The Last Sunday in Epiphany: I Samuel 16:1-13

Feb 10, 2013; Last Sunday in Epiphany; Texts: Psalm 89:18-29; I Samuel 16:1-13; I Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 18:31-43; Title: The Lord Speaks, Samuel Does and David Gets (Rev. Tim Beck)

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

On first reading, this passage looks clear-cut. The Lord speaks, Samuel does and David gets. On second look there is a lot to consider. The highpoint seems to be the Lord doesn’t judge by outward appearance but by the heart, by what’s hidden, by what’s inside the person.  That presents a problem. Why did God choose Saul in the first place? Couldn’t He tell what was inside, or          is something going on we don’t see? Are the ways God accomplishes His purposes often hidden from us? And a smaller question, why do the elders of Bethlehem tremble at seeing the prophet Samuel? He’s the good-guy, isn’t he? And is it honest for Samuel to say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord?” Why didn’t Samuel give the full reason he anointed David? When Samuel left, they all wondered “what was that about?” This event is full of questions. However, we know this: The Lord speaks, Samuel does, David gets; and that is very, very encouraging. Let’ see if we can put the pieces together by the end of this sermon.

          Our text begins: The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? What’s Saul’s history? Why did the Lord reject him? Saul was Israel’s first king. Before that judges ruled and godly Samuel was the last of the judges for this reason: Israel wanted to be like the other nations. They wanted a king too. What a pity. They were meant to be different, distinctly God’s people… like the church today.  God’s people are meant to stick out too… not in how we dress or what language we speak. We are to live exemplary lives, although others can too. What makes us and Israel distinct is our worship - God speaking to us, justifying us, we receiving that Divine Service and in thanksgiving, sharing our hope in Christ.

          Because the true God is distinct, distinctly for his people, Israel was not to blend her worship with Canaanite worship. For example, eating pig, a Canaanite sacred animal, was out of the question.  So too anything that compromised pure worship of the true God. Likewise, Israel was to rely on the Lord, not on a strong central government.  But Israel demanded to be like their neighbors, to have a king, and God let them have their wish, even as he let them fell into apostasy in years to come. So Samuel anointed God’s chosen king, the first one. And in ways Saul was like David. He was extraordinarily handsome (I S 9:2), but unlike David, taller than anyone in Israel. Next to the Philistine Goliath and his brothers, Saul was the strongest man around. After Samuel anointed Saul, the Spirit rushed upon him, like David; though those who knew Saul thought it out of character (I Sam 10:11). Like David, he was anointed to be exemplary in obeying the 10 commandments and to be a shepherd, wielding the sword to defend Israel. And he was the Lord’s anointed in order to remain faithful to God as he served Israel. Israel’s kings, priests and prophets were called to be God’s shepherds, for Israel was God’s people, a holy nation, a theocracy.

          Of course in America, our founders established no theocracy, but following certain ideas of their Christian heritage they knew government was meant to serve. Until recently, police cars were inscribed “to serve and protect.” Government was called the servant of the people. America had a national consciousness of the Living God and feared divine wrath, evidenced by many past presidents announcing national days of repentance. So we understand something of Saul’s fall - called by God to serve, but his service turned selfish, craving glory. The last straw was the Lord’s anointed failed to finish a holy war, to finish God’s judgment on Amalek. True, Saul won the battle but he kept the loot. Saul didn’t devote the plunder to the Lord or kill the Amalekite king as commanded. Saul kept King Agag as a trophy to show off to other kings, a custom of the day. So Samuel killed Agag, hacking him to bits before the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul that he was rejected by the Lord as king.

          Samuel grieved over that tall, handsome man who for a time did so much for Israel in the name of the Lord, before doing it for his own credit. The moral is clear, for the sin of rebellion, presumption and pride let us examine ourselves and repent, lest we who were washed in Baptism become filthy again. Let the church repent our lust for the world’s admiration. There may yet be hope. Because Saul would not repent the Lord chose a replacement: Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” The Lord’s anointing was given to another. 

          Samuel goes to a small town near the Jebusite capital, yet unconquered by Israel. He goes to Jesse’s house, the son of Boaz the Israelite and Ruth the Moabitess. You remember Ruth; she was Naomi’s daughter in law. She left her Moabite gods to worship Naomi’s God, and left her chance for re-marriage by leaving her native land. But the Lord intervened, and kind, wealthy, godly Boaz married Ruth. Jesse was their son. Jesse had many sons. But for Samuel there’s an obstacle. Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” Although he is a prophet, Samuel is no longer judge. Saul, although in rebellion to God, rules. Saul will defend his crown no matter what it takes. Why must God’s prophet fear for his life and why is Saul allowed to reign years more since the Lord rejected him as king? Life was messy then too. Yet the Lord was accomplishing His purpose. So too He works in the messiness of our lives to make His way clear, at the right time.  

