Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.
An evil spirit torments Saul, and the Spirit of the Lord has left him. He wants a harpist, so his servant names David, and Saul sends to Jesse for him. Neither the king nor his court knows that Samuel has already anointed this shepherd to take the throne.
David does not apply for the post. The court comes looking for him. One writer traces that chain of events back past Saul's messengers to God Himself.
The Spirit of Jehovah came upon David and left Saul, and at the same time an evil spirit troubles Saul. God's providence brings David in through one of Saul's servants who knew him, and presents him to Saul.
Another writer turns this into comfort for anyone who is not chasing position.
When the eye is fixed on doing the will of God — the only thing worth anything in this world — how happy it is to leave everything with God! We see this in David's history. If David had set out to win a place at court, he could hardly have gained it. But he never gave it a thought, and the Lord brought him before the king in a simple, fitting way. This is the first move.
Saul's message locates David by his job. One writer shows how that humble work trained him for what came later.
At Saul's court David played. When he was no longer needed there, he went back to his first job, keeping his father's sheep in the wilderness. He knew his place and kept it. In that place he learned about God in a way others had not, and that lesson fitted him for future usefulness.
One writer makes this God's regular way with those He means to use.
He had been preparing for public service in the secret school of Him who does not look on the outward appearance, and who does not see as man sees. It must be the same with us. We must live before the Lord. Unless our souls are exercised before Him, He will not use us as instruments in His service. God will always deal in secret with the soul that He intends to serve Him in public.
One commentator counts off the servant's list and marks which item carried the real weight.
When Saul asked for such a musician, one of his servants suggested a son of Jesse — none other than David, whom Samuel had anointed without Saul's knowledge. His credentials were of a high order. First, he was a skillful musician. Second, a brave man. Third, a man of war. Fourth, skilled in speech. Fifth, well presented in person. And last, but most important, the Lord was with him.
David obeys the summons and goes to work for the man who will later hunt him. That willingness marks his whole character.
David, however, did not hesitate to take his place as a servant, even in the house of the man who would later prove his most bitter enemy. It made no difference to him where he served or what he did. He would protect his father's flocks from lions and bears, or drive an evil spirit away from Saul. In fact, from the moment David's history opens, he appears as a servant, ready for any work.
The king sends for David because he needs something. That is as far as his interest goes.
Saul seems to have had little idea who was standing in front of him, whose music refreshed his troubled spirit. He did not know that the future king of Israel was there with him. "Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer." Selfish Saul was happy to use David's services in his hour of need, though he was ready to shed his blood once he understood who and what he was.
The summons does not put David on the throne. It puts him into service under the very power he will one day replace.
But God does not set David at once in the height of power, as He did in the case of Saul. He must make his way through all kinds of difficulties by grace and faith. Though he is filled with the Holy Spirit, he must act in front of a power that has no Spirit, and that God has not yet set aside. He must submit and be humbled. He must feel how completely he depends on God, and that God is enough in every circumstance. A beautiful picture of One who, without sin, walked through far more painful circumstances!
- Hidden — the verse finds David "with the sheep," where God kept him; the secret place comes before the public one.
- Fitted — the sheepfold taught him God in a way others had not learned, and that lesson fitted him for what came next.
- Commended — the servant's report ended with the thing that mattered: the Lord was with him.
- Sent for — Saul's messengers carried the call, but God's hand was behind it; David never asked for the palace.
- Still waiting — the summons led to service, not a crown; Samuel had anointed him, yet he had to be humbled and learn dependence before he reigned.
And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent [them] by David his son to Saul.
Saul, the rejected king, sends to Bethlehem for a harpist. Jesse loads a donkey with food and sends it by the son Samuel had just anointed. A simple gift from a farmer to his king puts God's chosen man in the court of the king God has set aside.
The chapter has just described a double movement of the Spirit: on to David, off from Saul. One writer reads the harp scene as proof of where real power over evil lies.
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. 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 evil spirit from Jehovah" (v. 14). This is a judgment from God, a chastisement on the king... At the same time God shows that His Spirit alone can raise up the evil spirit and drive it away. We see this when David takes a harp and plays with his hand before Saul.
Another writer reads the whole passage on a much larger scale.
1 Samuel 16:14-23 shows the state of the Jewish political and religious system, which God had rejected. It shows our Lord's connection with that system as such. And it shows the character of His ministry to it, as the one anointed to take its place.
Jesse's three gifts carry meaning, and so does Saul's first response to the man who brought them.
