responsibility to another was powerfully called into exercise. The flock was not his own. The servant-feeling thus beautifully called into play, was transferred, in full integrity, to the higher sphere of the kingdom. To the people of Israel he felt that he stood in the same relation as he had occupied to his fathers sheep, and to God in the same place in which he had stood to his father.
2. Further, the shepherd occupation of David led him, from its very nature, to seek the welfare of the flock. Suitable pasture had to be provided; shelter had to be found from the heat by day and from the cold by night; protection had to be secured from wolves and lions; the diseased had to be nursed, the wounded cared for, wanderers bad to be followed, rescued from danger, and brought back to the fold. These were the ideas of duty with which David became familiar as a shepherd. And when his charge was changed, these ideas of duty remaining in his heart, and influencing his public conduct, made him the eminent ruler be became. The welfare of his people was his constant aim. In the view of duty to the flock, all thoughts of fear and danger fled from Davids mind. Self-sacrifice for the welfare of others was the ruling principle at once of the shepherd and of the king.
3. Yet further:--In his office as a shepherd, David had constantly to study the increase and improvement of the flock. It was not enough for the shepherd to keep the flock as he got it. The flock was not properly kept, unless every season brought a great increase to its number, and a large addition to its value. The same thought manifestly influenced Davids kingly administration, he constantly consulted for the progressive improvement and elevation of his people. And in all the higher departments of progress, the same spirit of improvement prevailed. Great warrior though he was, the spirit most congenial to him was that of peaceful development and progress. We cannot omit to add, that the shepherd employment of David, by leading him to give special attention to the weak, the helpless, and the distressed of his flock, trained him for one of the most blessed and Christ-like functions of a godly ruler. What a contrast, the spirit of Davids pastoral and royal office, and of Christs blessed rule, to that of most earthly governors l What a contrast to the spirit of the well-known saying of the most Christian king--Letat, cest moi--I am the State! The Christian shepherd is not the flock, the Christian ruler is not the state. He is Gods servant, intrusted with the rod of authority for the true good of the flock. The more forgetful be is of self, in his anxiety to discharge his trust, and do good to his flock, the more worthy is he of the title of a Christian king. While we speak thus strongly of the devotion of King David to his own people, we must add that in its very intensity, that devotion was not unaccompanied by traces of human infirmity. His love was confined to his own people; and for all beyond that circle, he not only had no warm love, but hardly even the ordinary feelings of brotherhood. It would have been more difficult for a Jew to attain the happy medium, the right equipoise of feeling for the uncircumcised nations around, lying somewhere between brotherly love on the one hand, and bitter hatred on the other. But David gave himself no trouble to find this happy medium. It is a mystery how such tenderness, and such relentless severity, should have been found in the same man. Whatever may be urged in extenuation of his severity, rests on his position as a Jew. For our part, we must ever remember that to enlarge the sphere of kindly feeling is one of the great objects of the Christian dispensation. Let brotherly love continue for the members of the household, certainly; but if ye love the brethren only, what do ye more than others? (W. G. Blaikie, M. A.)
The call of David
David, the son of a man in humble life, and the youngest of his brethren, was chosen by Almighty God to be His special servant--to be a prophet, a king, a psalmist; he was anointed by Samuel to be all this; and in due time he was brought forward by Almighty God, and as a first act of might, slew the heathen giant Goliath. Now let, us apply all this to ourselves.
1. David seemed born to live and die among his sheep. Yet God took him from the sheepfolds to make him His servant and His friend. Now this is fulfilled in the case of all Christians. They are by nature poor, and mean; but God chooses them, and brings them near unto Himself. He looks not at outward things; He chooses and decrees according to His will, and why He chooses these men, and passes over those, we know not. Here we differ from David. He was chosen above his brethren, because he was better than they. It is expressly said, that when Samuel was going to choose one of his elder brethren, God said to him, I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart; implying, that Davids heart was in a better state than his brothers, whom Samuel would have chosen. But this is act our case; ye are in nowise better by nature than they whom God did not choose. God hath chosen all of us to Salvation, not for our righteousness, but for His great mercies.
