Sermon 1 Samuel 16:1-13 – A King is Chosen

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon 1 Samuel 16:1-13 – A King is Chosen

Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

December 2, 2007

This morning we begin the Season of Advent. Advent is a period of four weeks leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas. This season has been overtaken by our culture with a period of frenzied shopping for gifts and of course Santa Claus, reindeer and if you are in the north, frosty snowmen. But as Christians we need to remind ourselves that Advent is the time for us to spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming of the Messiah into our lives. Spiritual preparation requires a timeout from the frenzy of Christmas preparations for prayer, meditation and worship. This is why we will be gathering for worship on Sunday mornings and for candlelight vesper services on Wednesday evenings in Advent to settle our hearts in quiet meditation and to prepare ourselves to hear the voices of angels singing, “Glory to God in Highest”.

Will you pray with me? Father in heaven, we join with you in anticipating the birth of your son. Prepare our hearts and minds that we may receive this gift from you. And we thank you, God, for your steadfast love and faithfulness. Amen.

^NRS 1 Samuel 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." ² Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." ⁴ Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" ⁵ He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is now before the LORD." 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 does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. 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 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." ¹¹ Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." ¹² He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

This Advent season we will be looking at the Book of Samuel. Samuel is one of the great epic literary works of antiquity. We have it preserved for us in the Old Testament as First and Second Samuel. The reason we have two books is originally the Book of Samuel could not fit on one scroll. It had to be divided into two scrolls, and long after books were invented and Samuel no longer needed to be divided we continued the practice of having two books. But the Book of Samuel is one integrated work that begins with the birth of the prophet Samuel and ends in 1Kings 2 with the death of David.

The book of Samuel was originally written during or shortly after the reign of King David and provided the kingdom with its national history. This makes the story nearly 3000 years old. Sometime during the reign of King Josiah it was edited and incorporated into a longer historical work that included Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Kings, and became part of the Hebrew Scriptures and later our Old Testament.

The central theme of the book of Samuel was whether or not Israel needed for God to anoint a king. This question was important because a new people had immigrated to the land from across the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines had settled along the coast and had brought with them a terrifying new technology. They had mastered the art of smithing iron, and used iron to make swords, spears, helmets, shields and chariots. The Israelites with their bronze weapons were no match. So they cried out for God to anoint a king who would unite the twelve tribes and defeat the feared Philistines. But their prophet, Samuel, told them that there was no need for an anointed king because the LORD, God of Israel, was their king and would protect them. Eventually, though, a king was anointed named Saul, and Saul was able to unite the twelve tribes and deal effectively with the Philistines. But Saul and Samuel constantly argued over the role of the king and prerogatives of prophets and priests. Eventually God decided to anoint a new king to replace Saul.

The reason all of this is important for us is that in Hebrew the word used for “anointed one” is x;yvim; , and when the Old Testament was translated into Greek in the 3^rd Century B.C. the Greek interpreters translated x;yvim; into the Greek word cristo.j. English translators have taken x;yvim; and have transliterated it into “Messiah”, and they have transliterated cristo.j into “Christ”. So literally, “Messiah” and “Christ” both mean exactly the same thing, “the anointed one”. As Christians in Advent, we are waiting for the coming of Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. So understanding the Book of Samuel is crucial in knowing what we are waiting for.

Reading the Book of Samuel teaches us what the words “Christ”, “Messiah” and “the anointed one” are all about. We see in the stories of David what the first century expectations were for the coming of a Messiah. And we can understand why people, when they encountered Jesus, called him the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah. This will help us to prepare ourselves for the coming of the anointed one into our lives the Christmas.

The first thing we see in our scripture today is that “the anointed one” was literally anointed with oil. Samuel was told by God to fill up the ram’s horn with olive oil and anoint a new king. In scripture we are told that three offices were anointed, prophet, priest and king. This anointing set a person aside for God’s purposes not unlike my ordination by the National Capital Presbytery last Sunday. There I knelt down as pastors and elders who have gone me before placed their hands on me and prayed. This ceremony marked my anointing by the Holy Spirit which enables me to preach this Word to you and administer the sacraments at this table.

Next we see that the anointed one of God was a son of Jesse who lived in Bethlehem. This makes the Messiah the descendent of Ruth and Boaz, Rehad and of course Abraham and his great grandson Judah. This gives us the expectation that the coming Messiah will be a member of the tribe of Judah and will be born in Bethlehem. As we will see this expectation will be met when a baby is born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph of the tribe of Judah and descended from the anointed kings of Israel.

Anointing a new king is a dangerous act. In fact it is an act of treason. Samuel had every reason to believe that if Saul found out that he was anointing a new king his own life would be in jeopardy. So Samuel was instructed by God to make a sacrifice in Bethlehem to cover his actions. This links together “the anointed one” with “sacrifice for our sins”. Our expectation is that when the Messiah comes his life will also be in jeopardy, and that his body will be offered as a sacrifice for us in payment of our sins. As we will see these expectations will be met with the death of the Messiah on the cross.

The selection of a Messiah is not up to us. There are no political campaigns for the position of “the anointed one”. Rather the selection of a Messiah is up to God. And God has little concern for looks or age or education or even accomplishments. Being tall and handsome may be an asset when running for political office, but when God chooses a Messiah God looks at the person’s heart, his or her insights and understandings. God is more concerned with how the chosen Messiah thinks then how he or she might look. And God does not always select someone who is older or more experienced or the one everyone else expects will be chosen. Sometimes God chooses the youngest brother out tending the sheep or maybe even a little baby sleeping in a manger, the sheep’s feeding trough.

The anointed one whom God chose was a shepherd of sheep. He cared for the sick and injured lambs. He found the lost sheep and brought them home. He delivered the sheep from the mouths of wild animals, and protected the flock from danger. Our expectation is that the coming Messiah will be the Good Shepherd who lays down his own life for his sheep, who gives his life so that we can live without the judgment of sin hanging over us.

When David was anointed by Samuel the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. This is the Holy Spirit which enabled David to go beyond his work as a shepherd and become a talented musician, a great general of the army, and the greatest king of all. God selected and empowered David to be what God created him to be. And this Holy Spirit also descended upon Jesus empowering him to be the Messiah. The Holy Spirit is still at work today in all of us making us all that we were created to be.

The anointing of David was only the start. As we will see this anointing empowered David to slay a giant, avoid King Saul who was trying to kill him, and deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. It will make him the king of all twelve tribes of Israel and remembered as the greatest leader Israel ever had. But the anointing will not save David from sin. As David’s power grows we will see the harmful effects of sin on David’s life. Being anointed by God is not sufficient to remove sin. For that we need a savior who comes to pay the price the price of our sins so that by the grace of God we are set free from sin. Thankfully when a Messiah does come he is the Savior of the World and in his sacrifice we, the chosen of God, receive the forgiveness of our sins and rebirth into new life.

This is why we gather around this table today. To remember the time when “the anointed one”, the “Messiah”, the “Christ” broke the bread and shared the wine with his chosen people. And told us to keep doing this to remember the sacrifice he made for us and seal his promise of eternal life on our hearts.

Father in heaven, prepare us for the coming of the Messiah. Anoint us as your chosen people. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. And empower us as shepherds to find the lost, heal the sick, feed the hungry and bind up the wounds of the injured. And we thank you for the coming of Christ in the days ahead. We pray this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.