1 Samuel 16 (David Is Anointed King)

Saul’s Rejection and the Need for a New King

Let's open up to 1st Samuel chapter 16. In the previous chapter, the Lord rejected Saul as king, and we talked about this in our overview. Saul started out well, but eventually he became prideful, and instead of doing things the Lord's way, Saul decided to do things his way, and he was rejected.

And this really has implications for the church, whether it was Moses, the judges, the kings. Israel belonged to God. Therefore, whoever was in leadership, it was their responsibility to lead as God determined, as was instructed in the Old Testament.

So it is with the church. The church belongs to Christ. He is the head of the body. Therefore, church leaders must do things the way Jesus instructed and laid out in the New Testament. So Saul, eventually he crossed the line.

Saul has now been rejected as king, although he would continue to reign for many years. The Lord has rejected him, and now the Lord will establish the throne of another man, and of course that is David.

So let's listen along as we go through 1st Samuel chapter 16.

Samuel Is Sent to Anoint David in Bethlehem

Now the Lord said to Samuel, Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me the one I named to you. So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem.

And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Do you come peaceably? Peaceably. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance, or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.

For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.

Then Jesse made Shammah pass by, and he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. Are all the young men here?

There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep. Send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good looking.

And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.

And Saul's servants said to him, Surely a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Let our Master now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp.

And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.

Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.

Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person. And the Lord is with him.

Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me your son David, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul.

So David came to Saul and stood before him, and he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. Then Saul sent to Jesse, Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. And so it was, whenever the Spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand.

Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

The Meaning of God’s Rejection of Saul

Let's go over these verses. 1 Samuel 16 begins in verse 1. 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. So it says the Lord spoke to Samuel, and it doesn't tell us how. I mean, this is one of those things I always wonder about.

How did God tell him this? It could have been through a dream. It could have been through a vision. But since, you know, I mean, that's possible. But since later on, it seems that God is sort of speaking to him in like real time.

I assume that Samuel is hearing God's voice, but we're not really sure. But this is what makes Samuel a prophet. Remember, Samuel, he was the judge before Saul was made king, but he was also a priest and a prophet.

And what makes someone a prophet is that God speaks directly to him. And everything that Samuel said comes to pass. So here he is anointing David as king. Seems really unlikely that this is going to happen.

But of course, it came to pass. So that's how you know someone is a true prophet. God is speaking directly to them, and you can confirm that. How? Whatever they say, it happens. The false prophets, on the other hand, they claim that God speaks to them as well.

But sometimes the things that they say do not happen. It's false. So that's a pretty simple way to think of it. And notice also in verse one, it says the Lord. It starts out the Lord, all capital letters, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.

This is the name of God and Strong's lexicon. If you look it up, the Hebrew word is Yehovah. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. Yehovah is where you get either the name of God, Jehovah or Yahweh. And theologians disagree over which one is correct.

But this is the name of God, which basically means the self existent one or the self existing God. And this name for the Lord, the Lord and all capitals is used 6519 times in the Old Testament. And that's a lot for any word to be used that that much.

So, of course, this is the testimony of the Christian church, which I'd love to spend a whole lot of time on this. It's not the purpose of the study. But this is the testimony of the Christian church that Jesus is Yehovah in human flesh.

But that's another study for another day. But Jehovah speaks to Samuel about Saul being rejected. And what's the basic message? If you were to put that into the modern vernacular, what's the Lord telling Samuel about Saul?

He's saying, hey, it's time to get over it. You know, it's time to move on. You know, it's proper to be upset about what happened, but it's time to move on. And that really is true in life. You know, there comes a time where, hey, what happened?

It happened and it's just time to move on. So the Lord tells Samuel to fill his horn with oil. And, of course, animal horns were used basically like a flask to carry this anointing oil. And the oil is all part of the ceremony.

That's how they would anoint somebody or basically make them king or appoint them to a certain task. Today, when somebody take the president, for example, when somebody is sworn into office, a governor, a judge, usually people will put their hand on a Bible and repeat an oath.