          And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem.  That is what prophets do, what Samuel does. There is no lie, only a hidden purpose. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

          Why do the elders tremble in fear of Samuel? Is it he hacked king Agag to pieces in Gilgal, in the sight of the Lord, to fulfill God’s war with Amalek! The Lord is both holy and unpredictable and that is frightening.  And the little town of Bethlehem, in the shadow of the Jebusites, are they holy? Samuel tells these trembling men he comes to sacrifice, to propitiate a holy God.  He offers peace with a holy God and they are invited to partake. They set themselves apart for the Lord, and receive the benefits of the sacrifice, a holy feast that purifies them. Surely you see a parallel here between the testaments.  There is the forgiveness of sins with a visible sign. Those forgiven eat and drink before the Lord as His set-apart and uncommon people, His sanctified people who share in the hidden purposes of the Lord.

          6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”

          The Lord doesn’t judge by outward appearance but sees the heart. He has a hidden purpose, to shepherd His people Israel. Yet the moral isn’t “therefore if you want God to choose you, it’s up to you to be good inside.” The moral isn’t “That person fell into hardship because the Lord knew the junk that was inside.”  Perhaps a tiny application is don’t elect public officials by appearance, but by evidence of a heart for service. Unlike Saul, David at least understood how to serve sheep. A somewhat better “moral” is don’t measure the heart of others according to civil righteousness, to the appearance of good works, but according to faith. For example, Saul’s works looked good enough. They were praised by Israel, while Jesus was rejected and crucified as the worst of criminals. The chief “moral” is that God knows us better than we ourselves. He sees our blindness, hears our deafness and can speak through our muteness. He judges our hearts, yet He is also the Saviour, justifying sinners.

          David was not chosen for the throne because he was so much better than Saul, for David had adultery and murder in his heart, among other sins like presumption and pride. David was called a man after God’s own heart, most of his life, because he was a man of repentance, turning to the Saviour (As said Charles Porterfield Krauth, a contemporary with C.F.W. Walther, “The Lutheran Church is the church of courage because she is the church of repentance”). When it comes right down to it, we cannot say that the Lord chose David because He saw some special quality in Him. We are left with something hidden in God’s will, His working out a divine purpose; though it is clear that the Lord’s hand was upon David, and that he was repentant.

          13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. David was anointed and the Spirit of the Lord fell upon him and remained, except for a time of unbelief we already referred to (remember Uriah and his wife?)   And after Samuel sacrificed the people feasted as God’s uncommon, holy people. Then Samuel left having completed the Lord’s business. But questions remain in the minds of these folks. What was David anointed for? Was he to be among the prophets, as once was said of Saul, “Is he also among the prophets?” Who suspected it was to be king? Only God and Samuel knew David’s role to come. Soon David would kill Goliath, be brought into Saul’s court to play the harp for demonized Saul, and suffer Saul’s attempts to kill him out of jealousy. He would be commanded to collect 100 Philistine foreskins to marry one of the king’s daughters, Saul thinking it would be David’s death. When it wasn’t, Saul takes a direct approach and hunts David like a beast, driving him out of Israel until the day Saul died. Who could see the Lord’s hand resting upon David to be king? Life is messy. Life is messy but doctrine pure, holy, and preserved. The Lord fulfills His word.

          That answers all the questions of our text but one, the most important of all. What does this have to do with the coming Christ? David knew the promise that began with Adam and Eve and continued with Seth and Enoch, then Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Israel, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, the Judges to Samuel. Despite all the rebellions of Adam, Cain, Lamech, Canaan, Esau, Laban and the people of Israel, including demanding a king, the promise works its will underneath all the messiness of life. The promise is the purpose by which the Lord’s deals with our fallen race. Soon David is anointed king over Judah, and then over all Israel.  Soon David, Spirit-rushed, prophesies of the Christ in psalms. Soon he conquers the Jebusite capital and establishes Jerusalem, city of peace. Soon he brings the tabernacle to the royal city, that the Lord be exalted. Soon the Lord promises that from David’s lineage, one who is root and shoot of Jesse shall reign as king forever, in righteousness and love. Do not read this history like a secular journal. It is the history of the Lord’s saving work among His chosen people. It is about the Christ.

          Saul too was chosen and filled with the Spirit, but he rebelled and would not repent, so was cast out. But the repentant sinner is before the Lord forever, beloved and preserved.  The repentant sinner is courageous because He is absolved.  The people living these events, could they fit all the pieces together? So too our lives; on the other hand, we don’t need to understand it all, we who believe the promises of God. We have seen the glory of God in the mess made of the Suffering Servant, the servant of sinners. We have also seen His exaltation in the resurrection. Jesus Christ is the anointed King of kings, and His government is service to us. Truly you receive Divine Service today in His body and blood. You receive the worship that sets us apart from all other people. He who names us His, will bring us into His eternal kingdom, into a glory incomprehensible, wonderful beyond measure.  The Lord speaks, Samuel does and David gets, and that divine promise is for you too. And this is very, very encouraging. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord (Amen).