David : The Boy With Oil on His Head

Samuel was sad after all that had happened with Saul. But God said to him, “That’s enough of being sad for Saul. I have rejected him as king. Fill your horn with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. There’s a man named Jesse there, and I have chosen one of his sons to be the next king. Once you get there, I’ll point him out to you.”

So Samuel went to Bethlehem, found Jesse, and invited him and his sons to a sacrifice. Jesse brought seven sons with him — seven impressive-looking young men. Right away Jesse’s oldest son caught Samuel’s eye. He was tall and looked sharp.

Samuel thought to himself, “Surely that tall, impressive young man is the next king.”

God knew what Samuel was thinking and said to Samuel, “Samuel, don’t be impressed by how tall someone is or how they look, for I have rejected the guy you’re looking at. I don’t view things the way people do. People look at the outside, but I look at the heart.”

So Samuel looked at the second son and asked God (instead of jumping to conclusions), “God, is this the son I should pour oil on?”

Nope.

The third son came forward.

Nope.

Fourth son. Nope.

Fifth… Nope.

Sixth… Nope.

Then the seventh son approached Samuel… Do you think this is going to be the one God picked? No. Again God said, “Nope. Not him.”

Samuel looked at all seven sons that were with Jesse. God hadn’t chosen any of them. Hmm… that’s weird.

“Um, Jesse, are these all your sons?” Samuel asked.

“Oh,” replied Jesse, “Well, I mean, I do have my youngest boy, but I didn’t even bother calling him since he’s taking care of our sheep. Plus, he’s just a little fella.”

Samuel smiled. “Send for this little fella… right away. We aren’t moving on until he gets here.”

So Jesse sent for his youngest son while everyone waited.

After quite a long wait, in came the youngest son, David.

“This is the guy I want,” God said. “Anoint him by pouring the oil on his head!”

Samuel brought David near to him, took his horn full of oil and started to pour it over David’s head.

Slowly it flowed, flowed, flowed through David’s hair, down his forehead, over his nose, onto his neck. Soft, soothing, smooth, warm and calming. It felt good. It was like God’s soft touch on him. God’s gentle kindness being poured from above. Comfort and Strength flooded over him. David liked how that felt… and he reveled in it. He delighted in it. He let it flood over him and soak in. David would never forget the feeling of that anointing oil.

Do you remember what God told Samuel about the new king He had chosen? That the man God had picked was a man whose heart and mind were lined up with God’s — a man after God’s heart. David is this man!

And from that day on, the Spirit of God didn’t just come upon David, it RUSHED upon David. God had chosen David to be the NEW future king to lead His children.

But that future hadn’t come yet. David still had some learnin’ and some growin’ up to do. He was still just a shepherd boy. But now he was a shepherd boy with a big future.