Right. That's how it's done today. But back then they would take oil and they would pour it, pour it on his head and appoint him to this task. Or in this case, the office of being king. See, that's what makes David the Lord's anointed.

And that's where we get the word. What begins with an M? The Messiah. Right. The Messiah means the anointed one or God's anointed. And David literally was anointed in that he had oil poured on his head.

So that's the way it was done. David is now the Messiah, if you will. OK. And he is going to deliver Israel. So this makes David an Old Testament type or foreshadow of Christ. So that's where those terms come from.

And the Lord is sending Samuel to the city of Bethlehem. That's where David lives. And who else was born in Bethlehem? Jesus. Right. So this even more makes David an Old Testament type or foreshadow of Christ.

Many commentators think that Jesse was sort of like the head man of the city, the way it's described. Jesse, you know, back then they didn't have mayors or they had a group of elders who would rule and make decisions.

And it's possible that Jesse was the most prominent man in the city. Whatever the case, I like what is said in verse one. I have provided, the Lord says, I have provided myself a king among his sons. So David was not elected.

He was directly chosen by God. And verse two, notice Samuel's reaction. Instead of rejoicing, which really Samuel, Samuel's just stuck on Saul for whatever reason. Even though Saul has become very wicked, you know, Samuel really had a heart for Saul.

He wanted this to work out. He's he's sorry about it. He should rejoice over the fact that God has chosen a new king. But what's Samuel's response? Yeah, he's afraid. Verse two, Samuel says, how can I go?

If Saul hears it, he will kill me. So this kind of demonstrates approves Samuel's unbalanced condition, right? He had become this has probably become known throughout all of Israel that anyone who opposes Saul will be killed.

So today we would call a leader like that, a tyrant, like anyone who opposes them. They're going to die. And the fact that Samuel is convinced that Saul would kill even him. I mean, this is pretty bad.

So in order to protect Samuel, he needed a reasonable excuse. He needed he needed an excuse to be there because he can't go and tell people, hey, I'm here to anoint a new king. And Saul's getting replaced because, hey, that word would spread around pretty fast.

So he needs some sort of plausible deniability is the right term for it. But he needs another reason to be there. So what does God tell him? Say that you're there to make a sacrifice. So when he gets to town, that's what he tells the people.

I'm here to make a sacrifice. Now, is that true? Was he there to make a sacrifice? I mean, that's not the real reason he's going. It's not. Yeah, it's not the whole truth. I mean, it is true that he was there to make a sacrifice.

God told him to do it. That's part of why he's there. But it's not the real reason why I bring that up is because we've kind of talked about this before. You know, some people have the idea that you need to tell people.

And generally speaking, this is a good thing. I mean, don't read into what I'm saying, but you have to tell people the whole truth or else like a half truth is like a whole lie. Who's heard this number when we studied Genesis?

This came up with Abraham and he told Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister. Now, was that true? Sarah was his sister, the half sister, but she was also his wife. So he only told Pharaoh half the story. And I've heard that if I've heard it once, I've heard it 100 times.

Every pastor I've ever heard preach that passage in Scripture. They all say that Abraham lied to Pharaoh. And I had I was one of the few who said, I don't believe that was a lie because Sarah was his sister.

And the same thing here. That's not really why he's there. But that's what he's saying. So basically, and I do think Abraham was wrong in that situation because he wasn't trusting in God. But the point is, you don't have to kind of spill everything if it's going to put you at risk.

If you know the person is going to use certain information against you and you know they have evil intentions, you don't have to tell them the whole truth. If you know what they're going to do with it, you don't even today, you don't have to incriminate yourself.

You know, you have the right to remain silent. So basically, if we ever enter into a time of persecution in this country, you know, they're like, OK, where is your church meeting? What's the underground location of your church?

You don't have to tell them. And you can tell them one truth. But you can't lie. We're not saying lie. But clearly, this is not the real reason he's come to town. And this is sanctioned by God, is it not?

