The Lord's Choice

In the previous chapters of 1 Samuel, we’ve read about the downfall of King Saul. Saul has been told his dynasty would be non-existent; the kingship would be ripped from him. He has disobeyed the Lord’s commands and has not followed the Lord.

The Lord will choose a new king. His choice no doubt seemed to many to be strange, unexpected. But the Lord’s choice is far more than meets the eye:

1 Samuel 16:1–5 NIV

1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

There’s Hope found in the Lord’s Choice

Samuel has been mourning for Saul, for Israel, for the whole situation, I’m sure. He’s been mourning for a time. The Lord even asks him, “How long?”

The grammar here indicates that Saul’s mourning was on-going. Everything had collapsed. The king has been rejected. Now possibly the kingdom itself was in jeopardy.

The Lord, faithful and good, is going to give Samuel something to take his mind off Saul. The Lord sent Samuel on his way to anoint a new king. “I have chosen one of [Jesse’s] sons to be king.”

The Lord is able to provide a new beginning: a new beginning here for Samuel and for Israel; new beginnings for His people whenever He sees fit. There is no situation we need to mourn indefinitely.

Some mourning is proper. it’s good to mourn loss. We need to mourn our sin. We need to mourn our participation in the gossip about others’ sins. We need to mourn our idolatry, our worship of people and places and things. We need to mourn.

But we don’t mourn like those without hope. What Samuel was mourning was heavy. Very real, very serious. But Samuel should have known the Lord well enough to know that in Him there is hope—hope for any and every situation.

The Lord is able to provide a new beginning here for Samuel and His people.

“The Lord will provide for His people when all is coming undone. The true King never loses control of His kingdom; He is never unsure how to handle the latest emergency in His realm. The Lord’s choice spells hope.” -DRD

It’s Jesse of Bethlehem and one of his sons who will bring some hope to a bleak situation. In the history of Israel, we’ve seen Jesse’s name before. At the end of the book of Ruth, we read:

Ruth 4:18–22 NIV

18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

That’s how the book of Ruth ends. So, as we turn the page in the Bible and in history to the time of Samuel, we have to believe that Jesse—the grandson of Boaz and Ruth, the great-grandson of Rahab—is going to feature again in the story of God’s people.

And here he is. Out of all the families in Israel, the Lord has chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be king. This word chosen or provided is the verb ra-ah. This word shows up 9 times in this chapter as “chosen, provide, see, look at, appearance.” It’s the main concept here.

Samuel isn’t told which of Jesse’s sons (that’s part of the unfolding drama of this chapter), but Samuel is told by the Lord to head on over to Bethlehem, find Jesse, and his son whom the Lord has chosen.

For us on this side of the story, we read “Bethlehem” and our hearts are quickened. We know “Bethlehem” means something. Someone significant was born in Bethlehem, someone more important than Jesse or David or any of David’s brothers.

It was prophesied by the prophet Micah that One would come from Bethlehem to be the ruler over Israel.

Micah 5:2 NIV

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

When the Magi came to Herod and asked about the One born king of the Jews, he called everyone together to figure out where the Messiah was to be born:

Matthew 2:4–6 NIV

4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

On that first Christmas morning, we read where Joseph and Mary traveled for the census:

Luke 2:4 NIV

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

The great announcement from the angel to the shepherds:

Luke 2:11 NIV

11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Later in Jesus’ ministry, there were questions about Jesus:

John 7:42 NIV

42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

Bethlehem—any mention of Bethlehem—for us with eyes to see and ears to hear should make us think of Jesus.

So there is hope in the immediate—a new king for Israel from Jesse’s sons.

And there’s the hope, for us and for all people, of a faithful and forever king, born in the city of David, Christ the Lord.

The hope of a new king outweighs the fear Samuel has of Saul and the fear that the people have upon Samuel’s arrival.

Who know what they were afraid of: Saul? Samuel himself? After all, Samuel just put Agag to death, hacking him to pieces (yikes).

Samuel, as a prophet of God, was expected to bring message of God’s judgment. But Samuel makes clear to the elders and the people that he wasn’t there to cause them harm. He came to sacrifice to the Lord and invited the people to join him.

What they are about to witness is the wisdom of God, albeit rather confusing:

1 Samuel 16:6–13 NIV

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

The Lord’s Choice is Confusing, yet Wise

Samuel saw the eldest son of Jesse, Eliab and was just sure that this was the one the Lord had in mind to be king. It makes sense.

He’s the oldest, the first to line up as Jesse brings them in starting with the oldest like Captain Von Trapp.

But it wasn’t Eliab. Neither was it Abinadab nor Shammah nor any of the 7 sons Jesse brought forth.

The Lord’s choice doesn’t make any sense outwardly.

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE LORD IS TO UNDERSTAND HE IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER AND HE DOES UNLIKELY THINGS.

Verse 7 expresses one the great and confounding truths about our God: 1 Samuel 16:7 “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This is one of the defining characteristics of our God. He doesn’t evaluate people the way we do.

My childhood pastor, Carl Helm, was preaching on this passage and came to church wearing a tie-dye t-shirt tucked into purple cut-off overalls, red cowboy boots, and a lip full of chewing tobacco.

Now he always had a lip full of chew, but his ensemble that day was about the strangest outfit I’d seen in my 7-year-old life.

The reactions he generated from the congregation were the perfect illustration for his sermon. It was important for the angry, hyper-traditional saints at Greensburg Christian Church to remember: The Lord does not look at the things people look at...

My best friend, Derek Slack, was a youth minister in Washington, Kansas 20 years ago. For some reason, after some significant moment in his life, he decided to get his eyebrow pierced (we still make fun of him a little for that…why the eyebrow I’ll never know).

