1 Samuel 16:12-13 Son of Jesse

 ”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.“ I Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking: The physical description of David tells us he had a fair complexion (this is probably the meaning of ruddy, and a light complexion was considered attractive in that culture). He had bright eyes, which speak of vitality and intelligence. David was also good-looking.

i. David had a pleasant appearance, but he did not look like Saul, who looked like a leader and a king (1 Samuel 9:2). David looked nice, but you didn’t look at him and say, “There’s a born leader. There is a king.” That is what people said when they looked at Saul. When they looked at David they said, “That’s a nice-looking boy.”

ii. We don’t know how old David was at this time. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus says that David was ten years old. Others guess he was about fifteen years old. It’s safe to say he was in that range.

b. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” By all outward appearances David’s seven brothers seemed to be better material for royalty. As unlikely as he was, David was the one.

i. David was a shepherd, but there were a lot of shepherds. David was good-looking, but so were a lot of young men. David was young, but there were plenty of young men God could have chosen. God described what made David special in 1 Samuel 13:14: The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people. What made David the one was that he was a man after God’s own heart.

ii. God’s choice of David shows that we don’t have to quit our jobs and enter into full-time ministry to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need to be famous or prominent to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need to be respected or even liked by others to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need status, influence, power, the respect or approval of men, or great responsibilities to be people after God’s own heart.

iii. Where did David get this heart? Obviously, from time spent with the LORD. But someone started him on that path. David says nothing of his father, but twice in the Psalms he refers to his mother as a maidservant of the LORD (Psalm 86:16 and 116:16). Probably, it was David’s godly mother who poured her heart and love and devotion of the LORD into him, and gave him a foundation to build on in his own walk with the LORD. Like Timothy, God used a mother to pour into him a godly faith (2 Timothy 1:5).

c. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: From the actions of David, Jesse, and David’s brothers, after this we can assume that only God and Samuel knew exactly what happened here.

i. Everyone else probably thought that Samuel just honored David for an unknown reason. Probably no one even dared to think this was a divine royal anointing. But God knew because He had worked in David’s heart for a long time. “The public anointing was the outcome of what had taken place in private between David and God long before.” (Redpath)

d. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward: The real anointing happened when the Holy Spirit came upon David. The oil on the head was just a sign of this inward reality.

e. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah: Samuel did not begin a “Let’s Enthrone David” political party and he did not begin to undermine Saul’s throne, looking for a way to establish David as king. Samuel took one look at David and reacted exactly the way God wanted him to: “LORD, I don’t know why You chose this kid. But You will have to put him on the throne. I can’t do it.”

i. God did do it. 1 Samuel 16:13 is the first mention of the name “David” in the book of 1 Samuel. He has been referred to prophetically before (as in 1 Samuel 13:14 and 15:28). But this is the first mention of his name, which means “Beloved” or “Loved One.”

ii. David will become one of the greatest men of the Bible, mentioned more than 1,000 times in the pages of Scripture – more than Abraham, more than Moses, more than any mere man in the New Testament. It’s no accident that Jesus wasn’t known as the “Son of Abraham” or the “Follower of Moses,” but as the Son of David (Matthew 9:27 and at least a dozen other places).

iii. “From whatever side we view the life of David, it is remarkable. It may be that Abraham excelled him in faith, and Moses in the power of concentrated fellowship with God, and Elijah in the fiery force of his enthusiasm. But none of these was so many-sided as the richly gifted son of Jesse.” (Meyer)

(Guzik)

Son of Jesse 

“David will become one of the greatest men of the Bible, mentioned more than 1,000 times in the pages of Scripture” (Guzik)

My parents told me that they named me after king David, but with all the godly attributes mentioned about him in the Bible he still had a sin nature! He committed adultery and was a murderer. 

But David admitted his sin, 

”So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.“

‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

David reconciled his sin with the Lord. But how do we reconcile our sin?

”For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.“ ‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.“

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”“

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you cried out Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me?

Blessings