It must have been to Jesse and to David a striking sign of God's leading that Saul should require his service. In his coming he brings a present to Saul of bread, wine and a young goat, all typical of Christ and His sacrifice. David's character made Saul love him greatly, and Saul made him his armour-bearer. Later, however, that love turned to something close to hatred. Saul realised David was better qualified to be king than he was.
Samuel has just anointed David king. Yet here he runs an errand for his father and reports to Saul. That is not a break in his calling but the shape of it.
One feature in David's character marks him in every scene he passes through. It is there when we first see him as the shepherd in Bethlehem. It is still there when he hands the throne of Israel over to his son Solomon. He was at all times and in all scenes the servant. At the start of his history he is slighted and forgotten, and even his father thinks little of him. He was the youngest son, and his father tells Samuel that David is out keeping the sheep. From this place of scorn and neglect, however, God in clear favour draws him out and anoints him to the throne of Israel. Yet this anointing worked in everything to keep him the servant.
Saul's servants asked only for relief, and relief is what they got. One writer finds in that both a comfort and a warning.
The servants' idea of relief is that a sweet singer should soothe the poor king in his hours of despair. With Saul's approval they suggest just the man for it. It is none other than David; and how the providence of God brings him into the king's presence! Here is a solemn thought. Some ministry of Christ is so soothing that it eases a soul's fears and distress to some degree, yet works no real cure. David here is clearly a picture of Christ. By His Spirit, Christ ministers His word in ordinary ways. That word tells of God's love and care, of His power over evil, and of the comfort He gives His own. It brings comfort even to those whose hearts are still far from God.
David's time at court ends with him back among the sheep, forgotten. One writer treats that as God's design, not an accident.
God might use David's ministry and music to relieve Saul, and perhaps to profit him too. Still, it did not advance things at all. David leaves Saul's house and is forgotten by those he had benefited. He went back simply and naturally to keep his father's sheep... From the very first it was important that David should owe nothing to the king on the throne. God had rejected Saul, and the two houses had to stay distinct and separate.
- Judgment — the Spirit comes on David and leaves Saul. Only God's Spirit can drive back the evil that follows.
- Gift — the bread, wine and young goat on the donkey all speak of Christ and His sacrifice.
- Servant — the anointing that made David king still sent him on errands. The throne never cancelled the servant.
- Relief — the harp calmed Saul but never cured him. Christ's word can soothe a heart that is still far from God.
- Separation — David left the palace forgotten and empty-handed. His kingdom would owe nothing to the king God had rejected.
And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
God had already anointed the shepherd boy David as king; now David walks into the palace of Saul, and Saul loves him. Two questions hang over that welcome: who put David there, and how far will the love of a man like Saul go?
David does not apply for the post. A servant remembers him. Saul sends for him. One writer traces that chain back to God, and adds what David must still face.
The providence of God brings in David by means of one of Saul's servants who knew him, and presents him to Saul. Saul loves him and keeps him close. David becomes his armour-bearer, and he plays the harp when the evil spirit troubles Saul. David, in God's sight, is the anointed king, but he must suffer before he reigns, however great his energy may be.
The title sounds like a servant's job. It was more than that.
An attendant on a warrior, filling a place of trust and honour. When Saul loved David he made him his armourbearer.
Where he took that post matters.
David did not hesitate to take his place as a servant, even in the house of a man who would later prove his most bitter enemy. It made no difference to him where he served or what he did. He would guard his father's flocks from lions and bears, or drive an evil spirit away from Saul.
Saul thought he was hiring a musician. David thought he was easing a sick man's mind.
Saul never imagined that the young harp player was taking his first step towards the throne. He never imagined that, when he sent for David, he was sending for the man whom God had anointed to be king. David knew as little. He was soothing with his beautiful music the spirit of the man who would soon become his bitterest enemy, and all the while he was entering a path where he must be disciplined for his high calling. At first Saul loved him greatly; but when he learned, as he soon did, that David was the chosen of God, he hated him to the death.
Saul's love was real. It stopped where his pride began.
Saul is attracted to David. The melody has its effect, and he is for the time relieved. He greatly loves him too, and makes him his armour-bearer, but it goes no further. He is still the proud man, though God has rejected him. He has no thought of giving David the place which God had given him. Had he only known it, that place would have meant lasting peace for Saul himself.
One writer sets Saul's love beside two others.
Even Saul, at a given moment (1 Sam. 16:21), "loved [David] greatly," because of the relief that he brings him in his sufferings. Michal loves David in a natural way — which does not stop her from despising him later on (2 Sam. 6:16). Last of all, Jonathan loves him with the only love that is true, good, and lasting. He loves him as his own soul. He values him for what David is in himself.
