1 Samuel 16:11 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 16:11

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‘And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children?’ He has not yet been told that there is another son not present, but he is certain that it is none of these seven. He has come to the man the Lord told him to come to, and he has been told to anoint one of them, and he believes all the sons are here, and yet it is none of these. He knows that God cannot be mistaken, that the guidance of the Lord is perfect, and that the prophetic word cannot fail, and so he remains confident that one will eventually be found, and this leads him to the only possible explanation: there is another son somewhere. And Jesse says – and he seems to say it as if there is not much hope – ‘There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.’ They had not bothered to call him; they didn't count as somebody who was significant enough to be considered for this anointing: ‘The prophet won’t be interested in him.’ Those who the Lord chooses are often overlooked by the world, because the world appreciates a completely different set of characteristics in its leaders. God is about to invert the natural order again, so as to show how differently he looks upon men.‘And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.’ Samuel’s expectations began to rise. This must be the one, but he waits for the Lord to speak to him. ‘And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.’ That is strange. Does this contradict what we have just read? We might expect to find verse 12 describing him entirely in terms of inner characteristics, rather than outer characteristics which the Lord pays no regard to. Is the basis of choice, after all, going to be handsomeness and outward appearance? We can only solve the problem by realising that verse 12 is a description of David as he really was, not just his appearance. He had, let's say, an open, honest face, a sincere and earnest face. The passage is not telling us about the colour of his eyes, and the straightness of his nose, and the slenderness of his eyebrows, or whatever things that they might have considered good looking in those days. It is telling us about other qualities that were evident. Yes, in his face: a beautiful countenance. There was no devious look in the eye of David. There was no arrogant brow, as the saying goes. He wasn't a youngster who looked aloof, and is full of himself. In fact, to look at him, you would think he was a sensitive and a thoughtful person. Maybe there was a busyness even in his very look, an alertness of eye, an eagerness. When you looked at David, even though he was at this stage a youth of about nineteen, you could say, ‘This is a man from whom I would like to ask for deep counsel. This is the person I would like to confide in. This is a person I could trust.’ It was in his face. How is character in your face? It is hard to say, but there are some people: you look at them and you say, ‘I can trust that man or that woman; I can just see it in his face.’ That is the idea behind this. And the Lord said, Arise; anoint him, for this is he.’ So Samuel understands why the others had been passed over. The choice of David was made doubly clear by the rejection of all his older brothers. Of course they must keep this secret. The family is not going to spread this around instantly; it would be dangerous to do so.‘Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren.’ David is anointed with oil in the midst of his brethren. He overtakes them all his natural brothers. It reminds us of Hebrews 1:9, where Psalm 45:7 is quoted, speaking of Christ: ‘Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.’ it is just one of the many confirmations that it is right and proper for us to look at David as a type of Christ. There are many sentences like this through the history of David, that are picked up in the psalms, and even in the New Testament. They run like a cable all the way through the Scripture. Certain aspects of his life and his reign – not David’s sin; he is not a type or foreshadowing of Christ when he sins – are types, foreshadowings, of the great King, the eternal King, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So with Christ. He was born in poverty, growing and ministering as a poor man, even though he could have been rich, because of his great works of compassion. Humiliated on Calvary's cross, he was lifted up above the entire human race at the resurrection and the ascension, and is now restored on high at the right hand of the Father. David is a type of Christ.‘And the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.’ The Spirit of the Lord came upon you. On the day of your regeneration, your salvation, your conscious conversion, you had the Holy Spirit anoint you; he was resident in you from that day forward, and David was a new person. He loved the Lord, but now he is anointed and empowered to be king. There is a long way to go yet. He has to be fashioned through much hardship, and many difficulties, many trials; near death experiences on a number of occasions. But the Holy Spirit is with him and he is being prepared.‘Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David.’ The translation could be a little bit better. Here, Hebrew is very strong: the Spirit of the Lord took hold of David. The taking hold being as you might grasp something and pick it up, and hold it tightly. It is very different in the Hebrew to the way in which the Spirit is said to affect Saul. Saul was given the spirit of courage and authority by the Lord, and a commitment to his task, though he abused it. He wasn't given a spirit which converted the heart, or made him spiritual. But here it is putt quite differently. David who already was spiritual, had the Spirit of the Lord take hold of him in a particularly strong way. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.’ He had done his task. He promptly rose up and went to Ramah.

