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Saul admitted sin, yet feared the reaction of the people
more than the displeasure of God, against whom his sin
was committed. He requested of Samuel a sham display
to forestall the anger of the people, not of God! On top
of tha t, he made a vital slip of the tongue which reveals
his true feelings toward God: He said " the Lord
your
God" to Samuel rather tha·n " the Lord
my
God," or
even "the Lord
our
God." His concern, his fear, his
surface sorrow, his intent, bis heart was for himself, and
for his reputation in the eyes of the people rather than
toward his God!
This is the vital difference between King Saul and
King David. David's sins were many, perhaps more than
Saul's. There is no use comparing the magnitude of
individual sins, because sin is sin, and the penalty, with–
out repentance and forgiveness from God, is death !
David realized, as Paul put it in the New Testament, that
"sin is against God." David's repentance was always
toward God, often to his detriment in the eyes of the
people; Saul's repentance was always outwa rd only, with
an eye toward how he would appear in the eyes of the
people, and with complete disregard of God.
A Klng of God's Choice
amuel mourned constantly for
Sau l in his rejection by God, de–
spi te the fact that Saul's kingship
was a slap in his face in the first
place. But God had rejected
Saul- though he was still to reign for many years-and
was now ready to select a man to be king of Israel to
replace Saul: a man after God's own heart. God's Spirit
was removed from Saul, the people's choice, and God
was ready to place tha t Spirit on another of His own
choosing.
"Finally the Lord said to Samuel, 'You have mourned
long enough for Saul, for 1 have rejected him as king of
Israel. Now take a vial of olive oil and go to Bethlehem
and find a man named Jesse, for I have selected one of
his sons to be the
new kint"
(I Sam. 16 :1).
Samuel feared for his li fe on such a mission, lest Saul
should find out about it. Strange! Another insight into
the character ofSaul. Why would Saul commit murder–
and that on a Judge chosen by God-if his action was the
wi ll of God? Because the kingship originally granted by
God had degenerated into a política! drive for power by
Saul. He misunderstood the purpose of a king, which is
to
serve
the people, and instead would by any means
maintain the monarchy to serve his own ego.
David, later faced with the same dilemma, many
times let circumstances and the band of God determine
whether or not he would remain king, never striving to
grasp the crown, determined to let it be a gift rather than
a conquest. David understood the heart of the principie
that would later be spoken by his Lord, Jesus, to the
disciples: "Whosoever will be
chief
among you, Je t him
be your
servant''
(Matt. 20:27).
Samuel set forth to perform his dangerous mission,
covered with the God-suggested excuse of making a
sacrifice to the Lord.
It
is God's own irony that sacrifice
was chosen to cover the more importan! purpose of
anointing another king. Saul had lost the opportunity of
The
PLAIN TRUTH June/ July 1978
an ever ruling dynasty by sacrificing when Samuel was
late in showing up. Now that dynasty was assured for
David with the cover-up of sacrifice. Saul misunderstood
the purpose for sacrifice aod so would be completely
fooled by this ostensible reason for Samuel's visi t to
Bethlehem and the family of Jesse!
The Puzzle of God's Choice
ven Samuel needed education in
the matter of God's method of
choosing! When he saw Eliab, the
_ .._ .. eldest son of Jesse, with an out–
ward appearance much like that
of Saul , he thought , "Surely this is the man the Lord has
chosen!" But God corrected that opinion and gave Sam–
uel , and us, this advice: "Don' t judge by a mao's face or
height, for this is not the one. 1 don't make decisions the
way you do! Men judge by outward appearance, but
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Jook ata man's thoughts and intentions" (I Sam. 16:6-7).
To illustrate His point, God allowed seven of Jesse's
sons to be paraded before Samuel, each one unaccept–
able to God. Frustrated, Samuel asked if there were any
more. "Well, there is the youngest ... but he's out in the
fields watching the sheep," Jesse replied. "Send for him
at once," Samuel said, "for we will not sit down to eat
until he arrives" (verse 11 ).
"So Jesse sent for him. He was a fine looking boy,
ruddy-faced, and with pleasant eyes. And the Lord said,
'This is the one; anoint him'" (verse 12).
The puzzle is this: David had a fine outward appear–
ance also. Sorne think because God bases His decisions
about men on their inoermost thoughts and intentions
that it is necessary for a decent outward appearance to
be lacking. That is not what God intended. The point
was: No matter
what
the outward appearance, ugly or
comely, it is the thought and intent of heart upon which
the decision must be made. God is not impressed with
an outward appearance of humility any more than He is
by ao outward appearance of authority and leadership:
8 oth are equally seif-righteous to Him.
The anointing of David done- in a small private ga th–
ering, not with public fanfare- the Spirit of God carne
on David from tha t day forward, with great power. How
old was David a t the time? It is not revealed. Guesses
range from twelve to twenty. Let's give an arbitrary age
of eighteen- after all, one guess is as good as another.
Tha t would give twelve years of study and diverse expe–
rience for the young heir apparent, guided by God all
the way, before the duties of real kingship fell on his
shoulders.
And what better place to send a king-to-be to school
thao in the court of the king? And not just at the court ,
but as close to the king as possible! Education was
needed in both the prívate and the public life of a king.
Court intrigue, problem-solving, protoco), organization,
statecraft, military planning, legisla tive and judicial
procedures-the myriad of governmen tal necessities
must all be learned- even if they had to be learned from
the negative side of improper examples. Yet the prívate
problems of a public king must be faced also. The
pressures, fears, emotions, desires of the individual in
such a position had to be learned.
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