1 Samuel 16:1-3 "And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. (2) And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. (3) And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee."
Though Saul is still king of Israel, we know that God rejected him. "And
Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this
day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And
also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that
he should repent." (1 Samuel 15:28-29) Saul was the king after the
people's hearts; now God was sending Samuel to anoint the king after God's own
heart. We want to take it a little slower about the life of David, but we see
God's pattern that is set with him. In fact, I'm not sure that we will get to
David today. I saw something in these verses that I had never seen before.
Samuel was sad that his first assignment had fallen short. It wasn't Samuel's
mistake, but the one that he had anointed had failed as being the strong leader
of Israel. God did not see it as Samuel's failure; rather, the people of Israel
had rejected God when they desired a leader after their own making. Yet Samuel
was sad in that he did not know at that time how God would bring Israel out of
this state of rejection. He did not know. BUT GOD did! God said, "Stop
being said... get up and go to work!" He told Samuel, "fill thine
horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have
provided me a king among his sons." God never runs out of resources. Saul
failed, but God had a plan. God is never frustrated by our failures. I'm so
thankful that He is always ahead of us in bringing us to the place of His
glory. The thing that struck me in the Scriptures from 1 Samuel 15: 29 is this,
"... the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent." Ah! We see
something here that takes us all the way through the Bible. Abram was
successful in the strength of God. Jacob was transformed in the strength of
God. Moses was not called because of his own talents and ability. No, it was
the strength of God that made him successful. We can say the same for all the
people we have studied thus far and it will be true of all that we study in the
time to come. Now Samuel was to stand in the strength of God while going to
anoint David to be Israel's next king. Our Heavenly Father is the Strength of
Israel and He is our Strength as well. We would do well to always recognize and
acknowledge that it is only through the power of God that we are able to
accomplish anything that is good.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own:
Put on the Gospel armor, Each piece put on with pray'r;
Where duty calls, or danger, Be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle, The next the victor's song:
To him that overcometh A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of Glory Shall reign eternal.