2. Observe, too, God chose him, whose occupation was that of a shepherd; for He chooses not the great men of the world; He passed by the rich and noble (Jam_2:5). The Angel appeared to the shepherds as they kept, watch over their sheep at night. The most solitary, the most unlearned, God hears, God looks upon, God visits, God blesses, God brings to glory, if he is but rich in faith. One person is a king and rules, another is a subject and obeys; but if both are Christians, both have in common a gift so great, that in the sight of it, the difference between ruling and obeying is as nothing. All Christians are kings in Gods sight; they are kings in His unseen kingdom, in the Communion of Saints.
3. Next, observe God chose David by means of the Prophet Samuel. He did not think it enough to choose him silently, but He called him by a voice. And, in like manner, when God calls us, He does so openly. He sent His minister, the Prophet Samuel to David; and He sends His ministers to us.
4. When Samuel had anointed David, observe what followed. 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. Gods spirit did but come upon David, and visit him from time to time; but He vouchsafes to dwell within the Christian, so as to make His heart and body His temple.
5. Though David reached the gift of Gods Holy Spirit, yet nothing came of it all at once. He still seemed like any other man. He went back to the sheep. The Spirit of the Lord had come upon him, yet it did not at once make him a prophet or a king All was to come in good time, not at once. God the Holy Ghost leads on the heirs of grace marvellously. You recollect when our Saviour was baptised, immediately the Spirit of God led Him into the wilderness. What happened one way in our Saviours course, happens in ours also. Sooner or later that work of God is manifested, which was at first secret.
6. Lastly, then, let us inquire who is our Goliath? who is it we have to contend with? The answer is plain; the devil is our Goliath. By degrees our work comes upon us; as children we have to fight, with him a little; as time goes on the fight opens; and at length we have our great enemy marching against us with sword and spear, as Goliath came against David. And when this war has once begun, it lasts through life. (Plain sermons by contributors to the Tracts for the Times.)
Gods choice and preparation of men
Samuel is the light by which young David reads the handwriting of Jehovah upon the walls of his spirit, learns his destiny, and prepares for his high calling. So the living God in His marvellous mercy hides Himself behind man that not being overpowered by His splendours, we may be won to open our hearts to receive of His fulness and grace for grace. Who of you will be His anointing prophets this day, and go ca this blessed ministry! Care you not for the future of His kingdom? Is there no David whose spirit you can fire by the outshining of your conviction and the best of your enthusiasm for the salvation of men? Seize your privilege, and hand on to unborn generations the gifts of vision and power the Eternal has bestowed upon you!
1. We now ask, why is it that David of all the sons of Jesse, and of all the children of Israel, is elected by the prophet for this special consecration of kingly place and power? The answer, fortunately for us, is as near as it is definite, and as simple and authoritative as it is decisive and Divine. Speaking of Eliab, God says to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. There is at once the principle of the Divine choice, and the condition of the prophetic inspiration. David has that inner consecration without which the outward anchoring is an utterly unmeaning and damaging ceremony. The unction of the Holy One has preceded the symbolical oil of the prophet. For though God accepts and adopts human meditation as the principal avenue along which He meets the souls of men, He has many other ways of finding us besides that of a faith-begetting human presence. The Idea of God grows unawares upon our inward sight, and we are learning more and more about Him when no visible teacher is near and no human voice is heard.
2. It were, indeed, the gravest of mistakes to regard this day of consecration as the first descent of the Spirit of the Lord on young Davids heart--
Let no man think that sudden in a minute
All is accomplished, and the work is done.
