And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
God's choice for Israel's next king falls on the youngest brother in the family, and the oil goes on David while the others stand and watch. Three questions follow: why this son, what the oil did, and why God's chosen king then spent years as a wandering exile.
One writer calls the choice pure grace, and treats it as the opening of David's story, not its close:
One can only say, blessed be the grace which took up one to be ruler over His people, a man who showed the very qualities most suited to his work. So David is now fully before us as the Lord's anointed, and we have to follow him through all his wanderings and changes of fortune, while he is rejected by men and waiting for the kingdom.
Samuel does not choose the king. He is told:
God gives His direct word to Samuel that this is His choice. Then Samuel "anointed him in the midst of his brothers." It was not a private matter like the anointing of Saul, for David was a man after God's heart, clearly a picture of Christ, who is God's final choice for King. From that time we are told that the Spirit of the Lord came upon David. This was a special empowering God gave him, to enable him to act in a way and with a wisdom fitting for kingly dignity.
One writer traces what those brothers did later:
We are not told what they thought when their youngest brother came to the front and received honour like this. Later on, at least some of them had unfriendly thoughts about him. When their father sent him to them, they rejected him (1 Sam. 17:17–30). The thought that one day he would be king and ruler over Israel was not acceptable to them. In the same way the "brothers" of the Lord Jesus said, "We do not want this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).
Even the container matters. A flask of oil for Saul, a horn for David — and one writer sees God's care in that detail:
The Lord was about to teach His servant something essential before David's anointing. Just then Samuel broke in with his fears. In Saul's case there were no such instructions. For David, God ordered everything — down to so small a matter as a horn full of oil, instead of the "scanty and brittle" flask used for Saul.
The verse ties the oil to the Spirit, who "rushed upon" David. Older translations say "came upon," as the writers quoted here do. That link gives the ceremony its meaning:
Anointing, as a symbolic word, carries a definite meaning. In Old Testament times three classes of people received the anointing — priests, prophets, kings. Oil was poured on their heads. Though it was a rite, it carried a definite result... Scripture links anointing with oil to the giving of the Spirit. For the priest, it enabled him to take up the priestly position and service. For the prophet, the prophetic position and service. For the king, the kingly position and service.
Another writer carries the horn over to Christ:
In Acts 10:38 we read: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power." May not the horn of oil in the anointing of David have suggested that power? So our Lord was not only designated, but also qualified, for His work.
What David received, Saul lost. From here the two men stand side by side:
Saul's anointing is cancelled. There cannot be two anointed kings before God. The effect is enormous for both Saul and David. From that day forward the Spirit of the LORD came upon David, and an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul. On David the Spirit remained. On Saul the attacks of the evil spirit seem to have come and gone, though he was Satan's constant instrument. When the Spirit of the LORD left Saul, he did not sink back into the ordinary condition of other men. He was as marked from that day forward as David was. But what an awful difference!
The oil made David king in God's reckoning. It did not put him on the throne:
David knew he was anointed king, but Saul occupied the throne. He was quite content to wait on God and, in meekness, to leave the timing to Him. Until then, the Spirit of Christ led him in the path of an exile. His road to the throne lay through many sorrows and difficulties. Like his blessed Master, whom he pictured, he was called to suffering first and glory afterwards.
- Chosen — God passed over the older brothers and took up the youngest. The anointing is grace, not a reward.
- Marked — Saul's anointing was private. David's was public, in front of his family, naming him as God's king.
- Equipped — the oil was not only a badge. The Spirit came on David and gave him the wisdom and strength the office demanded.
- Divided — the same moment that filled David emptied Saul. There cannot be two anointed kings before God.
- Waiting — anointed, but not yet on the throne, David waited instead of grabbing. Like his Master, whom he pictured: suffering first, glory after.
And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.
This verse is a turning point. The same day the Spirit came on David, He left Saul — and something else took His place. Two questions follow. Why did God take His Spirit from a king He had anointed? And how can a harmful spirit come "from the LORD"?
One writer ties the loss of the Spirit to the way Saul had treated God's word:
God had graciously given Saul His Spirit so that he could work as a king should. But Saul had rebelled against God's word. He thought he had every right to act on his own, apart from God. Therefore God removed His Spirit from him, to allow him to go ahead and act in his independent way.
The phrase troubles readers. Does it make God the author of the harm? One writer answers by separating what evil is from what it is allowed to do:
Evil as well as good has its commission from God — not its existence, but its liberty to act, and the limits of its action. So we see with Job in early times, and in Ahab's case later; and it is a real comfort to know this. This is how the wrath of man is made to praise Him, and the rest of it He restrains. Nothing can escape from the divine government by the fact of being evil, or by admitting that it is. How could it? Only on this basis can we be at peace, sure that no waves can rise higher than the footstool of His throne.
God had a purpose in the trouble. And turning away from God never leaves a person simply empty:
God did more than let Saul take his own headstrong way. Saul had refused the Spirit of God, so he lay open to the opposite of this — an evil spirit. God allowed the evil spirit to trouble Saul to wake him to the folly of his own self-will. Disobedience to God does not leave us in a merely negative state, but in a state of positive evil. This sobering fact should have driven Saul to seek the grace of God. He should have handed his kingdom over willingly to the man God had chosen. Instead he kept stubbornly on in his evil course until his tragic death.
