One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”
Saul is looking for a musician, and one of his servants answers with far more than a musician's name. In one sentence he describes a forgotten shepherd six ways, and the last one outweighs all the rest.
A full set of credentials
The servant does not just name someone who can play. He runs through everything he knows about the young man.
Leslie M. GrantHis credentials were of a high order. First, he was a skillful musician. Then a valiant man, a man of war, skilled in speech, and presentable in his person. Last, and most important of all, the Lord was with him. How clearly he is a picture of Christ.
One watchful observer
Saul and nearly everyone else had overlooked David. Yet one man had been paying attention, and his report is our only window into years lived out of public view.
The Bible TreasuryThis is a striking testimony from one of Saul's servants, at a time when Saul and nearly all the rest ignored the youth — and a youth is what he was then. But it is only one ray of light on a life that was otherwise hidden. That life was spent alone in the wilderness, keeping his father's flock, but spent with God.
Skill formed out of sight
David did not learn to play at court. He practised where nobody applauded, and only then came before the king.
An Outline of Sound WordsThe skill he had gained in the obscurity of Bethlehem was now to be shown in the presence of the king. Later David came to the throne and set up the service of song in the house of Jehovah. Then "the sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph... prophesied under the direction of the king" (1 Chr. 25:2, 6). All was under the chief musicians, but the king controlled them — "the sweet psalmist of Israel."
Words that ran ahead of the record
At this moment David had fought no public battle. Calling him a man of war described what nobody had yet seen. Writers ask whether the servant said more than he himself understood.
The Bible TreasuryIndeed the description given of him by one of Saul's servants seems to have been almost prophetic, viewed in the light of his subsequent history. May we not say that the Spirit of God was prompting that servant to the utterance of thoughts beyond his own?
The title reaches further still. The same phrase belongs to God Himself, and to the King who is yet to come.
When Moses and the people of Israel celebrated the defeat of Pharaoh, they sang, "The LORD is a man of war." That they had seen with their own eyes. Our Lord Jesus met and defeated Satan and all his armies. The day is coming fast when He will come out of heaven on a white horse, "and in righteousness He judges and makes war" (Rev. 19:11).
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The beauty God values
The servant also mentions David's appearance. Two kinds of beauty are in view here, and only one of them is formed in secret.
H. L. RossierThere is another beauty. It can go with outward beauty in men of faith, but God values it as the reflection of character. It is the beauty of a pure soul, or of simple faith. It is the shining out of a heart that shuts out evil and sin, a heart with no deceit in it... And last of all, this is the beauty of David, formed in the wilderness by the sheep pastures, where in secret he experienced the strength and the glory of His God.
The item that carries the other five
The servant saves the decisive words for last. Without them, gifts and charm are worth little, and Saul himself was the proof.
An Outline of Sound WordsThis was David's greatest asset. All his natural ability and charm would have availed him little without the presence of Jehovah. We see this in Saul, who had so much that was naturally attractive, but when he lost the Spirit of the Lord, all his personal greatness was without avail.
A testimony Saul failed to use
Saul heard this whole description. Later he acted as if none of it had reached him. The man he needed was already standing in his court.
An Outline of Sound WordsDavid was near to Saul, and Saul had heard so much about him. Even so, it does not seem to have occurred to Saul that this "man of valor" was in fact "a man of war" — the very man to overthrow the giant.
Summary
- Hidden. David's years with the sheep were "spent with God," and this verse is the one ray of light cast on that hidden life.
- Formed. The skill learned out of sight at Bethlehem was the very thing the king needed.
- Seen. One watchful servant saw David for what he was, while Saul and the rest overlooked him.
- Crowned. The servant lists five gifts, then the one that carries them all: the Lord was with him. Saul had the gifts without the presence, and they came to nothing.
- Fulfilled. The traits point beyond David to Christ — the singer, and the Man of war who comes to judge in righteousness.