Saul's love did not survive David's success. One writer sees in that collapse a shadow of something larger.
Beauty, ability and power counted for much in Saul's view of David. But his love for David was soon tested and found wanting… Saul might be great, but David was greater. His love for David was forgotten; his indebtedness to David was forgotten. In his envious mind David became a dangerous enemy who was after his throne… Jesus, God's anointed Man, went through the same thing in a far greater measure. In prophecy it could be said of the Lord Jesus, "So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love" (Ps. 109:5).
David's music helped Saul, but it did not change him.
Here is a solemn thought. There is a ministry of Christ so soothing that a soul's fears and distress may find some relief, without any cure that reaches the root. David is plainly a picture of Christ here. By His Spirit, Christ uses the ordinary ministry of His word, with its sweet story of God's love and care, of His power over evil, and of the comfort He brings to His own. That word gives comfort even to those whose hearts are far from God.
- Providence. A servant's memory carried David into the palace. God's hand placed His anointed king where He wanted him.
- Position. Armour-bearer was a place of trust and honour. David took it in the house of the man who would become his bitterest enemy.
- Motive. Saul loved David for the relief David brought him; Jonathan loved him for what David was in himself.
- Limit. Saul's love went no further than his pride allowed; he would keep David near the throne, never on it.
- Shadow. Music that soothes without curing, and love that turns to hatred — both point to the greater Anointed One, who was repaid evil for good.
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight.
Saul's court now holds the man God has secretly anointed to replace him, and the king himself asks for him to stay. The words "he has found favor in my sight" carry the weight here. A rejected king's affection settles on the man who will one day take his throne.
David did not seek this position. One writer traces it to God's hand, using a servant who happened to know David.
The providence of God brings in David by means of one of Saul's servants who knew him, and presents him to Saul. Saul loves him and keeps him near. David becomes his armour-bearer, and he plays the harp when the evil spirit troubles Saul. David, in God's sight, is the anointed king, but he must suffer before he reigns, however great his energy may be.
Saul gives a reason: David pleased him. But the king who wanted David at his side never learned who he was.
David was unknown to Saul. Saul was told about his qualities (1 Sam. 16:18), and he loved David greatly (v. 21) for his goodness and for the care David showed him. Yet Saul forgot his origin so completely that he later asks Abner whose son he is (1 Sam. 17:55).
Several people in this history come to love David, and they do not all love him the same way. Setting Saul's attachment beside Jonathan's exposes the difference.
Even Saul, at a given moment (1 Sam. 16:21), "loved [David] greatly," because of the relief that he brings him in his sufferings. Michal loves David according to nature — which does not hinder her from despising him later on (2 Sam. 6:16). Jonathan loves him with the only love that is true, good, and lasting. He loves him as his own soul. He values him for what David is in himself.
Saul's favour did not last. Envy turned it inside out — and one writer hears in this the treatment Christ Himself later received.
His love for David was forgotten; his indebtedness to David was forgotten. David became in his envious mind a dangerous enemy aspiring to his throne. What a change in this poor, deranged man! Instead of love to David he expressed himself towards David in anger (1 Sam. 18:8), violence (1 Sam. 18:11), deceit (1 Sam. 18:21), and murder (1 Sam. 19:1, 10; 1 Sam. 20:33). Jesus, God's anointed Man, met the same treatment in a greater measure. In prophecy it could be said of Him, "They reward Me evil for good, and hatred for My love" (Ps. 109:5). The lesson from this tragic episode in Saul's life is that human nature by itself has no appreciation of Christ.
A court post looks like the perfect training for a future king. One writer argues the opposite.
God prepared David for the kingdom, and He chose him for it Himself. That preparation did not happen in Saul's palace. It happened in the wilderness and in the valley of Elah. It is not that preparation is unnecessary, but that the preparation must be divine if we are to have divine suitability. God might use David's service and music to bring Saul relief, and perhaps to benefit David too. Even so, it did not move things forward at all. David leaves Saul's house and is forgotten by those whom he had benefited. There had been a false start, so there had to be a fresh beginning.
That move — from the king's side back to the hillside — is where David's character shows. He carried himself the same way in either setting.
David had lived in the palace as the king's armour-bearer. Saul loved him greatly, and David had done him the most remarkable services. But he passes from this to the humble place of caring for his father's sheep in the wilderness. Out of sight, he serves with as much zeal and satisfaction as in the highest position. The easy way he moves from the one to the other proves the true metal of his soul, and the single purpose of a faithful servant in whatever he is called to do.
David's harp did help Saul. One writer treats that music as a picture of God's Word, and asks how deep such relief goes.
