1 Samuel 16

1Sa 16:1-10.

SAMUEL

SENT BY

GOD TO

BETHLEHEM.

1. the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for

Saul--Samuel's grief on account of Saul's rejection, accompanied,

doubtless, by earnest prayers for his restitution, showed the amiable

feelings of the man; but they were at variance with his public duty as

a prophet. The declared purpose of God to transfer the kingdom of

Israel into other hands than Saul's was not an angry menace, but a

fixed and immutable decree; so that Samuel ought to have sooner

submitted to the peremptory manifestation of the divine will. But to

leave him no longer room to doubt of its being unalterable, he was sent

on a private mission to anoint a successor to Saul

(see on

1Sa 10:1).

The immediate designation of a king was of the greatest importance for

the interests of the nation in the event of Saul's death, which, to

this time, was dreaded; it would establish David's title and comfort

the minds of Samuel and other good men with a right settlement,

whatever contingency might happen.

I have provided me a king--The language is remarkable, and intimates a

difference between this and the former king. Saul was the people's

choice, the fruit of their wayward and sinful desires for their own

honor and aggrandizement. The next was to be a king who would consult

the divine glory, and selected from that tribe to which the pre-eminence

had been early promised

(Ge 49:10).

2. How can I go?--This is another instance of human infirmity in

Samuel. Since God had sent him on this mission, He would protect him in

the execution.

I am come to sacrifice--It seems to have been customary with Samuel

to do this in the different circuits to which he went, that he might

encourage the worship of God.

3. call Jesse to the sacrifice--that is, the social feast that followed

the peace offering. Samuel, being the offerer, had a right to invite

any guest he pleased.

4. the elders of the town trembled at his coming--Beth-lehem was an

obscure town, and not within the usual circuit of the judge. The elders

were naturally apprehensive, therefore, that his arrival was occasioned

town, in consequence of the estrangement between Samuel and the king.

5. sanctify yourselves--by the preparations described

(Ex 19:14, 15).

The elders were to sanctify themselves. Samuel himself took the

greatest care in the sanctification of Jesse's family. Some, however,

think that the former were invited only to join in the sacrifice, while

the family of Jesse were invited by themselves to the subsequent

feast.

6-10. Samuel said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him--Here

Samuel, in consequence of taking his impressions from the external

appearance, falls into the same error as formerly

(1Sa 10:24).

1Sa 16:11-14.

HE

ANOINTS

DAVID.

11. 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.

12. he was ruddy, &c.--JOSEPHUS

says that David was ten, while most

modern commentators are of the opinion that he must have been fifteen

years of age.

13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him--This

transaction must have been strictly private.

14-18. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit

from the Lord troubled him--His own gloomy reflections, the

consciousness that he had not acted up to the character of an

Israelitish king, the loss of his throne, and the extinction of his

royal house, made him jealous, irritable, vindictive, and subject to

fits of morbid melancholy.

19. Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David--In the

East the command of a king is imperative; and Jesse, however reluctant

and alarmed, had no alternative but to comply.

20. Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a

kid, and sent them . . . unto Saul--as a token of homage and respect.

21. David came to Saul--Providence thus prepared David for his destiny,

court, the business of government, and the general state of the

kingdom.

became his armour-bearer--This choice, as being an expression of the

king's partiality, shows how honorable the office was held to be.

23. David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was

refreshed, and was well--The ancients believed that music had a

mysterious influence in healing mental disorders.