1 SAMUEL 16

[Shmuel Alef 16 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)]

1 And Yahweh said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

And Hashem said unto Shmuel, Ad mosai wilt thou mourn for Sha'ul, seeing I have rejected him as Melech al Yisroel? Fill thine keren with shemen, and go, I will send thee to Yishai of Beit-Lechem: for I have provided Me a melech among his banim.

It was no mere operation of Providence that elevated David from the sheep-fold to the throne, though Providence afterwards cooperated in the process. The finger of God visibly pointed him out (12). **



7 But Yahweh said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for Yahweh seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looketh on the heart.

7 But Hashem said unto Shmuel, Look not on his mareh (appearance), or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for Hashem seeth not as HaAdam seeth; for HaAdam looketh at the einayim (eyes, outward form); Hashem looketh at the lev.

Arrived at Jesse's house, he would have been helpless in the selection without the visible hand of God. He called the sons of Jesse one by one. The first to stand before him was Eliab, the first-born, tall, and of good countenance. Samuel, impressed by his appearance, concluded that this was Saul's successor. Samuel, without the directing voice of God, external to himself, was as incapable of divine discernment as any other natural man. **



9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath Yahweh chosen this.

Does a man know God? Does he love Him? Does he obey Him? Does he serve Him? These are the questions that determine a man's relation to godliness of the only true sort. The man of whom " Yes" can be said in answer to these questions, is the man that is godly, and God "hath chosen him that is godly for himself."

"Trust in the Lord with ail thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Seasons 1.94.



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.

11 And Shmuel said unto Yishai, Are here all thy ne'arim (boys)? And he said, There remaineth yet the katan (small, young), and, hinei, ro'eh batzon (tending the flock) is he. And Shmuel said unto Yishai, Send and get him; for we will not sit down [to eat] till he come here.

The answer revealed a "youngest"-too insignificant to have been thought of-a boy keeping the sheep. Imperative command of Samuel brought him into the house. **

He was an apt and intelligent lad, dutifully addicted to the out-door service assigned to him in his father's house, and given to the study of the writings of Moses, as transpires abundantly afterwards. He was not particularly liked by his brothers, who regarded him with some jealously of feeling as comes out on the day of the encounter with Goliath. In this, he resembled Joseph, and Jesus, the antitype of both. *



12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was adomoni (ruddy, of healthy red complexion) and withal of a yafeh countenance, and good-looking. And Hashem said, Arise, meshachehu (anoint him); ki zeh hu (for this is he).

Thus was the visible hand of God employed in the nomination and anointing of the founder of that royal house, which is the basis of God's everlasting arrangements on earth; for the house of David was afterwards by covenant made the house of the Kingdom of God, on the throne of which, when rebuilt in the earth, the Son of David will reign for ever, surrounded by all his brethren, including David himself, and probably several of his interim successors, such as Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, etc. **

**Visible Hand of God

****

And so David, the humanly-ignored, was declared the divinely-provided among Jesse's sons...*



13 Then Shmuel took the keren of shemen, v'yimshach (and anointed) him in the midst of his achim; and the Ruach [Hakodesh] of Hashem came upon Dovid from that day forward. So Shmuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

We look at the picture and see nothing in it obviously divine. It was all apparently natural: yet the boyhood of David was a divinely superintended development-the laying of the foundation of that coming "man after God's own heart," with whom the royal covenant of the kingdom was to be established for ever. The invisibly-regulated events of his youth were elements in that process of "providing a king" revealed to Samuel: whence we obtain a confirmation of the lesson we have learned from so many other sources, that although all natural evolutions are not of God, some may be so that apparently present no features to distinguish them from natural occurrences in general.

This double fact has the double effect of restraining presumption and encouraging faith towards God. We may not, as a matter of natural discrimination be able with certainty to distinguish between what is providential (or truly of God) and what is not: but this we know, that the hand of God is at work, and that all who know and fear and truly love and obey Him, are the subjects of that guidance which constitutes the answer to the prayer:

"Give us this day our daily bread; . . . lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." *

* Ways of Providence Ch 14.


19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

...he was once in a very lowly way of life-a rustic lad following the sheep; and God made choice of such an one to be captain over God's people.

Accustomed to think of David as a crowned monarch and the founder of a long line of illustrious kings, it is not easy for us to realise his humble origin in its full force. If we suppose a mechanic or herd boy in our own age exalted to power, we will be enabled to understand the case of David-a man of no "birth"-having none of the human prestige arising from rank, wealth, or pedigree-suddenly called to the highest position.

The case is practically interesting to us in this way, that we are called by the gospel from the humblest classes of society to be heirs with Christ, the son of David, of the kingdom of Israel in the coming day of its universal dominion upon earth.

Our neighbours laugh at the presumption of the idea. We would agree with them in thinking such an idea pre sumptuous-absurd-insane-any other hard name they might choose to use-if it rested in any degree on human opinion or conception.

But it is God's own invitation-God's own promise; and the case of David is a historic illustration of the very feature of it which is now so much scouted:

"Hath not God chosen the poor of this world-rich in faith-heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him."

"Rich in faith;" this is where David would present a great contrast to the mechanics and shepherds of our day. He was of a fervent mind and affection towards all things pertaining to the purpose and law of God. He was a man of love, of faith, of obedience. In this, he was

"a man after God's own heart."

In this, he differed totally from most men of similar social position in our day. For this he was chosen. So it is now. Poverty is no recommendation to God if the poor one lacks the wealth of mind that can rejoice in the worship and the fear of God, and in the hope of His covenanted goodness, and in all the service God has associated with these things.

The poor must be "rich in faith" before they will be chosen for the kingdom-a faith, too, that works by love; a faith that is not dead, but fruitful in every good word and work, according to the divine law of these things.

Sunday Morning 173, TC 11/1886