Chapter 62—The Anointing of David
This chapter is based on
1 Samuel 16:1-13
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A few miles south of Jerusalem, “the city of the great King,” is
Bethlehem, where David, the son of Jesse, was born more than a
thousand years before the infant Jesus was cradled in the manger and
worshiped by the Wise Men from the East. Centuries before the advent
of the Saviour, David, in the freshness of boyhood, kept watch of his
flocks as they grazed on the hills surrounding Bethlehem. The simple
shepherd boy sang the songs of his own composing, and the music
of his harp made a sweet accompaniment to the melody of his fresh
young voice. The Lord had chosen David, and was preparing him, in
his solitary life with his flocks, for the work He designed to commit to
his trust in after years.
While David was thus living in the retirement of his humble shep-
herd’s life, the Lord God was speaking about him to the prophet
Samuel. “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.... Take an heifer with
thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to
the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt
anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee. And Samuel did that
which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the
town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And
he said, Peaceably.” The elders accepted an invitation to the sacrifice,
and Samuel called also Jesse and his sons. The altar was built and the
sacrifice was ready. All the household of Jesse were present, with the
exception of David, the youngest son, who had been left to guard the
sheep, for it was not safe to leave the flocks unprotected.
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When the sacrifice was ended, and before partaking of the offering
feast, Samuel began his prophetic inspection of the noble-appearing
sons of Jesse. Eliab was the eldest, and more nearly resembled Saul
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