1 Samuel 16:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me David your son, who is with the sheep."

NIV: Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."

NASB: So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, 'Send me your son David, who is with the flock.'

CSB: Then Saul dispatched messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."

NLT: So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, 'Send me your son David, the shepherd.'

KJV: Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

NKJV: Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

Though Saul retains the earthly position of king, God has rejected his claim to the throne (1 Samuel 13:11–14; 15:17–29). Samuel has anointed David to be the next king (1 Samuel 16:1–13). God has also removed His Spirit from Saul, and an evil spirit torments him (1 Samuel 16:14). Aware of the affliction, if not God's rejection of Saul, the sitting king's servants suggest a solution: hire a man to play the lyre. The music will soothe the king when the evil spirit is on him (1 Samuel 16:15–16). Saul agrees and asks his servants to find a skilled musician (1 Samuel 16:17).

One of the servants is ready with a suggestion. David, son of Jesse of Bethlehem, is an outstanding young man in every way (1 Samuel 16:17). Saul now sends a message to Jesse to send David, identifying the young man as the one who is with the sheep. Apparently, Saul's servant knew enough about David to know that he was responsible for shepherding his father's flock (1 Samuel 16:11).

Samuel had warned the people that a king would have the right to simply take the best and brightest of Israel's young people as his own servants (1 Samuel 8:11–13). Saul took advantage of this right regularly (1 Samuel 14:52).

First Samuel 16:14–23 finds King Saul tormented by a harmful spirit sent by God. The Lord's Spirit has left him. Saul's servants are aware of the afflicting spirit and suggest that music would soothe the king during the times of torment. He asks them to recruit a skillful musician to play the lyre when he is affected. One of the servants suggests David, whom he knows to be skilled with the lyre and reputable in character. The servant also recognizes that the Lord is with Samuel. Saul agrees and sends messengers to Jesse. The king quickly comes to love David and even makes him his armor-bearer. When David plays, the harmful spirit leaves. David becomes a permanent servant of the king.

The Lord sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse's sons as king. The Lord reveals His choice to be David, Jesse's youngest son. Samuel anoints the young man. God's Spirit comes on David but departs from King Saul. When the Lord sends a harmful spirit on Saul, his servant suggests that the king recruit David to play the lyre whenever Saul is tormented. Saul does so, and he quickly bonds with David, making the young man his armor-bearer.

First Samuel 16 introduces David to the story of Israel's kings. David is the son of Jesse, who is the grandson of Ruth (Ruth 4:21–22). He will be anointed king as the Lord has rejected Saul (1 Samuel 15:26). The Lord's Spirit leaves Saul and comes to David (1 Samuel 16:13–14); this is different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers today (John 14:26; 2 Timothy 1:14). David becomes a beloved musician and servant to Saul, but the king's heart will become violently jealous (1 Samuel 18:8, 11).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.