1 Samuel 16:1–3

Was it not natural for Samuel's thoughts to linger over Saul? Had he not kissed him, honoured him, served him, and hoped in him? It was quite natural, but not divine. The Lord had rejected him, and Samuel had to give up his own thoughts and take God's, now clearly revealed. "I have rejected" — "I have provided" — these were words of mercy beyond telling for Israel. They were the way the Lord stepped in, and the only way Israel could be delivered and blessed.

We do not read that Samuel mourned when his sons lost their office. We do not read that he grieved when the ungrateful people he had served so long and so faithfully pushed him aside. No; he mourns for Saul. Saul was the man the nation had set its dearest hopes on, and his fall seemed to mean the weakening or the fall of Israel.

We see the same thing in principle in 1 Samuel 16:1. There God tells the prophet to stop grieving over Saul, whom He had set aside, because a far better king was in view — David. God takes away the first, "in order to establish the second" (Heb. 10:9). If Christ the Second Man fills our vision, the first man and the covenant of law, that applied to him, are set aside.

Man's unfaithfulness is so far from hindering God that it only gives Him a fresh occasion to glorify Himself. He proves and makes known that He is supreme over evil. And He always does it the same way: He takes up the results of sin and makes them the opening to display the resources of His wisdom and goodness. It was sin to have asked a king, but it was grace on God's part to give it.

The horn is the well-known picture of power, as oil is of the Spirit. The anointing comes from Him who holds the power. He will make good all that the anointing means, and His king must be fitted for it not only by nature but by the Spirit. Bethlehem we know well as the "house of bread". Its link with Him who is the "living bread" makes its meaning very plain.

For David everything was ordered by God, down to so small a matter as a horn full of oil instead of the vial of oil, "scanty and brittle", used for Saul.

How could he who had been until then a simple shepherd conduct himself in a way suitable to a king? The anointing did not only mark him out for the position. It also gave him the power and fitness he needed, so that he could be and live in every way worthy of the place God had appointed him to.

Jacob, when he was dying, had shown that Judah was the royal tribe. But the royal family only came into view when Samuel anointed David. No one could have foreseen it. David was the youngest of eight sons, and his family was not a prominent one — yet he was the one who would sit on Jehovah's throne. And who would have thought that the lowly Babe, born in Bethlehem's stable, was God's King?

Bethlehem was the village of Boaz — the Kinsman-Redeemer — the One who took up the cause of the hopeless and ruined. This shows the ground upon which everything was now to be built.

This is not deception, as some have imagined. The Lord is a God of truth. He would never use deceit in any form or for any purpose at all. People are quick to sit in judgment on God's acts, and for them lying is easy and natural. With God it is "impossible." "God orders him to protect himself with a sacrifice; say, 'I have come to sacrifice.' That was true, and it was right for him to sacrifice when he came to anoint a king (1 Sam. 11:15). As a prophet, he might sacrifice when and where God appointed. He really did come to sacrifice, though he had a further purpose too, which he chose to keep hidden."

This was not deception, but protection of Samuel. On this occasion the most important thing was the sacrifice, not the anointing. God's honour must come first, and His presence therefore sanctified the anointing. God told Samuel to call Jesse to the sacrifice, and to depend on Him for what to do and whom to anoint.

Samuel was not told to conceal his object, but to anoint the son of Jesse, presumably before as many as might be present at the feast. So we have a beautiful picture of the sheltering value of the sacrifice of Christ. Under its protection, the servant of the Lord can go forward right in front of his enemies. He knows that all the hatred of the flesh can do nothing against that sacrifice. King Saul himself, with all his boldness, dared not lay unholy hands on one who had such protection.

We have already seen such a sacrificial feast spread at Saul's anointing. We know it as the sign of peace and communion between God and man. This is where Saul had failed so utterly. For him, too, all had been prepared, and he was an invited guest; but he had never entered into the reality of it. David therefore was now to be the guest, and to make up for Saul's deficiency. And the true King, when He comes, is more than David; for He is not only a partaker of the feast but spreads it.

The hand of God opens the way for us to take the first step, and this is all that faith ever asks. God never gives guidance for two steps at a time. I must take one step, and then I get light for the next. This keeps the heart in constant dependence on God.

It is as if God said: you do not have enough confidence in Me, but fear for your life. So I simply tell you to call Jesse to a sacrifice. After that, "I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for Me him whom I declare to you." God does not change His purpose. All that Saul or others need know is that Samuel has gone to Bethlehem to sacrifice. The prophet's fears are calmed. But this was not to his honour. Often we ask for a smoother path and get it. But we lose honour and reward.

The private anointing tells us of God's working behind the scenes to show whom He wants to rule. At first only David's father's household saw this choice of God. In the same way, today only the household of faith recognises that Jesus is God's chosen King.