Back To School (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

John B. Goodenough was determined to keep finding answers. You may not know his name – and yes, that really is his name – but you know his work. He’s the father of the lithium-ion battery that powers your cell phone, and just about every other consumer electronic device.^[1] That alone would’ve secured his place in history. But John didn’t stop there. One of the most remarkable things about his life is how he continually found himself back at school, often in new fields.

John started his academic life by teaching himself to write.^[2] His dyslexia made the work hard and he found little support from his school teachers. One turned back some english homework to John with a note that said, “This assignment was too much for you, wasn’t it?”^[3]

But fast forward a few years, John earned a mathematics degree from Yale. The year was 1943, so John enlisted. A teacher convinced him to apply to the US Army Air Corps’ meteorology department.^[4] So the mathemetician became a weatherman.

After the war, a new field was on John’s horizon: Physics. A Yale professor had recommended him for a graduate program without his knowledge. John had only taken basic courses in the subject, but back to school he went. One instructor said, “Don’t you know that anyone who has ever done anything significant in physics had already done it by the time he was your age—and you want to begin?” But John ended up earning a PhD in physics from the University of Chicago.^[5]

Fast forward thirty more years and where was John? Head of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Oxford. That was after two and a half decades at MIT where he worked to develop some of the first random access memory in computers.^[6]

So now the mathematician, meteorologist, physicist, computer-scientest was a chemist, despite never having studied chemistry in grad school. Oxford had mandatory retirement at 65.^[7] So John moved to Texas, where he became a professor in the mechanical engineering department. At age 97, he became history’s oldest recipient of a Nobel Prize. A couple of years before his death at age 100, John was interviewed and said, “There’s work to be done, so I continue.”^[8]

In 1 Samuel 16, Israel has suffered a heavy setback. Their first king has been rejected by God. But human failure doesn’t stop God’s grace. God was still working, still powerful, still faithful. He had already prepared the new king who would step into Saul’s place.

Our text today is the story of that new king being anointed. Now, here’s what’s interesting: We have already seen this happen once, when Saul was anointed. But this time the story is very different.Last time, the scene unfolds from the king’s perspective. It was a drawn out passage showing what Saul was doing, what he was thinking, what he said, how he responded. He was the focal point.

Today, David is selected and anointed as king. David is one of the most significant characters in all the Bible. And yet, when this person is introduced and anointed, he doesn’t speak. We hear no inner monologue. All he does in the text is walk into the room.

The focal point in these verses is not David, but Samuel. His situation. His frustrations. His conversation with God. His desire to walk by faith while also learning what God desires. In some ways this scene, toward the end of Samuel’s life has so many parallels with that first story he was in.

Samuel had been the prophet of God for many decades. He has faithfully served God and known God. He may have been the most spiritual person on the planet at the time. And yet, we still see him discovering. He is still learning from God. Still exercising faith. He’s still in that submissive yet trusting position he was as a young boy when he said, “Speak Lord, your servant listens.”

That’s not a failure, by the way – it’s very encouraging. Because none of us have arrived in our spiritual growth. None of us can say we’re done when it comes to knowing exactly what the Lord wants, how we’re being led, what the Lord might want to do. Instead, we know there is work to be done, so we continue. We continue walking by faith. Not by habit, not by ritual, not by thinking I can just let spiritual gravity take me across the finish line. But like Samuel realizing there are new discoveries, new fields, new opportunities, new wonders to discover as we disciple after Jesus.

1 Samuel 16:1 – ¹ The LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected for myself a king from his sons.”

The scene opens on Samuel heartbroken, frustrated, we might even say depressed about the Saul situation. Samuel cared about Saul and he definitely cared about Israel. In this moment, the Lord comes to him and says, “It’s time to press on.” It wasn’t that mourning for Saul was bad, but it was time to put his hand to the plow of God’s work and look forward, not back.

Maybe your heart is heavy with regret over some failure in your past, over some lost dream, over some situation in life. God cares about those sorrows. And remember: His mercy is new every morning. His will for you is good. If you’re weighed down by guilt, remember what 2 Corinthians 7:10 says: “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.” Remember God works all things together for the good that love Him and are called according to His purpose and the good pleasure of His will is to bring everything together in Christ at just the right time.