That Word does have an effect on people who listen — even people who are not saved. Saul was refreshed and his spirit improved when David played. In the same way, people of the world find themselves quieted and calmed when they hear the sweet strains of the Word of God from someone who knows it well. If this does not lead them by faith to receive the Lord Jesus, the effect is only temporary.
- Placed — God's hand, not David's ambition, put the anointed shepherd in the king's court.
- Favoured — Saul kept David for the relief David gave him, never asking whose son he was.
- Tested — once David outshone Saul, favour built on usefulness turned into anger, deceit and murder. Christ met the same return for His love.
- Prepared — the palace was a false start; God trained His king in the wilderness, not at Saul's side.
- Proved — David served with the same zeal beside the throne and back among the sheep. That showed the true metal of his soul.
And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
Saul still sits on the throne, but God has rejected him. David, freshly anointed by God, comes into the palace to play for him. The relief is real. Two questions remain: who sent the trouble, and why the cure did not last.
The verse says the spirit was "from God." The writers below call it an evil spirit, as older translations do. They do not make God the author of evil. They see God's government in this scene, not an accident.
Evil as well as good has its commission from God — not its existence, but its liberty to act, and the limits of its action... Nothing can escape from the divine government by the fact or admission of its being evil. How should it? Only so can we be at peace, sure that no waves can rise higher than the footstool of His throne. The work of the evil spirit with Saul carried out a penalty. Had it led Saul to judge himself, it would have proved mercy too.
The same writer notices where the harp did its work.
David's harp does not act directly on Satan, but on Saul. By its strange power it softens and subdues the savage temper of the rejected king, though only for a time. So the power attacking him is driven back and shut off. For that while he is free.
Saul "was well" — and stayed what he was. Relief is not the same as cure.
Here is a solemn thought. Some ministry of Christ is so soothing that it can ease a soul's fears and distress to some degree, while working no radical cure at all. David here is plainly a type of Christ. By His Spirit, in the everyday ministry of His word, Christ tells the sweet tale of God's love and care, of His power over evil, and of the comfort He brings to His own. That brings relief even to those whose hearts are estranged from God.
God's anointed king starts his public service by playing music for the man he will replace.
When the Spirit came upon him, David surely had little idea what his first work as God's man would be. It was to calm the violence — the spiritual violence — of the head of the kingdom... What an apparently humble service for God's anointed king, one might be ready to say! But what moral greatness! It seems a small thing to play on a harp. But small services done in the power of God's Spirit bring about the most remarkable results.
And when the job was done he did not stay to be admired. He went back to the sheep.
When he had refreshed Saul by his skill in playing, and the evil spirit had left him, he carried his harp back to the plains of Bethlehem, happy to enjoy in solitude a communion with the Lord which he could hardly have had among the distractions of the court.
One writer hears more in the harp itself. Its strings cover a whole range of notes.
This music pictures the sweet music of the ministry of the Word of God. The harp of ten strings reminds us that Scripture gives a lovely range of truth. All of it is needed to teach and guide people rightly. The lowest notes may tell us of the depths of sorrow and anguish the Lord Jesus went down into in pure love for us. The highest notes tell of the great glory He has been raised to, above all heavens.
What David did for one man, Christ has done for many.
The true David, even Christ, has played on His harp to the refreshing of many a troubled soul... It was wonderfully sweet to Legion, and to Mary of Magdala, when the evil spirits left them. It was sweet to the weeping father too. Christ did not only command the evil spirit to come out of his afflicted son; He added, "and never enter him again." ... But here David makes the evil spirit leave Saul — only for a season. It is a picture of Christ, before whom demons flee.
One writer sees a whole nation in Saul's brief calm.
Saul's behaviour under David's harp has been Israel's behaviour under God's ministers... Later they rejoiced in the light of John the Baptist, but only for a season. Then the hand of the Son of God Himself was among them to heal and bless them. For a while they flocked to Him in thousands... but it all soon ended in the cross. The evil spirit had been charmed, the unclean spirit had gone out, but the house was still ready for it, and for it only.
- Commissioned — Evil does not get its existence from God. But its freedom to act, and the limits of that action, are His. No wave rises higher than the footstool of His throne.
- Sent — The trouble was a penalty. Had it led Saul to judge himself, it would have proved mercy too.
- Played — The harp worked on Saul, not on Satan; softening the man shut the enemy out for a time.
- Refreshed — The sweetness of Christ's ministry can ease a soul's fears and still work no real cure. Saul was well, and still estranged from God.
- Unchanged — The unclean spirit went out, but the house stayed ready for it. Israel did the same under every messenger God sent, right up to the cross.