God does not anoint unprepared men for kingship. The boy is father to the man. Not as a vaunting soldier, not even as a brave patriot, does David go forth against Goliath of Gath; but that all the earth may know--for the fight is a missionarys evangel, and a soldier shepherds apology for God--that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, who does not give victory to mere bulk, or even to military prowess, but to sincerity of heart; to humility, purity, and largeness of soul. Evermore Gods unseen educating ministry goes forward. He is always preparing the worlds kings. True rulers are never absent. We indeed see not their crowns. No sceptre is in their hands. They neither wear kings clothing, nor sit in kings houses. They are with us in our families, despised by their elder brothers, and unrecognised by all; but when the clock of time strikes, and their hour is come, they take their place and do their work, and we are debtors all. The earliest stages of regeneration are unconscious. Visibility is not the measure of reality. The kingdom of God comes without observation. We live months and years before we talk in fluent English. We know not the day of our birth, and we cannot tell what we shall be. The issues of our acts are hidden from us. Alertness of vision, openness to receive the Spirit, will be surprised after a while by a God-sent Samuel anointing you for a higher vocation. But we are not right within. We know it. There is an aching inside us. Our sins look us full in the face. We want place rather than preparation, thrones rather than disciplined ability, glittering crowns rather than true and unfaltering obedience. We crave and pant to be thought somebody, instead of bending our whole will on being as God wills.
3. But David, we may be certain, were he guiding us, would take us another step backward in order to see the building work of God in its earlier stages; for nothing more ineradicably rooted itself in his mind, or found more pathetic expression in his songs, than the immense educational influence of his family and shepherd life. As a boy he was a keeper of sheep, and he never forgot it. The influence of that shepherd life was never exhausted. It was the salt of his career. It fed his humility and inspired his praise; purified his thinking, and sobered and deepened his emotion. It brought him face to face with reality; shut out the crowding and gossiping life of the city, threw him back on his own thoughts, gave him leisure and facility to strip off the shows of things, and get at their heart, developed an inwardness of being that brought peace and power for evermore. Thus David got his education, in the plain everyday uses of life, and was fitted for his consecration to kingship by patient, plodding, and loving service. As Moses led the sheep in the desert before he led Israel out of Egypt, as Gideon received his call to take charge of the hosts of God whilst be was threshing wheat, as the mantle of Elijah fell on Elisha at the plough, as Matthew heard the summons to the apostolate at the tollbooth, so David got his first training for his high place amid the lowly duties of his shepherd life. I suppose we shall learn some day, that the faithful doing of our actual work, the doing it for use, and not merely for gain, from love of God and love of men, is recognised by Heaven as the surest preparation for future promotion and enlarged service. Then we shall have no need to seek change of place, in order to be ready for Gods prophet with his horn of anointing oil, but only to keep our heart right. (J. Clifford, D. D.)
The unlikely selected
Dr. Isaac Barrow, when a lad, was most unpromising. Such was his misconduct, and so irreclaimable did he seem, that his father, in despair, used to say that if it pleased God to remove any of his children, he wished it might be his son Isaac. What became of the other and more hopeful children of the worthy linen draper, we cannot tell; but this unworthy son lived to be the happiness and pride of his fathers old age, to be one of the most illustrious members of the university to which he belonged, and one of the brightest ornaments of the church of which he became a minister. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 1Sa_16:13. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil,” etc.…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
1Sa_16:13. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil,” etc. “There is nothing recorded concerning any words of Samuel to David at the time of the anointing, and in explanation of its meaning, as in the case of Saul (1Sa_10:1). In all probability Samuel said nothing at the time, since, according to 1Sa_16:2, he had good reason for keeping the matter secret, not only on his own account, but also for David’s sake; so that even the brethren of David, who were present, knew nothing about the meaning and object of the anointing, but may have imagined that Samuel merely intended to consecrate David as a pupil of the prophet’s. At the same time we can hardly suppose that Samuel left Jesse, and even David, in uncertainty as to the object of his mission, and of the anointing which he had performed. He may have communicated all this to both of them without letting the other sons know.” (Keil.) “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David.” “The youth entered upon a new stage in the development of his inner life which was wholly consecrated to God. The rich talents wherewith he was endowed from his birth received on all sides fresh unfolding. The law, the holy records of the books of Moses, in which he had been instructed from his earliest years, opened themselves to his enlightened eyes more and more. The peaceful stillness of nature amid which, tending his father’s flocks, he spent his days, and often, also, the mild, starry nights, favoured his penetration into the secrets of the Divine revelation. His heart, moved and directed from above, already poured itself out in sacred song and poem, which he sang to the accompaniment of his harp, to the praise of that God before whom, from his childhood, he had learned to bow the knee; and it may well be assumed that even then, amid that rural loneliness, psalms streamed forth from his heart, such as the eighth, which overflows with adoring wonder at the condescension and grace with which the glorious Creator of heaven and earth has concerned Himself with frail man.” (Krummacher.)
