1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers… Emerson says, "the main enterprise of the world, for splendour and for extent is the upbuilding of a man." Of that enterprise, David, the son of Jesse, the victor of Goliath, the King of Israel, and the Poet of Humanity, is one of the most signal and fruitful examples. It is difficult, if not impossible, to find his peer. David is not only the topmost man of his century, but also the climax of the best life of the chosen people of God, the consummate flower of the religion of Moses in its best days. Hence, with a full recognition of his place in the building up of the life of men. the Hebrew annalists record his career with a fulness of detail, warmth of colour, and rapture of feeling, that belong to no other biography of the ancient Revelation; as that we know "the darling of Israel" as well as we know General Gordon, and better than we know the Apostles Paul and John; as well as we know St. from his "Confessions" and sermons, and far better than we know Socrates from the reports of Xenophon and the dialogues of Plato. It is the real humanness of David that wins all hearts, and perpetually renews his influence in the thought and life of the world. It is David, the man, the young man, the man in the making, that fixes our gaze. He is not a priest exciting a momentary curiosity by superb attire and solemn acting, or kindling awe by an assumed mastery of the secrets of the invisible world. He is not a prophet, starting up out of the desert sands, like the Bedouin Elijah before Ahab, and terrifying us into submission. Nor, indeed, is it his kingly greatness and courtly magnificence that holds us spellbound in his presence. Nor again, is it his physique that gains upon us. It is rather that we see in him one of our very selves, a man springing from the people, sharing their lot, and bearing their misfortunes; but battling on, and still on, using as his strongest weapon that true trust in a spiritual God which is within every man's grasp, and of which he never relaxes his hold. What then is the full tale of this man's upbuilding? How was he put together? 1. Remember first, man is a spirit. We know him as body, as we know electricity by a shock from a battery or a message from a distant friend, or as we know chemical force by its effects. But the body is only the wire along which the spiritual electricity runs, the case in which the actual watch ticks, the pipes and reeds through which the soul of the organist thrills us, the cage in which the bird sings, the tent in which the man dwells. The man is not in the till but in the character, not in the nerve but in the conscience, not in the sense but in the regal will, not in "the outward appearance" but in "the heart." 2. Remember next, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh." Spirit builds spirit. Soul makes soul. "Man does not live by bread alone" — he cannot live without it, but he does not live the life of a man by it, "but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Standing in full view of these eternal principles you are not surprised that the Hebrew historian, with an exuberant enthusiasm and an unquestioning assurance, accounts for David — for all he was and all he did — by the simple and comprehensive statement, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" — came decisively and clearly, and continued to come with character-building energy for evermore. With similar prominence does this fact bulge in all David's references to himself. "Thy humility," i.e., Thy condescension, Thy eagerness to dwell in the heart that is contrite, to guide the spirit that looks for Thy leading, to give strength to those that fight for Thee, to reward all those who serve Thee — this hath made me great. But decisively and fully as this exposition of the upbuilding is given in the Hebrew Scriptures it does not content us. We still ask for light as to the way along which the universal Spirit of God came to, and took possession of him, the method by which the diverse materials of his nature were completed into a spiritual and vital unity, and the processes used in raising them to their maximum of energy and serviceableness. The anointing of David was not only the designation of a successor to Saul; it was also the crowning and perfecting of the long influence of Samuel on David's heart and character. Josephus suggests that as the consecrating oil bathed the flowing locks and fell on the garments of the lad, the prophet "whispered" his kingly destiny in his ear, and so set his whole soul aflame with Divine ambitious, far-reaching yearnings, and oppressive and goading solicitudes. Certainly such Divine whispers have often been heard from human lips. Does not Hugh Miller fix the moment, as one of mental regeneration is which he was roused to the consciousness of the possession of a power superior to that required in shaping stones? Did not Henry Martyn start on a new and higher career after he had been made aware of his possibilities, and inspired by a friend to say, "I verily think I may do something, and I will set about it?" Were not the germs of the new life infused into Saul of Tarsus as he gazed on the angelic patience and undying devotion of Stephen, the first of Christian martyrs? It is God's law. He does not dispense with the human, He uses it. Man is saved by man. The Incarnation and the Cross are the type and pattern of all life, and of all ministry, and of all progress. God flows through man to man. Samuels anoint Davids. (J. Clifford, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. |
    |