Life of David (1): Anointed to be King (1 Samuel 16)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

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The Bible contains accounts of different people’s lives, yet it never covers up their failures the way they did David’s, who is called a man after God’s heart. The Bible records fully the sin which he had committed.

However, some Christians use these as examples to justify their wrongdoings. They point out David and Solomon’s many wives and say that not only did God not stop them, he had in fact blessed them; thus, they argue, where in the Bible does it say that it is wrong to have many wives! They use the misdeeds of the characters in the Bible to justify themselves, but they forget two important principles: 1. the principle of examples and warnings 2. the principles recorded in the Bible.

When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, he told him to jump from the temple, saying, “It is written ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus however, answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Jesus rebuked Satan for using the Bible with partiality. The Bible must be considered in its entirety. David and Solomon had many wives, but the Bible also records that because he had many wives, not only did David commit the sin of adultery, much chaos and immorality occurred in his family. Solomon also had many wives and the Bible tells us `as Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God’; in the end, even the nation was torn apart.

There are many areas in David’s lives that we can learn from, but there are also warnings we can heed. Let us first study the story of how David was chosen and anointed by God to be king. 1Samuel 16:1 records how God wanted Samuel to go to the house of Jesse because He had chosen one of his sons as king. Who was this chosen one? It was David, of course. No one can say anything about the Lord’s choice, the Lord will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. Today, let us view this from a different angle: Was David qualified to be chosen by God?

There is a movie called “Saving Private Ryan”. It is a story of how one family had four sons who were all sent to fight in a war. Three of them had been killed in battle, and only one son was left and he was also in the battlefield. The American government felt that this family had already sacrificed enough and so they sent men into the field to bring back Ryan. But the men who were to bring back Ryan had to go through enemy lines to do so. In the process, many had died. Someone began to question who Ryan was, why so many lives had to be risked just to bring him home. Later, they faced the enemy again and many more died. They were very angry and asked again who this Ryan was. They said, “Ryan better be someone worthy of what we are going through.” They finally met Ryan and handed him the letter informing him of the death of his three brothers and of how he has to go back home with them. After reading the letter, Ryan was very sad but he said: I am under orders to defend the bridge. I cannot let the enemy come across. I haven’t finished my duty yet, I cannot leave my brothers and my position.” Then, he went back to defend the bridge against the enemy. At that moment, the camera span across the room, showing how the face of each man in the room expressed one similar thought: Ryan was worth it all. With David, was he a man worthy to be chosen by God?

I. David’s Inner Being Matched His Outer Appearance 16:6-7 / 12

1. A Man’s Outer Appearance

First impressions are very important. If you make a good first impression, many opportunities become open to you; but if you give others’ a bad first impression, you have to use a lot of time and effort to correct that. Do not think that external appearance is not important. Not only do we live before God, but we also live before men.

Look at how all the specialists and professionals dress themselves up. They try to look very professional because they want to look trustworthy in the eyes of men. You must give attention to your physical appearance, married or single. Wives, continue to attract the attention of your husband. Give attention to how you look and your physique. Husbands, you must also pay attention to your physique, do not look like pregnant men.

The late president Lincoln said: “Before forty, parents are responsible for a person’s looks; but after forty, a person is responsible for his own appearance.” You may blame your parents for your looks before you are forty years of age, you may blame them for passing on to you certain physical features. But after forty, if you haven’t made effort to improve how you look, then you can only blame yourself. Why? A man’s countenance reflects his heart. When we are full of bitterness, envy, hatred, wickedness, no matter what we do, our countenance will not look good. But if our heart is full of kindness, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, our face will inevitably look pleasant.

2. The Heart of a Man

We must give attention to our external appearance, but our inner man is even more important. The Lord told Samuel: Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. When Samuel saw Saul, he immediately liked him, because Saul was tall and handsome; however, in the end, Saul greatly disappointed Samuel. But humans are humans, we are easily attracted to good looks. When Samuel saw Jesse’s eldest son, seeing how tall and handsome he was, he immediately thought that this must be God’s chosen king. Even Samuel had this tendency, how much more us? But, our God is a God who sees through the heart of every man. We can deceive the whole world but we can never deceive our God, because He knows our hearts.

When David came, the Lord told Samuel: He is the one. The Lord chose David. What kind of heart did David have? David had a heart that loved God. In the whole Bible, only two people have told the Lord: “I love you, Lord”. The first one was David in Psalm 18:1 “ I love you, O Lord, my strength.” The second person was David’s son, Solomon.

In 1 Kings 3:3, it says, “Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father, David.” Solomon’s love for the Lord was a result of David, his father’s influence. David had a heart that loved the Lord. 2Samuel5 records how when David had united the nation, he sought and brought back the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. Saul was king for 40 years, yet he never thought of the ark of God. David, on the other hand, when he had united the nation, immediately sent thirty thousand men to bring the ark from the house of Abinadab to Jerusalem. The Lord was always in David’s heart. This principle is so simple. When we love someone, that person is always in our thoughts. Brothers and sisters, do you love the Lord? Do you long to be near him? Is coming to Sunday worship a joy or a duty for you? The Lord chose David because his inner and outer lives matched; he was worthy to be chosen by the Lord.