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1Sa_16:14. “An evil spirit from the Lord.” “This spirit is, according to the narrative, not the condition itself of gloomy melancholy and torturing anguish, but an objective power which produced it. It is a wicked spiritual power, which came upon him as the opposite of the good holy spirit which he once possessed, and goaded him to rage and madness, finding its occasion in the conflict within his soul, and in the passionateness of his nature, which, after the spirit of the Lord left him, was unbridled. It came on Saul from the Lord; that is, the Lord gave him over to the power and might of this spirit as punishment for his disobedience and defiant self-will.” (Erdmann.)
1Sa_16:18. “A mighty valiant man,” etc. David’s reputation for courage, etc., was already very great. Doubtless since the Spirit of the Lord came upon him his natural qualities and powers had been greatly enhanced. His feat of killing the lion and the bear (1Sa_17:34; 1Sa_17:36) had been performed, like Sampson’s feats of strength, under the same supernatural influence, and was probably more or less known.” (Biblical Commentary.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_16:13-18
SAUL AND DAVID
I. Both the Spirit of God and the agents of Satan seek congenial soil for their operations. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, He found a heart prepared to receive His influence and to profit by it. David had already yielded himself up to those ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit which come to men in general, and he was therefore capable of receiving and being blest by a special outpouring of that same gracious and sanctifying power, to fit him for a sacred office and a special work. Those who have received into their minds the elementary principles of a science, or the rudiments of a language, possess a basis upon which a teacher may lay other truths concerning the same science or language; and so the pupil who has diligently mastered the alphabet of any branch of knowledge is the one most likely to be rewarded with further instruction. So the man who has profited by the spiritual light which has been already afforded him is in the way to receive a further revelation—he who has opened his heart to receive the teachings of Christ which have been given him has a basis upon which the Spirit of God can operate to his further enlightenment. The ingenuous confession of Nathaniel (Joh_1:40) showed that he was fit to receive greater knowledge, and to be made acquainted with greater and more glorious truths concerning Christ and His Kingdom; and hence the Saviour’s promise: “Thou shalt see greater things than these” (Joh_1:50). The confession of Peter in Cæsarea Philippi (Mat_16:16) showed that he had mastered the first lesson in connection with the Kingship of Christ; and because he thus gave proof of having made good use of the evidence concerning his Divine Master which had already been given him, he was permitted to receive more and more, and at last to be an “eyewitness of His Majesty when He received from His Father honour and glory in the holy mount” (2Pe_1:16-17). If Peter and his brother Apostles had not already yielded themselves up to the teachings which flowed from the every-day manifestations of their Lord, we may be sure they would not have been permitted to receive the higher revelation of His transfiguration. So was it with David. The Spirit of God found in him a basis upon which to raise a superstructure of such a character as would fit him to be a worthy ruler of the chosen people, and a type of Him who should hereafter rule the whole Israel of God (Mic_5:2). Saul also had been wrought upon by the Spirit of God, but although he had thereby become intellectually stronger and more fit for the kingly office, the more blessed and sanctifying influences of that Holy Spirit had found no receptive soil upon which to operate. His heart was like the rocky ground of our Lord’s parable, where the few plants which sprung up soon withered away because they had no root (Mat_13:6); and the powers of evil never leave such a heart untenanted. When a man resists the Holy Ghost as Saul did, He ceases at length to strive with him, and the Evil One, finding the house empty, sends his agents to take up their abode there, and so “the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Luk_11:26).
