From Nancy ,Member # 357
posted 08-20-2002 09:10 PM
=====================

The Anointing of David

Bible Background
PASSAGE: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
And the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to grieve over Saul when I have cast him aside from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have seen Me among his sons a king.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? For should Saul hear, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and you will say, “To sacrifice to the LORD I have come. And you will invite Jesse to the sacrifice. And I Myself shall let you know what you must do, and you will anoint Me the one that I say to you.” And Samuel did what the LORD had spoken, and he came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the town came trembling to meet him and they said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “In peace! To sacrifice to the LORD I have come. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And Jesse purified his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. And it happened when they came that he saw Eliab and he said, “Ah yes! Before the LORD stands His anointed.” And the LORD said to Samuel, “Look not to his appearance and to his lofty stature, for I have cast him aside. For not as humans see, does God see. For mortals see with the eyes, and the LORD sees with the heart.” And Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, “This one, too, the LORD has not chosen.” And Jesse made Shammah pass by, and he said, “This one, too, the LORD has not chosen.” And Jesse made his seven sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are there no more lads?” And he said, “The youngest still is left, and look, he is tending the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him, for we shall not sit to eat until he comes here.” And he sent and brought him. And he was ruddy, with fine eyes and goodly to look on. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is the one.” And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the LORD gripped David from that day onward. And Samuel rose and went to Ramah. (translator, Robert Alter, from The David Story.)

THEME: David is chosen as a leader of the people, not because of appearance or family connections, but because God has looked into his heart.

MEMORY VERSE: (1)

1 Samuel 16:7b “For the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

or

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through the one who strengthens me.”


OBJECTIVES:
· Students will learn the story of David, a shepherd boy, who is chosen to become king over Israel.
· Students will discover that God looks at individuals from the heart. God doesn’t determine our worth by our appearance or by our achievements. God looks at our hearts, our motivations, our desires, who we are on the inside.
· Students will understand that God can use anyone. Regardless of our wealth, power, intelligence, social status, physical appearance, God’s grace can work through us to bring about change in the world.
· Students will understand that God works in the world through the actions and choices of individual people.
· Students will understand that he/she is a child of God, chosen by God, beloved of God.

BACKGROUND:
The books of Samuel cover the transformation of ancient Israel from a loosely connected group of tribes to a centralized monarchy (roughly from 1020 to 961 BCE). The books originally were one continuous narrative, and were divided when they were translated into Greek. The entire book of Samuel would not have fit on the standard scroll length, thus the division into two books.

The authorship of the books is unknown; even the dates for its composition are hotly debated. The original narratives may have been written as early as 900 BCE with later editing during the reign of King Josiah (640 BCE) or the Babylonian Exile (after 587 BCE). (2) Other scholars argue that the entire book was composed in that later period either during the reign of King Josiah or after the Fall of Jerusalem. Regardless of the date, it seems the final author utilized a variety of sources to weave together the narrative history of the monarchy found in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. (3)

Modern readers often have difficulty reading such ancient texts. Are these narratives to be read as historical monographs? Or are they strictly the stuff of legend, an ancient Hebrew version of the King Arthur legends? Gerhard von Rad argued that the core David story marks the beginning of history writing in the Western tradition. (4) The unsparingly realistic portrayal of David with all of his human flaws does point toward an historical core. At the same time, the narrative clearly contains fictional characteristics (interior monologues, private dialogues, literary allusions to other biblical texts). (5)

Perhaps a more helpful view of the narratives is to read them for their historical imagination. Robert Alter compares the texts to the great historical plays of Shakespeare—rooted in history, and yet written to convey deep human truths. (6) To reduce the narratives to either a narrow historical writing or merely a fictional work robs the texts of its theological vibrancy. The writer incorporates historical characters with narrative imagination to convey a depth of insight best savored.

Chapter 16 introduces for the first time the major character of David although he is not mentioned by name until verse 13. The stage is set with the conclusion of Ch. 15:35b, “but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.” God comes to Samuel with a plan to choose a new king.

The complexity of the narrative with its ambiguous presentations of the major characters provides a challenging text to teach. Samuel, the chosen prophet of God, is a cranky, bumbling figure. His sons are corrupt and, despite his wishes, they are not chosen to follow in his footsteps. In several instances Samuel’s own judgment is dubious at best. David, although beloved of God, cooperates with the Philistines, commits adultery and conspires to murder, and struggles to maintain control over his own household.

Even YAHWEH is presented in a contradictory manner. Did God choose Saul and then change God’s own mind later on? Does God play favorites (David over Saul)? Saul is condemned for not following God’s command through Samuel to destroy everything in his attack on the Amalakites (1 Sam. 15:24). And yet, David brings back a large spoil after defeating the Amalekites and he is not chastised (1 Sam. 30:19-20)? Saul confesses and asks for forgiveness, but God rejects him. On the other hand, David is forgiven for his sins without asking for forgiveness (2 Sam. 12:13). Did God conspire with Samuel to hide the upcoming coup’ from Saul (1 Sam. 16:1-3)? (7) The portrayal of God is one who is never under the control of human whims.

The thematic tie in this episode is the word “to see,” (ra’ah). The word carries the added meaning, “ to provide” (16:1b). This is the same unusual word choice that is found in the story of the binding of Isaac in which Abraham answers his son’s question concerning the sacrifice by saying, “God will ‘provide’ a lamb”. There is the sense in which God sees and God provides in a way different from humankind. The narrative in 1 Samuel will contrast the flawed “seeing” of the prophet Samuel, with the “seeing” of God. Verse seven can be translated as the LORD sees “with” or “in” the heart (16:7). Either translation underscores the difference between human judgment and divine wisdom. In the ancient worldview the heart was the seat of understanding or insight. (8) The text uses different verbs to contrast God who “sees” with Samuel who “looks.” (16:7) (9) Samuel sees the handsome firstborn son, Eliab, as a potential king (16:6); but God has rejected that one, just as God has rejected Saul. The connection continues as Saul asks his servants to “’Provide’ for me someone who can play well” (16:17). A servant replies, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse….” And yet, when David comes to play the lyre for him, Saul cannot see what God has already seen in David. The “seeing” of humans does not compare with the “seeing” of God into the heart.

The lowliness of David is underscored by his late birth, not even the seventh son (an important number), but the eighth son of Jesse. He is so lowly that when Jesse is asked to present his sons, he does not even bother to bring David. In contrast with Saul’s father, David’s family is not prominent or wealthy. (9:1) His great-grandmother was a foreigner, a Moabite not an Israelite. Nothing in David’s background would hint at his future status as the beloved king of Israel.

ENDNOTES
1 David: God’s Chosen King, Bible Background, Rotation.org Writing Team, 2002.
2 Alter, Robert, The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel (New York: W. W. Norton, & Co. 1999), xii.
3 Keck, Leander, ed. The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 2. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 950-959.
4 Keck, 952.
5 Alter, xvii.
6 Alter, xvii.
7 Brueggemann, Walter, Theology of the Old Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), 370-372.
8 Alter, 96.
9 Keck, 1099.