II. David was a Charming Man 17-18

Whenever the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, an evil spirit would come and torment him. So, Saul’s attendants suggested for someone to play the harp for the king, that he may feel better. Someone brought up David’s name, and pointed out that he had five good characteristics:
1. plays the harp well
2. a brave warrior
3. speaks well
4. a fine-looking man
5. the Lord is with him.

These five qualities can be summed in one phrase, full of charm. David was charming. Charm means having great drawing power; the root word of the term `charismatic’ is the word `charm’. For the Lord to choose and use us, we must become men full of charm:

1. Play the harp well

Playing the harp is a skill. The Lord gives each one of us different skills and talents. Some can play the piano, some can sing, some preach well, some cook well. David did not just know how to play the harp, he played well. If you ask anyone who can play the piano well why they could do so, they will definitely tell you that it is because of practice. Behind the brilliant 5-minute performance we see is probably 50 hours of practice. Behind a wonderful 45-minute message from a preacher must have been 450 hours of preparations. David had the gift of playing the harp and he could play before the king because he was the best of the best. It was a result of diligent practice. I love the ministry of preaching and teaching. But since my seminary days till now, I have never stopped studying how to preach. I read a lot of books on preaching, I listen to many messages on preaching. You must keep improving in your area of giftedness, you must become the best.

2. A Brave Warrior

When David was introduced to the king, he was introduced as a brave warrior. He was only a young man of 12-15 years of age, how could he be a brave warrior? When the Philistine giant Goliath challenged them, David bravely faced him. Saul however said, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy.” But David told Saul in Samuel 17:34-35 “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and killed it.”

David was a brave warrior. We have reason to believe that the story of David killing the lion and the bear was spread around Bethlehem; that is why people called him a brave warrior. What is a lion? What is a bear? To a shepherd, a lion and a bear are enemies. For a shepherd, the appearance of a bear or lion means difficulties, troubles, and danger. A brave warrior is someone who bravely faces difficulties, troubles and danger.

When Goliath challenged them, everyone was afraid to face him. But David said I will go and fight him. Wasn’t Saul a head taller than everyone in Israel? Wasn’t Saul a brave warrior? Why was he afraid to face Goliath? Saul had been king for quite some time, his life had become too comfortable as king, he was no longer willing to face challenges and difficulties. This is a great reminder for all of us – we must maintain our fighting spirit, we must not be content with the present, we must not be afraid of difficulties! Recently, Rev. Timothy Lim, who had been mightily used of God passed away at the age of ninety-eight. Even at 98, he had continued to preach God’s word. He once made a famous statement: “The Church does not need more doctoral or masteral graduates, but more martyrs.” He was truly a brave warrior for the Truth.

3. Speaks Well

Proverbs 25:11 “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” We find it unbecoming when apples of gold are set in a worn-out basket. On the contrary, it is most fitting when apples of gold are set in a silver basket. Imagine a beautiful lady dressed in the prettiest attire who utters the dirtiest words when she opens her mouth, how incompatible!

David was not only a hero full of skills and courage, when he opens his mouth to speak, people find he speaks well and appropriately. Some young people love to play jokes. There is nothing wrong with playing jokes, but we must be careful of the content and whom we are playing the joke with. If the joke is colored then it is inappropriate. It is also not appropriate to joke carelessly with elderly people. Sometimes in talking to people, we find out they are displeased, and immediately we would say `but I was just joking.’ Having to say so proves that what we had uttered had been inappropriate. May the Lord help us, we must be careful of what comes out of our mouth. We must be aware that we are children of the living God, our speech must be just as appropriate as apples of gold in settings of silver.

4. Fine-looking

This is David’s admirable physical attribute, but we must remember: a man’s countenance reflects his heart. Our face can become more and more loveable, or more and more un-loveable. A young boy asked his grandfather: what is the inner heart of man like? The grandfather said: The heart of man can be likened to two wolves fighting within: one is full of hatred and anger, the other is full of love, forgiveness and peace. The child asked again: Which one will win? The grandfather said: The one I feed. How meaningful, the one we feed will be the one that wins. Our heart is like that, garbage in, garbage out. Our face is but a reflection of our heart.

5. The Lord was with Him

David not only had the looks and skills that can charm, the man said: The Lord is with him. This reflects the quality of David’s spiritual life. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, Luke 2:52 described him – “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” This verse tells us Jesus grew in four aspects: he grew in wisdom, this is intelligent quotient (IQ); he grew in stature, this is health quotient (HQ), then he grew in favor with God, this is spiritual quotient (SQ) and also, he grew in favor with men, this is emotional quotient (EQ). David also grew in these four aspects: He played the harp well, this was David’s IQ. He was a brave warrior, this was David’s HQ. Speaks well, fine-looking, this was David’s EQ. The Lord is with him, this was David’s SQ.

It was of course by the grace of God that David was chosen to be king, but we also see that David was qualified. The Word of God in Ephesians 4:1 says “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” David’s life was worthy of God’s calling. How about us, are we living lives worthy of the calling we have received?