II. The powers of evil are under Divine rule. A monarch has under his sceptre not only those obedient subjects who find their truest freedom in observing the statutes of the realm, but also the lawless and disobedient who yield him no willing service. Yet this latter class do serve by compulsion—as criminals and prisoners they may be used to do work which the free citizen could not do so well, and so they also may unwillingly render service to the king. So the powers of evil are subjects of the King of kings as truly as the angels of light; and although they are rebels against His righteous rule, they can do nothing without His permission, and sometimes in following the dictates of their own evil natures they undesignedly fulfil God’s purposes. This was remarkably the case in the experience of Job. Satan could only distress and afflict Job by Divine permission, and while he seemed to be only working out his own evil intentions, he was really fulfilling a Divine purpose towards a godly man. And the spirits of darkness are also made instruments of God’s chastisement, especially in relation to men who are in rebellion against Him. We can conceive that this terrible but necessary work in a world of sinners could not be done by a good angel as it can be done by a fallen and malignant spirit; this we know from the teaching of Scripture in this passage, and in others, that God does so over-rule the malignity of evil spirits and evil men as to make them executioners of His judgments upon other sinners. The evil spirit which now troubled Saul was from the Lord in the sense that it was permitted to be an instrument of chastisement for his disobedience.
III. Even when God chastises for disobedience, He leaves some influences within reach of the offender to modify the punishment. Saul was not wholly forsaken of God while he was not wholly forsaken of men, for men “are that to us, and no more, than God permits them to be” (Henry). Saul, a prey to his own evil passions, and to the malice of his spiritual adversary, could hardly have been at this time a good master or a man calculated to attract friends, yet there were those still around him who were sorry for him in his affliction, and who were anxious to alleviate his suffering. And so it is generally. When men, by a course of wilful transgression of Divine laws have brought upon themselves the penalty of mental or physical suffering, some kindly heart and hand is permitted by God to be moved in their behalf, and human sympathy and help lessens in some measure the weight of the deserved chastisement.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_16:13. Here was the sign that all the inward discipline and preparation of David had an object, another object than merely to make him a faithful keeper of sheep, or even a wise and righteous man. But a Divine sign is not a mere ceremony. It would be deceitful and insincere if there were not a present blessing denoted by it, the communication of an actual power to fit the man for tasks to which he has not hitherto been appointed. From that day forward there was a power within David stirring him to thoughts and acts which connected him directly with Israelites, with human beings.… There is a time in men’s lives, before they enter upon some great work to which they have been consecrated, a time when they are permitted to look back upon the years which they have already past, to see them no longer as fragments, but as linked together, as having a Divine purpose running through them which makes even their incoherences and discords intelligible. In such a time of retrospection, when the future is seen mirrored in the past, David may have found his harp much more than the mere solace of lonely hours, the mere response to his inward sorrows and thanksgivings. He may have begun to know that he was speaking for other men as well as for himself; that there were close and intimate fibres uniting men utterly unlike and separated by tracts of time and space; that there is some mysterious source of these sympathies, some living centre who holds together the different portions of each man’s life, and in whom there is a general human life of which all may partake. The Spirit of God, which had taken possession of David, may have been teaching him these lessons and inspiring the song which was the utterance of them before he was prepared to come forth as the actual deliverer. And that Spirit will assuredly have been preparing him for his after conflicts, by making him feel that he had, even then, enemies most fierce to struggle with, subjects most turbulent to subdue. The invisible God does not make known to man that He is his shepherd, without making known to him also that there are invisible powers more fearful than bears and lions, which would tear his flock asunder, which would bring each separate sheep into the valley of the shadow of death.—Maurice.
1Sa_16:14. The Power of darkness, which is personal, and in souls in the condition of that in which Saul’s now was, finds all open for his operations, wrought in him with greater energy to deepen yet more and more that dreadful gulf which separated the king from Jehovah, eternally enthroned in the heavens; yea, to increase the estrangement of the miserable man from God yet more and more till it became a demoniacal hatred of God.—Krummacher.
In regard to the negative or privative declaration that “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Samuel,” we may take it to mean that God withdrew from him all those special aids which, in connection with his anointing to the royal office, had been conferred upon him. Perhaps, also, we may include in it the taking from him of those gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, without which a man becomes, in the saddest and solemnest of all senses, “abandoned.” This is what Paul has described as a “being given over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Rom_1:28), and what, in the simple Saxon of our common speech, we call, “a being left to one’s self.” The Saviour has said, “From him that hath not shall be taken away even that he hath.” Now, in Saul, we have a deeply suggestive instance of the execution of this sentence.—Dr. W. M. Taylor.