OK, so I think that's worth pointing out. You don't have to tell someone the whole truth if they have evil intentions. So this is what Samuel was supposed to say. And in verse three, he was then to invite Jesse to the sacrifice.

And from there, God would tell him what to do. So when the elders of the city see Samuel coming, they're afraid to first Samuel acts with fear, reacts with fear. And now the people of the city, they're afraid.

Why are they afraid? Well, if you remember from chapter 15, the last thing we read about Samuel is that he hacked Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Samuel hacked Agag to pieces. So I'm just wondering if that story had gotten out and now he's traveling to Bethlehem and they're a little worried what he would do.

Remember, this is the whole reason why Saul was deposed, because God told him to wipe out the Amalekites, don't spare anyone. And what did Saul do? He spared the best of the livestock and he spared the king.

So Samuel, when he confronted Saul, basically Samuel finished the job and he killed the king of the Amalekites. So Samuel, safe to say he's not a guy, you know, he meant business, you could say. So the people of the city are naturally nervous, but Samuel sets them at ease.

They ask, have you come peaceably? Verse five, he says, yes, I have come peaceably. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, which again, isn't the real reason he's there because Saul is getting replaced.

But he says, sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. So now in verse six, Jesse comes to the sacrifice and Samuel now gets the first look at all of his sons.

And the first son comes along and Samuel looks at him. And the first son must have been tall and looked strong and was handsome. He must have really looked like a king because it seems like Samuel automatically the first son that walks by.

This, this, this guy, he has to be God's choice. But was he? No. So why did Samuel think that? Because of his appearance, right? He's tall, strong, whatever it was. And that's where we get these famous words that I think we've all heard that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart.

Who's heard that? I think everybody you spend any time in a Christian church, you've heard somebody say that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. I think that sometimes gets misconstrued.

I'll come back to that in a second. Verse six, Samuel says, or at least he says to himself, surely this is the Lord's anointed verse seven. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or his physical stature.

Keep that in mind. Don't look at his physical stature because I have refused him. The Lord does not see as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So if I can just spend a few minutes on this, because I do think this verse is often taken out of context.

What's being said here? Basically, his physical stature. He's tall. He looks like a king, but that's not really what I'm going to base my decision on. It's not about that. That's not really what's important because what does God want?

What is important? That God has a man who's going to obey that he finds a man who's going to lead and do what God says. That's what matters. So he knows David is that man because he sees the heart. So here's how I have often heard this verse applied.

Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks upon the heart. Here's the way I've heard this preached. People will say that God doesn't care about what's on the outside. God doesn't care what people wear.

God doesn't care about how a person presents themselves or carries themselves. God only cares about the heart. Am I the only one? I think you probably heard something like that. Sometimes I think it even gets stretched to God doesn't even really care what you do.

It's not even important what you're doing. It's just about what's on the inside. Except that what's on the inside often comes through on the outside. That's the part that gets left out. Let's turn to Matthew 23.

Now there is something to be said about someone can look good on the outside and on the surface. Do all the right things and it's not really an accurate expression of what's inside in the heart. Because the Pharisees were kind of right.

There were whitewashed tombs. They did look good on the outside, but inside they were corrupt. Okay, so there's that other side of the story. I get it. But basically, this idea man looks on the outward appearance.

That's not the context. So if I walked into the church on Sunday and I had a leather jacket that I borrowed from the hell's angels. And I had a purple mohawk. And that's how I stood from the pulpit. Well, God doesn't care about the outward appearance.

So you might not buy that. But that is often how it's used. It kind of gives people a pass to kind of do whatever because God only cares about the heart. Yeah, I don't know about that. But look at what Jesus said in Matthew 23 verse 27.

He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed pure, beautiful outwardly. But inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So it is possible to look good on the outside, but on the inside, you're totally corrupt.

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked and all the rest. But look at the verse before it. This is, again, what often gets left out. Matthew 23, 26. Jesus says, Blind Pharisee first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish that the outside of them may be clean also.

So does the Lord care about what's on the outside? I would say maybe he does or he does care more about what's on the inside. But here's the thing. He says, Clean the inside. That way the outside will be clean as well.