The reference to Jesse is significant. If you read through the Bible, you’ve seen that name once before, in Ruth. That Ruth passage is tied to Genesis, which is a book about finding humanity’s redeemer. So we’re clued into the fact that Jesse’s son is not just the next guy to sit on the throne, but that he is the son of Adam, of Seth, of Shem, of Abraham, of Judah, of Perez. This is about the messianic line.

With something this important, shouldn’t God just tell Samuel it’s David? But the Lord delights to teach Samuel, to keep growing Samuel, so God gives him just enough light to step forward.

1 Samuel 16:2-3 – ² Samuel asked, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!”

The LORD answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate to you.”

Samuel didn’t only have personal discouragement, he had professional problems, too. Obviously Saul is not taking news of his replacement well. He was a very real threat to Samuel’s life. And yet, Samuel must be the one to anoint the new king. That’s the job. Walking by faith brings opposition. Praise the Lord that at this point we’re not facing death for being Christians. Samuel was. Saul would be watching. On top of that, to get to Bethlehem, Samuel would have to pass through Saul’s hometown!^[9] So, Samuel is understandably fearful and unclear on how this was going to work.

So what does God do? He takes something that we think should be covert and secret and He essentially makes Samuel a slow-moving target. He’ll have to walk a cow somewhere between 10 and 25 miles down the road,^[10] right past where Saul is. Through the valley of the shadow of death.

Will Samuel do it? That depends on if he trusts God. That depends on whether he believes God can be counted on. That depends on if his faith is true or is just lip-service.

1 Samuel 16:4 – ⁴ Samuel did what the LORD directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

Why were they so afraid? The political situation was very tenuous. And this prophet didn’t just give messages, sometimes he hacked people to pieces. Also, Samuel showing up with a heifer like this could indicate that he was there, under the Law, to atone for an unsolved murder.^[11] They’re not sure what’s going on, but they’re worried about what it will mean for their community.

1 Samuel 16:5 – ⁵ “In peace,” he replied. “I’ve come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

There’s one aspect of John Goodenough’s life that is more consequential than all the others: Despite being raised in an atheist home, he became a believer in Jesus. In his autobiography, Witness To Grace, John talks about how he started to understand the beauty of holiness. How without holiness there was a veil between himself and the spiritual reality revealed in the Bible.

Samuel and the people do this work of consecration. It was ritual cleanness, which usually included things like bathing and putting on clean clothes.^[12] But the outward ritual illustrated a spiritual truth: Peace with God requires holiness. They didn’t have to be afraid because Samuel was there to feast with them and offer a sacrifice. But before that celebration, there had to be consecration.

Friends, we must be holy as God is holy.^[13] More than holy, you must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.^[14] Of course, we’re not perfect. So how can we have peace with God? Well, not by putting on a freshly-washed shirt, but by putting on the holy robe of righteousness, by submitting to God, believing on Jesus, and exchanging our guilt for His perfection. You see, though we were doomed by sin, Jesus came and died on the cross in our place so that we could be washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.^[15]

Have you been consecrated by the blood of Jesus? If you have, are you living a consecrated life? Not defiled by the sins and temptations around us, but set apart for God’s purposes? Samuel was.

1 Samuel 16:6-7 – ⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the LORD’s anointed one is here before him.” ⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the LORD sees, for humans see what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.”

Pause and realize this: Samuel is known as the seer. And yet, he’s not seeing this right. He’s sure Eliab is the guy because of his physical attributes. So God took him to the school of the Spirit.

Despite all he knew, all he’d done, despite his intimate communion with God, Samuel still had things to learn! And that’s not a bad thing. That’s true for all of us. Because being a Christian means being made new, being conformed, being transformed more and more and more, continually. We don’t just get a PhD in Christianity and then stop learning.

God specifically says, “Don’t look at his appearance.” When God is choosing, He does not care about human priorities. God cares about our hearts. Not our strength, not our wealth, not our giftedness, not our influence. Just the heart. Because He can do what He wants with an obedient heart. But take away faith, take away the obedience, then strength or genius or talent or any of other human asset will fail. Jesus said, “What is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.”^[16] And that’s demonstrated in Eliab’s case. Eliab wasn’t just not chosen, he was rejected, the way Saul was rejected. And we’ll get a look into Eliab’s heart in chapter 17.