Man is governed by the Spirit from above, or by the spirit from beneath; there is no third course. For he is as little isolated in the invisible as in the visible world; he must be part of the organism of the one or the other of the invisible worlds; he belongs either to the kingdom of light or to the kingdom of darkness; he is guided either by the Spirit of the Lord or by the evil spirit, according as he decides for a permanent attitude of heart and direction of will to this side or that.—Lange’s Commentary.
Whether any more be meant by this than that God, for Saul’s hardened impenitence, withdrew His restraining and guiding grace, and left him a prey to his own passions, I cannot take upon me to say. This only I am sure of, that no man living needs a heavier chastisement from Almighty God than the letting his own passions loose upon him. The consequence to the mind, I apprehend, would in that case be much the same as it would be to the body, if the restraining power of the air were removed, and all the muscles, vessels, and humours left to the full freedom of their own powers and tendencies.—Delany.
1Sa_16:15; 1Sa_16:18. Does not the penetration of these people excite our surprise? Are we not astonished at the far-reaching enlightenment which they manifest of the existence of a world of fallen spirits, whom Jehovah is wont to make use of, not seldom, for putting to trial His own people, as well as for visiting with punishment the wicked? Must we not conclude that they were indeed already acquainted with the book of Job, and that it was a constituent part of their holy canonical books? An Israelite adhered to his Bible under all circumstances, even when he was destitute of spiritual life and his conduct was condemned by it … They recommend to him the power of music as a means for relieving his mind, but with a wise discriminating judgment regarding its character.… The servants knew well the power of music to produce, according to its kind and quality, not less the most depraved than the holiest impressions. Music can unfetter the most destructive passions; but it can also, at least for a time, tame and mitigate the wildest storms of the human heart.… The music which the servants of the king thought of was not that which pleases the world, and which only opens the door to unclean spirits, but such as, animated by a nobler inspiration, might insensibly elevate the soul by its harmonious melody, as on angel’s wings, towards heaven. They thought of the harp, then the most solemn instrument of music, and on the melodies which were wont to sound forth in the sanctuary at the time of the sacred festivals of Israel.—Krummacher.
If they had said, “Sir, you know that this evil comes from that God whom you have offended, there can be no hope but in reconcilement … labour your peace with Him by a serious humiliation, make means to Samuel to further the atonement,” they had been wise counsellors, divine physicians: whereas now, they do but skin over the sore, and leave it rankled at the bottom. The cure must ever proceed in the same steps with the disease, else in vain we shall seem to heal: there is no safety in the redress of evils but to strike at the root.—Bp. Hall.
We see here, distinctly marked, these two things, the plan of God and the liberty of man.… David, in his devotion to his harp, had no thought of thereby rising to the royal favour; the servant who mentioned his name to Saul had no idea of the fact that he was already anointed to be Saul’s successor; yet each, in his own way, and by working out the choice of his own free will, was helping on the fulfilment of the purposes of God. So it is still, the only difference being that, in ordinary history, we are not always thus permitted to see the different agencies at work.—Dr. W. M. Taylor.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13 There remains yet the youngest
There remains yet the youngest
"There is still my youngest son"
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we will not sit down
It is understood that they were waiting to sit down and eat. AT: "we will not sit down to eat" (See: Ellipsis)
Now ... appearance
The word "Now" is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the narrator tells about a new person in the story.
this son was ruddy
The word "ruddy" means David was healthy looking.
translationWords
Samuel
Jesse
ewe
send
Yahweh
anoint
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 16:13 The Spirit of the Lord came . .…
16:13 The Spirit of the Lord came . . . upon David, as was consistently evident (e.g., 16:23; 17:48-54; 18:5, 12-16). The Spirit of the Lord had also come upon Saul (10:10) but had left him because of disobedience (16:14). • Ramah: Samuel’s hometown (1:1).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.