One writer names what lay behind Saul's misery, and rules out a common explanation:
This seems to be a clearly marked case of demon possession. One who has rejected the word of God is given over to the power of Satan… Of the nature of that affliction, we cannot speak in detail. Without question, there was a sense of being forsaken by God, no longer having His approval. No one could fully describe the utter hopelessness and despair of this. Along with it there was likely some clouding of the mind, or at least an oppression that left him unfit for any duty. Some have said that King Saul was suffering from insanity. That is not the truth. It was not insanity, but the demon of evil to which he had yielded himself, and which now asserts itself as his master.
Verse 14 belongs with verse 13. The Spirit leaves Saul and comes on David — and David is then called in to calm the trouble Saul suffers:
As soon as David is called to the throne, Saul's moral condition changes completely. Until that day the Spirit of God had been with the king according to the flesh. That is what explains each of Saul's successes against the enemies of Israel. Now the Spirit of the Lord comes upon David (v. 13) and departs from Saul, who is left in the power of "a harmful spirit from the LORD" (v. 14). This is a judgment from God, a chastisement on the king… At the same time God shows that His Spirit alone can lift up and drive away the evil spirit. We see it when David takes a harp and plays it before Saul.
A believer may fear the same loss. One writer sets the two eras side by side:
Needless to say, the Holy Spirit comes to a believer once and once only. He comes, as our Lord said near the end of His life on earth, "to be with you forever" (John 14:16). Old Testament times were different. Then the Spirit might come and go — for instance, when "the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul" (1 Sam. 16:14). Ephesians 4:30 agrees. It tells believers, "you were sealed for the day of redemption."
- Cause. Saul rebelled against God's word and wanted to act on his own. God took His Spirit away and left him to it.
- Commission. Evil does not get its existence from God. Its freedom to act and its limits are His. No wave rises higher than the footstool of His throne.
- Correction. The trouble was meant to wake Saul up. It should have sent him to God for grace; instead he grew more stubborn.
- Contrast. The same day the Spirit left the rejected king, He came on David. And God's Spirit alone, through David's harp, drives the evil spirit back.
- Comfort. For the believer today the Spirit does not come and go. He stays forever, sealing us for the day of redemption.
And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles thee.
Saul's servants name the trouble out loud: a spirit from God is tormenting their king. Their reading is right, but can music fix what Saul's own conduct caused?
This verse leans on the one just before it. The same moment that brings the Spirit on David takes Him from Saul.
Hardly is David called to the throne when Saul's moral condition changes completely. Until that day the Spirit of God had been with the king according to the flesh, and this explains each of Saul's successes against the enemies of Israel. Now the Spirit of the Lord comes upon David (v. 13) and departs from Saul, who is left in the power of "an harmful spirit from the LORD" (v. 14). This is a judgment from God, a chastisement upon the king.
The servants say the spirit is from God. How far does God's hand reach in this?
Evil as well as good has its commission from God — not its existence, but its liberty to act, and the limits of its action. So we see with Job in early times, and in Ahab's case later; and it is a real comfort to know this. This is how the wrath of man is made to praise Him, and the remainder of it He restrains. Nothing can escape from the divine government by the fact or the claim of being evil. How could it? Only in this way can we be at peace, sure that no waves can rise higher than the footstool of His throne.
Commentators also separate this from a believer's suffering. What struck Saul reached his heart.
A "messenger of Satan" may be sent out from the presence of God upon either the flesh or the heart of man. An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and a lying spirit came upon the prophets of Ahab. The Lord was beginning solemn acts of judgment, and so these messengers of Satan were sent out upon the heart of those who were rightly under judgment. But other messengers of Satan reach only the body or the circumstances, as with Paul and our patriarch. And this is discipline only, and not judgment.
What happens to a man once the Spirit of God leaves?
God allowed Saul to take his own headstrong way. More than that: since Saul had refused the Spirit of God, he lay open to the opposite, an evil spirit. God let that evil spirit trouble Saul, to wake him up to the folly of his own self-will. Disobedience to God does not leave us in a merely negative state, but in a state of positive evil.
Commentators reject the idea that Saul was simply mentally ill.
It has sometimes been said that king Saul was afflicted with insanity. This is not the truth. Sadly, it was not insanity, but the demon of evil to which he had yielded himself and which now asserts itself as his master.
Saul wanted the torment eased. Commentators point out where he should have looked instead.
The desire of Saul, the rejected king, was not a godly one; he should have looked in his own conduct for the cause of his trouble.
David comes in with his harp. The relief is real, but it has a limit.
David's harp does not act directly on Satan, but on Saul. It has a strange power to soften and subdue the savage temper of the rejected king, though only for a time. By that means it drives back the power attacking him and shuts it out. For the time, he is set free.
That short-lived relief carries a warning. Comfort is not the same as cure.
There is a solemn thought here. Some ministry of Christ is so soothing that it can partly relieve a soul's fears and distress without working any real cure. David is clearly a type of Christ here. By His Spirit, Christ ministers His word in the ordinary way — its sweet story of God's love and care, of His power over evil, of the comfort He brings to His own. That word gives relief even to those whose hearts are estranged from God.
- Cause. Saul refused the Spirit of God. The Spirit left him and an evil spirit came — two halves of one judgment.
- Commission. Evil does not get its existence from God. Its liberty and its limits do come from Him. No wave rises higher than His throne.
- Vacuum. Refusing the Spirit leaves no neutral space. Disobedience puts a person in positive evil, not in emptiness.
- Misdiagnosis. The servants named God as the source, then sent for a musician. Saul should have looked at his own conduct.
- Relief without cure. The harp soothed Saul but never cured him. A soul can hear the sweetest truths about Christ and stay estranged from God.