August 8 - The Young King

August 8 - 1 Samuel 16:1-13 - The Young King

Samuel had become a powerful prophet of the Lord to the nation of Israel. When they wanted a King (1 Samuel 8), the Lord had brought Saul to Samuel to anoint as the first King of Israel (1 Samuel 9-10). Samuel said farewell to the people of Israel as they now had a king (1 Samuel 12), but all of a sudden, the power rushed to Saul and he believed that he could reign over God's people without actually accepting input from the Lord. In 1 Samuel 15, we see that the Lord rejects Saul. Samuel was the one who had to deliver the news to the King. Saul begged and pleaded, but he could not manage to be strong and stay within the Lord's guidelines. We see in 1 Samuel 15:35, "Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him."

He had put his life into doing the work of the Lord and this loss grieved Samuel greatly.

1 Samuel 16 opens with the Lord asking Samuel how long he plans to mourn for Saul! God is ready to get on with this. It's time to anoint the new king of Israel.

Since the day that Samuel responded to the Lord in the temple as a boy, he has been willing to go wherever the Lord sends him and do whatever the Lord asks him to do. Even when he is afraid of Saul's wrath, he knows that walking with the Lord is the better thing to do.

The Lord provided an opportunity for Samuel to be in Bethlehem so that he wouldn't have to ile about his travels there. But, the elders of the community were worried that the great prophet of the Lord had come to execute judgment on them. (1 Samuel 16:2-5)

After consecrating Jesse and his sons, he invited them to the sacrifice. Each of the sons stood before Samuel while he spoke with the Lord about them.

Eliab was tall and looked as if he could be a king, but the words from the Lord remind us of a man's true intentions and how closely God looks at our hearts, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7b)

Then came Abinadab, Shammah, and seven other sons of Jesse, but none of them were chosen by the Lord. Rather than question the Lord's intent, he asked Jesse if there were any more sons.

When David was brought in from tending the family's sheep, the Lord said to Samuel, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." (1 Samuel 16:12b)

In front of all of his brothers and his fathers, Samuel poured the anointing oil on the young boy. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power that day even though he didn't leave with Samuel.

What a change in this boy's life was to occur. With the power of God filling him, he could do anything and he entered into the service of the King.

We don't see Samuel again until 1 Samuel 25:1 when we are told that he has died and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, then buried him at his home in Ramah.

David was a man after God's own heart, he was chosen by God to be King of Israel and through his line, the Savior of the world would be born. He began his life as a simple shepherd boy, anointed by a great prophet. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, he was given the power to change the world.