As we walk by faith, we want to constantly focus on our heart health. What posture does God want my heart to be in? That’s the question. How can my heart be more consecrated, more worshipful? God works through lives after He’s worded in hearts.

1 Samuel 16:8-11 – ⁸ Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “The LORD hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said. ⁹ Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD hasn’t chosen this one either.” ¹⁰ After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, “The LORD hasn’t chosen any of these.” ¹¹ Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” he answered, “but right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.”

This is amazing. The mission God gave Samuel is really important. And yet, God just lets this moment sit. Why not just tell Samuel it’s David? Why not providentially make David show up to be anointed the way Saul had been providentially moved into place to be anointed?

The conclusion we have to come to is that God wanted Samuel to have opportunity to grow. Opportunity to experience God’s power and revelation. God taking His time so that Samuel’s faith could strengthen, could exercise, could bear fruit.

And not only him, but us, too. We need this story. Because that truth: “humans see what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart,” is one of the most important statements of Scripture.^[17]

All the sons come by, none are chosen. God just waits. Samuel doesn’t know what the answer is, but he does know God is can be trusted and that if God said there was a king among Jesse’s sons, well there must be another son. And so he walks by faith. He speaks by faith. Is there another son?

We’re told David was out tending the sheep. Already he is contrasted with Saul, who was introduced as a man who could not properly oversee his father’s donkeys and, frankly, wasn’t too worried about it. David is shown as a young man who is willing to serve. A shepherd among the flock. Someone who answers when called. Someone who does not demand his own way.

1 Samuel 16:12 – ¹² So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance. Then the LORD said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.”

How long did they have to wait? It must’ve been awkward. They’re all hanging out after Samuel went son by son saying, “Yeah, not you.” But here’s what blows my mind: What is the BIG lesson God gives Samuel? Don’t look on the outward appearance. What’s the one thing we’re told about David? His outward appearance!

He was a good-looking young man. But it didn’t matter! What mattered is what he looked like to the Lord. His heart was what God was excited about. Not the outward. At the same time, Samuel didn’t overcorrect and say, “Well God doesn’t look on the outward, so which is your UGLIEST son?” He waited to hear from the Lord. To be directed based on God’s word and the Spirit’s leading.

1 Samuel 16:13 – ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

The story gives the impression David was immediately anointed. What don’t we see? Consecration. In other words, Jesse’s other sons had to be consecrated, but it’s as if David already was. Yes, he was dirty from the pasture, yes he stank of sheep, but we know David wasn’t just working with the sheep, he worshiped there. Writing Psalms and praising God and meditating on His word day and night. David’s heart was consecrated and it was ready to be filled up by God the Holy Spirit.

In verse 1, God said to Samuel, “Fill your horn and go.” That oil represented the calling of God and the presence of God’s Spirit. And now David is the horn and he goes. From that day forward the Spirit came powerfully on David.

For what? Many things. To lead. To worship. To write more songs. To rally the people. To administrate. To build a nation. To slay giants. To glorify God day by day.

Meanwhile, Samuel goes home. But he’s still not done serving, not done learning, not done being led by God. Do you know what Samuel does next? Next time we see him, it seems he has established a school to train a new generation of prophets.

John Goodenough never made a royalty off his lithium-ion invention. He gave the patent away in hopes that others could benefit humanity with his discovery. Even the money he won from awards like the Nobel Prize he gave away to endow scholarships for the next learners who came after him. When he was asked about not personally benefitting from his invention he points out it’s not completely true. “I have a pacemaker,” he said. “The ticker is still working.” What he learned kept his heart healthy.

How’s your heart? Is it spiritually healthy? God has a desire to work in our hearts no matter how long we’ve walked with Him. His message to us is, in one way, very similar to Samuel’s mission. He told Samuel, “Fill your horn and go.” Now we are the vessels. We’re the horn. We’re to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to go make disciples. To walk by faith, learning from God, day after day. There is work to be done, so God continues. Let us continue to walk and work with Him.