| DAVID ANOINTED |

I am so glad that you are reading this chapter with us! Here we meet one of the most important characters in the entire Old Testament; David, the future king of Israel. What is particularly important about King David is that Jesus is a descendant of David. That means that Jesus is a descendant in the family line that God chooses as the rightful dynasty of his people, Israel. You may even have heard Jesus called the Son of David.

In today’s passage, we see how God chooses David even though he may be the least likely in his family to be chosen.

The Lord Looks on the Heart

Chapter 16 is famous for the statement that “the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Let us remember that the Lord is also the one who chose Saul. Did he make a mistake?

When Samuel saw Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, he thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” Samuel and all the people thought the same thing when they saw Saul. Remember Saul’s height and look? When God anointed Saul as king he was giving the people their own desire for a king like those of the other nations. But when God anoints David as king he is giving a man after his own heart. Now the people can compare and contrast the hearts and actions of Saul and David. Again, the purpose of the king is not to show the might of the nation, as does a tall and mighty man. The purpose of the king is to show that the Lord is great and mighty to save. Not even David was a perfect man. He was a weak man who was in need of the Lord’s salvation. We have a whole psalm book, much of which is written by this shepherd-king, that shows the heart of a man who puts on display the salvation of the Lord.