So the outward point is it does matter. The heart matters more because that Lord sees the heart. And that's the real story. But the outside, it does matter to whatever degree. So when people say that, that God is not concerned with the externals, you know, I just don't think that that's what is being said in 1st Samuel 16.

So let's go back to 1st Samuel. Any questions on that? Like I said, am I alone? Okay, I've heard that many times. So first, and just a few more verses on that. The Bible has a lot to say about the subject of modesty.

I did a podcast on that. And it's one of those topics that preachers never talk about because they know as soon as you talk about it, people get upset. Because you're not supposed to, you know, focus on what people wear because that's what, what's the word?

Shallow. Or shallow, or it's, you know, you'll get called legalistic. But I mean, the Bible does have much to say on modesty. 1st Thessalonians 5 .22, the scripture says, Avoid all appearances of evil.

So yeah, what's on the surface, what's outside does make some difference. Okay, 1st Samuel 16. So what's the context of this verse? Basically, it has to do with his physical stature. So let's just say this first son was six foot six.

He's head and shoulders above everybody else in the room. This guy must be the king. Because if you remember, that's what Saul was like, wasn't it? The Bible says about Saul, he was head and shoulders above everybody else.

Saul looked like a king. He was tall, dark and handsome or whatever. But Saul was made a lousy king because his heart wasn't right. He didn't have a heart for God. He had a heart for, you know, whatever he wanted to do.

So that's really the proper context of that passage. That Samuel was impressed by his height and how strong he looked. So what's important for a king? That he have a heart for God. So here come the sons of Jesse one by one.

Presumably, they're all taller and stronger looking than David. And yet the Lord is like, okay, not him, not him, not him, not him. And they get through all of the sons. And Samuel's like, well, God told me that it would be one of these.

Do you have another son? Oh, well, yeah, but it can't be him. He's the youth, and he's out in the field tending the sheep. And we don't really pay much attention to him. So basically, what ends up happening, the Lord chooses what you might call the runt of the litter.

Now, it's not really fair to call David that because David really is, at least when he grows up, he's one of the most impressive people in the history of the world probably. But at this moment, how old is David?

Who knows? I mean, it doesn't actually say, but yeah, I mean, he's regarded typically as a teenager. So 15 years old, maybe at that age, he would have been smaller. He's not fully developed. We don't really know how old David was.

Most scholars think he was 15 at the oldest. Some say he was as young as 10. But even if you call it 12 and a half, this would have certainly had been a surprise for everybody. Nobody was expecting this.

And keep in mind, let's say, well, if David's 10, how can a 10-year-old be king? Well, remember, David's not actually going to take the throne until years later. Saul, in God's eyes, is no longer the king.

But Saul's going to remain in power for, I don't know exactly how many years, but it's way off in the future. So what God cares about, number one, he cares about the heart. David is called, we all know this, the man after God's own heart.

Meaning that God's desires were David's desires. David wanted to obey God and please God in all he did. That's the most important thing. And number two, God knows the future. He knew the man that David would grow up to be.

He would be a great man who was faithful. We all know about his flaws. We're going to get into those, his sins. But David would also grow up to be a mighty warrior. The next chapter, what's the next chapter?

It's David and Goliath, right? So already at this point, he is a warrior, even if he is only 14 or 15. But this idea about the heart, you know, God looks upon that. What does the heart mean? When you say the heart, it's talking about usually...

It's who he is as a person. Okay.

Yeah, it's like his whole being. That's how the term heart is used. It's not just the inner man or the seat of emotions, but the entirety of the person. And one more thing about this statement about the outward appearance.

It's not as if outward appearance doesn't matter at all. Because as soon as David enters the picture, what does the Bible do? It describes what he looks like. So, you know, the Lord determined that this detail would be in Scripture.

And I find it interesting, actually, what's said. I also find it interesting that there's no descriptions of Christ. So when Jesus was born, when he was 12 years old, the Bible talks about him when he was young.