Application

That is true of us. From the time of our conversion the Spirit is upon us, and we are being prepared. We are being prepared for service here; we are being prepared for your eternal service and worship in the presence of the King of kings. Every experience which we pass through on earth contributes to our training, to our shaping and fashioning. The Spirit is upon us. What was this spirit? In David, it was an amazing spirit of humility. When you think of the accomplishments of David – the Scripture is going to conduct us in his life in the future. Through his sin also, and his failings; Scripture is going to be ruthlessly honest with this great hero of faith, and tell us everything. But we shall see on balance that by the indwelling Spirit, he becomes so used and such a great man. You think of the natural gifts imparted to him: as a poet, of course, inspired the word of God with the psalms. In many other respects too: as a general, as a defender of his people, as a wise counsellor and king. Yet he had through it all this amazing spirit of humility. Only on occasions in the psalms do you see it being disclosed to us that David is having to be dealt with by God for a spasm of pride. But for the most part you see throughout the psalms the extraordinary humility of David. That's the spirit of humility that came upon him when he was anointed. You too received the spirit of humility at conversion. It was obvious to everyone at first. You were so teachable and so open, and so unready to assert yourself proudly. How much we have to make sure by the help of God we don't let that spirit of humility be taken from us by the evil one. It is a precious thing. The spirit of humility!

He also gained a great spirit of dependence upon the Lord; it is the great keynote of the psalms. How much David in every one of the psalms attributed to him, depends upon the Lord: a spirit of dependence, a spirit of communion. There is nothing like the psalms for sentiments of communion with God, and love for God. Keep alive that spirit of communion with the Lord, and love for him. A spirit of prayer, a spirit of praise. It is the Holy Spirit that anoints us. A spirit of holiness: every day struggling and striving to overcome our sins, and to live for the Lord. A spirit that brings glory to him. What is the purpose of my life? What am I doing for him? Why has he saved me? Where does he set me? How do I count for him? When that other spirit comes upon us which says, ‘Take your ease; you should be considered; you should have more time to do things that you want to do. You should be able to have more fun in this world’, we suppress it. The spirit of holiness takes us forward to be all for the Lord. The spirit of warfare. We are enlisted men and women in his service, prepared to take the rations, the knocks, and everything that comes. ‘And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.’

Questions

Was David already converted? We believe so. We have seen how strong was the influence of his mother on him. Then again, we can see other evidence for his conversion from the shepherd psalms. You only have to read these great shepherd psalms, and note the extent to which David points to God being spoken of in the stars, and in the heavens, and in the countryside, in the creative realm. The lessons, the spiritual lessons, he draws from the shepherd and his sheep; you only have to read all these references to realise that alongside his mother's strong instruction and testimony, David – left alone on the hillsides day after day, hour after hour, contemplating, reflecting – had come to a very sure, certain, personal knowledge of God, and knew the Lord, and walked with him. You can see it ringing out of all the shepherd psalms.

Of course you have the evidence here that he was converted at the time of his anointing, because the whole essence of this passage is that Samuel would find somebody whose heart was right, whose heart was already right. That is the implication. God looks on the heart. He is not choosing David because of his merit as a man, but he is choosing him because he is already a child of grace, one who has received mercy and knows the Lord, and has a right spirit within him. That is implied in the passage. So you can see David as one who was converted as a comparatively young man.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Samuel 16:11 Commentary and Bible Study