1st Samuel 16 | Northpoint Church

1 Samuel 16

David Anointed King

¹The LORD said to Samuel,^(GK) “How long will you grieve over Saul, since^(GL) I have rejected him from being king over Israel?^(GM) Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite,^(GN) for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ²And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say,^(GO) ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do.^(GP) And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” ⁴Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city^(GQ) came to meet him trembling and said,^(GR) “Do you come peaceably?” ⁵And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.^(GS) Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they came, he looked on^(GT) Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” ⁷But the LORD said to Samuel,^(GU) “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance,^(GV) but the LORD looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called^(GW) Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made^(GX) Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” ¹¹Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said,^(GY) “There remains yet the youngest,^[y] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse,^(GZ) “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹²And he sent and brought him in. Now he was^(HA) ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said,^(HB) “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³Then Samuel took^(HC) the horn of oil^(HD) and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.^(HE) And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul’s Service

¹⁴^(HF) Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul,^(HG) and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord now command your servants^(HH) who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will^(HI) play it, and you will be well.” ¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing,^(HJ) a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence,^(HK) and the LORD is with him.” ¹⁹Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son,^(HL) who is with the sheep.” ²⁰^(HM) And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul^(HN) and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³And^(HO) whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre^(HP) and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.