And then for three and a half years, there's no physical descriptions of Christ at all. And I think part of that is the Lord doesn't... God didn't want people trying to recreate images of Christ because then people bow and serve them.

So there's no description of Christ whatsoever, but we do get a description of the foreshadow of Christ. So what does it say about David? When he shows up, it says that he was... Let's see, what verse is this?

What is it? 12? Okay. Yeah, look at verse 12. It says that David was ruddy and that he had bright eyes and he was good looking. So we have three things about David. Ruddy, bright eyes, good looking. Ruddy is not a word that you hear much.

What does ruddy mean? Well, see, if you look it up, ruddy, it literally means red. So David was ruddy. He was red. The Bible only says that, that word. The Hebrew word is only used three times in the Old Testament.

And it's only said about one other figure. Who is that? Esau, right? Esau in Genesis 25, when he was born, it says he was red and he was hairy all over like a garment. So most commentators agree that David was ruddy.

It's saying he had red hair. Okay, that's the primary understanding that David had red hair. A secondary interpretation would be he had a red complexion. But in order to see the redness in your face, you have to be pale enough to see the redness.

So, and you know that I don't really talk about, you know, skin color and ethnicity. Because most of the time, you know, number one, it's such a controversial subject these days. And number two, it's irrelevant, really, for most of scripture.

The reason I bring it up is because, and I've probably said this. But people say, well, Jesus, you know, these depictions of Jesus as a white man. Or Jesus having blonde hair and blue eyes. And I doubt Jesus had blonde hair and blue eyes.

But I'm just pointing out, if David had red hair, I mean, what does that tell you? It tells you something. And bright eyes. Or the other interpretation, who has a Bible where it says something else about his eyes?

Beautiful. That would be the other way it's described. Beautiful eyes or bright eyes. Typically, when someone's eyes are described that way, they have a lighter color eye. So, all I'm saying is, there is some legitimacy to David having red hair and blue eyes.

So, again, take that for what it's worth. Probably not much. The more important detail that we get is that David, what was his occupation? Shepherd. Yeah, he was a shepherd. So, this really does matter.

It sets the tone going forward. Because Jesus is called the son of David. Jesus is also called the good shepherd. So, this metaphor of, of course, David really was a shepherd, but this really sticks from now on.

Of course, Jacob and his family, they were nomadic shepherds. But this is where we get the idea in the New Testament where a church is a flock made up of sheep. And the pastor is, what does the word pastor mean?

Shepherd. So, really, all of this is based on David. David is a shepherd. He's going to rule over Israel. That's his flock. And that same picture is used in the New Testament for the church. So, going back to the story, the sons of Jesse passed through.

And the Lord keeps telling Samuel, no, not him, not him, not him. Verse 11, Samuel said to Jesse, are all the young men here? Then he said, there remains yet the youngest. And there he is keeping the sheep.

And Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. So, he sent and brought him in. Now, he was ruddy with bright eyes and good looking. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is the one.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So, Samuel arose and went to Ramah. So, this is one of three anointings that David will receive.

Who remembers, when David is first made king, you remember he wasn't actually made king over Israel. So, he's anointed here as king. But then he's going to receive, this is an anointing before his family.

Then he's going to receive another anointing before the tribe of Judah. Because if you remember, he's king over the tribe of Judah first. And then he receives a third anointing as king over all of Israel.

So, that's the third anointing in front of the entire nation. So, this is the first of three anointings David is going to receive. But the most important anointing of all is what? Is it this time where he has the oil poured on his head?

Or the next time, or the next time? The most important anointing is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Because it says, from this day forward, the spirit was upon David. Remember when he fell into sin with Bathsheba and he prayed, take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

But there was no evidence that the Holy Spirit was ever taken from David. Now, was the Holy Spirit taken from Saul? Yes. Because remember, Saul received the Holy Spirit. He was anointed of the Spirit.

And he prophesied. And people were surprised. And they said, is Saul among the prophets? But because of Saul's disobedience, the Holy Spirit was taken from him. And why was the Holy Spirit given to David?