But the hatred and the anger and the judgment from his church family really hurt him. I was living in a spare room of their house that summer and I had a front-row seat to all that drama, caused by something so small and insignificant.

Derek brought this verse up to the elders and the church board, but it didn’t matter to them. They couldn’t excuse his outward appearance.

That eyebrow piercing was the least striking thing about Derek who was 6’3”, 450 lbs. But, you see, people look at the outward appearance.

The Lord doesn’t look at the things people look at.

The Lord’s choice won’t meet human standards.

Remember, though: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE LORD IS TO UNDERSTAND HE IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER AND HE DOES UNLIKELY THINGS.

The Lord’s choice for king isn’t any of the sons Jesse brings before Samuel.

Did you happen to notice Jesse doesn’t even bring his youngest son in from the field to be part of this? The youngest son is so obscure, so insignificant that his own father doesn’t even think it worthwhile to call him in from tending the sheep.

The youngest of Jesse’s sons isn’t even named for a few verses. And this is the son of Jesse the Lord has chosen to be king.

The Lord’s choice doesn’t make any sense, outwardly speaking. It’s confusing; but God’s wisdom and way of doing things usually is to us.

All of this—picking the unlikely, being unconcerned with outward appearance—is a foreshadowing of Jesus, of who the prophet Isaiah foretold:

Isaiah 52:14 NIV

14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—

Isaiah 53:2–3 NIV

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

There was nothing about Jesus that was attractive.

The pictures we might have of Jesus hanging in our churches or in our homes—the good looking, fit fella with beautifully flowing non-Jewish hair and light non-Middle Eastern skin—you know, the Swedish Jesus? Those pictures are not an accurate, Biblical portrayal.

Jesus wasn’t beautiful, nothing attractive about Him at all. What’s more, Jesus was despised because of who He was:

Mark 6:3 NIV

3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

He was hated because He spent time with the wrong people:

Matthew 11:18–19 NIV

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

He was from the wrong town and that bothered most:

John 7:41 NIV

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?

The Lord chooses unlikely things, unlikely people. From David to Jesus. And the Lord does so for His glory and for our good.

David is an unlikely, counter-intuitive choice; a “you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me kind of choice.

So, too, for most people was Jesus the Nazarene, the carpenter’s son.

It’s how the Lord seems to operate:

1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

David is chosen by the Lord and anointed by Samuel. But for what? We have to wonder what his brothers and the other onlookers were thinking.

The Lord’s choice is confusing and wise. A wisdom that confounds those who walk by sight and not by faith.

The story takes a sharp turn at verse 14:

1 Samuel 16:14–23 NIV

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” 17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.” 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

The Lord’s Choice is Ironic and Inscrutable

Did you notice the contrasting experience between David and Saul?

In verse 13, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

Verse 14: Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil Spirit from the Lord tormented him.

The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul as soon as the Lord’s Spirit came upon David anointing him for kingship.

The Spirit of the Lord leaving Saul is not relevant or applicable to the issue of whether people can lose their salvation.

This isn’t describing the role of the Holy Spirit in individual regeneration.

In light of what happens to David in verse 13, this should be seen as gaining or losing the Spirit’s empowering for the role of king.

From this point to the end of his life, Saul will continually make futile attempts to govern without the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

That harmful spirit sent by the Lord was a form of judgment for his sin of turning against the Lord.

Now, the Lord never does evil. He does sometimes send/use evil agents to accomplish His purposes (like employing the Babylonians to punish Israel (Jeremiah 20) or sinful people crucifying Jesus).

I believe this is what’s happening here. This is judgment.

To sum up, the Lord has chosen David and rejected Saul. This is where we are at in the history of the kingship of Israel. But, for the moment, Saul is still king. And he’s troubled.

Here’s where the irony comes in to play. An example or two of irony:

A fire station burns to the ground.

An English teacher uses poor grammar.

The Lord’s choice of king is chosen by the rejected king to help him feel better about losing his kingship.

It’s ironic. The hand of God in this story needs no added emphasis.

One of Saul’s attendants just happens to know David can play the lyre— “He’s a good musician. He knows how to play. He’s a good speaker. The Lord is with him.”

Those of us who are in the know could also add, “Oh yeah, Samuel’s just anointed him king.”

The details of the story are just crazy. Saul has David come to play the lyre for him. Jesse sends his youngest, newly anointed son to the king.

Saul liked him very much and David became one of [Saul’s] armor-bearers.

Saul then shoots off an email to Jesse requesting that David remain in his service because Saul is pleased with him.

David plays (unintentional pun) an important role in Saul’s life. And Saul really likes David. This is some heavy foreshadowing of the future shift in their relationship.

Why is this how it goes down? Why would the recently deposed king unwittingly choose the newly anointed king to be in his service? What’s the Lord up to?

I have no idea.

This is the inscrutability of the Lord’s choice.

Inscrutability is the forgotten attribute of God. The meaning of the word is pretty straightforward—unable to scrutinize.

In other words, God and His ways are unfathomable. There’s no second guessing the Lord.

If there is a God, He must be inscrutable. If a god is not inscrutable to the mind of man, then the mind of man has created god. If god makes sense, the senses of man have fashioned god.

Or to put it another way, it only makes sense that God doesn’t make sense.

The Lord is up to something. He’s working out His plan and His purposes. The Lord has made His choice.

We may not, and probably won’t always understand His choice.

Romans 11:33–36 NIV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Our God is wise beyond all comprehension.

In Him there is hope from sin and despair, hope of a right relationship with God, hope of a future.

We may not always understand His choice, but that’s a really good thing. The fact that He is unfathomable should spur us on to praise.