Reading… and Thinking

Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided myself a king among his sons.”
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
But the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’”

— 1 Samuel 16:1-2 (NKJV)

Samuel was not lazy, was not an alarmist, and was not selfish. When he asked, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me,” we can be pretty confident that he was not making an excuse to get out of going, was not exaggerating, and was not primarily worried about his own skin. He made a factual statement, and asked a practical question.

It is remarkable how quickly Saul had declined. The last time Saul spoke to Samuel, he begged the prophet to honor him in the eyes of the people, and to offer sacrifice with him. On that occasion Samuel told Saul that the kingdom was being removed from him and given to another. As a result, it appears that Saul was having Samuel watched, with the intention of murdering the man of God if he made any move to anoint another king.

Apparently some of this was known. When Samuel went to Bethlehem, the people came out to meet him trembling. They asked if he came in peace – but the only violence we ever know of Samuel being involved with was the death of Agag the Amorite. It probably wasn’t Samuel they were afraid of – it was what Saul might do when he heard Samuel had come there.

It seems clear that Jesse and his sons knew what was going on. Samuel told Jesse “The Lord has not chosen these,” when the oldest seven sons passed before him. After David came, Samuel anointed him “in the midst of his brothers.” There would be little doubt what this meant, even if Samuel said nothing. And then, the Spirit came on David “from that day forward” – and therefore we have all of those beautiful psalms!

All of which is powerful evidence that the family of Jesse, at least, knew that David was anointed as the next king. What do you suppose they thought, when shortly after this, Saul’s messengers came and asked for David? But it wasn’t to kill him – it was to make him the palace musician! Perhaps they viewed it as supreme irony. We can see that it was certainly divine providence.

Later on it’s clear that Saul knew David was the appointed successor, and was bitterly jealous. But from the outset, we’re told that Saul loved David. Indeed, even as Saul chased David in the wilderness later on, it’s plain that the fondness never went away.

David is one of the Old Testament’s strongest types of Christ. In the type, then, who does Saul represent? As the first anointed, who immediately failed and was cast out, he seems to be a type of Adam. As the one who is fond of the righteous anointed, but who resists him and is never willing to bow to him, he represents the portion of Adam’s race who admires Jesus, but never accepts his rulership. In contrast, Saul’s son Jonathan abandons his own claim to the throne, and instead faithfully serves the Lord’s anointed – even though this puts him in opposition to father. Jonathan represents those sons and daughters of Adam who see in Jesus the true anointed, and are glad to serve him, giving up everything that they might think of as “rightfully theirs”.

Saul and Jonathan died together – as all those of Adam’s race must do. David mourned for both – as Jesus mourns for both his followers and those who reject him. But there will be a vast difference in their eternal fate, when the greater David calls them before him!