To do what? What's the purpose of the Spirit? The Holy Spirit today, we think of the Holy Spirit regenerating people. So when someone is saved, it's the work of the Holy Spirit in their heart. That's not what this is.

This is the Spirit coming upon him to empower him for the work of the ministry. In this case, to empower him to lead God's people Israel. Just like in the New Testament, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, what did it do?

It empowered them to do the work of ministry, to lead the church. So just as the apostles needed that power to lead the church, David needed the power to lead God's people Israel. Verse 14, so at the same time that the Spirit comes upon David, it says, The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.

And a distressing Spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servant said to him, surely a distressing Spirit from God is troubling you. And, you know, that's what his servant said. But that's definitely how the Bible portrayed that.

That is what happened. So you kind of see a swap. The first swap, the Holy Spirit leaves Saul to go to David. That's one swap. But the other swap for Saul is the Holy Spirit leaves and a evil spirit comes upon him.

Now, what is another word for an evil spirit or an unclean spirit? Yeah, we talked about this, what, two months ago? A demon, basically. So there's some debate whether or not Saul is demon possessed. Probably not demon possessed because the spirit comes and goes, right?

David plays for him and the spirit would leave. So Saul, I think we can say with certainty or pretty certain that he was demonically afflicted. So living in a pattern of open rebellion to God is likely what led to this or it is what led to this.

So now that Saul is afflicted by an evil spirit, he is prone to fits of anger, jealousy and depression. So what is and what's interesting is what is meant for Saul's punishment is also used for David's elevation to the king's court.

Because now Saul, we need to solve this problem. And they decide to resolve it by finding a skilled musician. So because he's tormented by this evil spirit, that's what brings David into the inner court.

So what everything is now going to work against Saul and for David. And it's kind of the same thing can work for one and against the other. So it's interesting how that works out. So they said, okay, we need to find, we know how much Saul loves music.

So we need to find someone who can really play the harp well to soothe his fits. Look at verse 18. Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of just so happens. I know this young kid.

I've seen the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing. There's also a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent and speech and handsome and a handsome person. And the Lord is with him.

And then we learn in verse 21 that Saul grew to love David greatly. I mean, at least at this point he did. And David became his what armor bearer. Now, I want you to remember that because it's going to play into what we're going to look at next time in the story of David and Goliath.

Lessons from Saul’s Judgment and David’s Christlike Mercy

So as we close, what are some important lessons that we learn? Because we always try to look for application and then try to find Christ in the story. So first, the lesson with Saul is that God will not be mocked.

If somebody continues to live an open rebellion to God, no matter how high up they are, no matter what their position is, God can always take them down. And that's exactly what happens. And when trying to find Christ in the story, there's, again, no more clear picture of the Messiah in the Old Testament than David.

So we know how this goes. Right. Eventually, Saul starts getting jealous. And so on multiple occasions, he tries to kill David. And there is that one time where David easily could have killed Saul. So Saul is trying to kill David.

David could have easily killed Saul, but David didn't do it. Right. So what do we make of that? Well, something you really can't avoid. Remember, Samuel, Samuel didn't want to get over this. Samuel, for whatever reason, loved King Saul, even though Saul had become very wicked.

Samuel and even David, he could have killed him. And even though Saul was trying to hunt him down, it seems like these men, Samuel and David, both were types of Christ. They really had a heart for Saul.

Right. They loved Saul when he didn't deserve it.

So, yes. Well, he was the king's or God's anointed. He was God's chosen one. And that's why David wouldn't kill him. Right.

Yeah. Right. Of course, David is the Lord's anointed now, too. But Saul didn't have respect for that. And again, that goes back to their love for God of not wanting to offend God. But the point I'm getting at is David is a type of Christ.

And David really loved Saul, even when he had no reason to do that. And that's what Christ does for us. He loves us when we were unlovely. Yeah. God demonstrates his own love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans five, verse eight. One last thing. When people read these Old Testament stories, it's very common for people to allegorize them and try to read yourself into the story. There's a lot of famous preachers who will do this.