I Samuel Chapter 16
Please read: I Samuel 16 –
God had told Saul that the kingdom would be taken away from him for his disobedience. Samuel continued to pray for the king hoping that Saul would repent of his sins and that God’s choice of Saul could remain. Samuel had poured a lot of time and effort into the life of Saul. It probably seemed like such a wasted that a good man would be stripped of his throne if he would just repent. But God knew Saul’s heart and he was going to do that. The answer to Samuel’s prayer came back as a “no.” We must learn that God does not always say yes to our prayers because He knows what is best. God had already determined that someone else besides a son of Saul would take over the throne. God already knew who that someone would be – David.
I Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.
Let's Reflect
1. God specifically told Samuel to move on and stop mourning over Saul. In the same way that God had picked Saul, He rejected him from being king of Israel and picked someone else to take his place. God told Samuel that He wanted him to go to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king. What tribe was Jesse from?
2. Samuel had a legitimate fear of going to anoint the next king. Why?
3. Samuel asked for Jesse’s sons to pass before him. They probably came to him from oldest to youngest. How many sons of Jesse walked before Samuel only to hear that God had not chosen him?
4. The youngest son of Jesse was tending to the sheep and seemed an unlikely candidate for Samuel to bestow such an honor, but Samuel insisted he wanted to see David. How was David described when Samuel saw him?
5. God had told Samuel that David was his choice and he anointed him with oil, and then the real work of God began because the Spirit of God came upon David after that. We also learn about Saul’s spiritual state. The hand of protection had left Saul, leaving him vulnerable to what spirit?
6. Saul could have confessed his sins at any point but instead his spiritual condition grew darker. What did his servants suggest to Saul to lift his countenance?
It is wonderful to know that as disciples of Jesus Christ under the new covenant we will always have the Holy Spirit with us. The Bible promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
7. Isn’t it interesting that God had a way of putting David where he needed to be to prepare him for life as a king? How did Saul’s servants describe David when recommending him for playing for the king?
8. The Bible says that Saul loved David. It was the Spirit upon the life of David that made him appeal to others. He had spent so much time out in the pastures singing and talking to the Lord. Saul had decided it was best that David stay in his palace permanently. What position in his kingdom did Saul give to young David?
