If You Don’t First Succeed, Try, Try Again—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 4B (1 Samuel 15-16)

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

16 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 his 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.

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                Although Samuel served as prophet, priest, and judge, serving as God’s primary representative to the tribes of Israel, he was not a king. He also wasn’t a warrior. Since this confederation of tribes faced threats from its neighbors, it wanted a leader who could provide them security. Besides, Samuel’s sons, whom he had placed in positions of leadership were just as corrupt as Eli’s sons. So, with the Philistines offering a constant threat, the people demanded a king. While Samuel wasn’t happy about it, he acquiesced to their demands and anointed Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the king. While Saul had the physical tools to be the leader of the people, he lacked the spiritual tools for the job. As a result, God regrets the anointing of Saul and directs Samuel to start over (1 Sam. 8-15). The reading for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost introduces us to the one whom God will choose to replace Saul. So we start over, hoping the next king does better than the first.

                The text of 1 Samuel is part of a larger narrative that begins in Joshua and continues through 2 Kings. 1 and 2 Samuel tell the story of Israel’s transition from a “tribal society led by various regional ‘judges’ to the dynastic Davidic monarchy” [Patricia K. Tull, “1 Samuel,” in The Preacher’s Bible Handbook, p. 55]. As we’ve seen, the story begins with the birth and call of Samuel. Later, the narrator tells us of the rise and fall of Saul, the first king of Israel. With his fall, including God’s abandonment of Saul, Samuel is directed to go find a new king. In other words, monarchy is now the name of the game. There is no going back to the old system.

                The final straw came after Saul defeated the Amalekites, not sparing anyone, though God had called for the total destruction of the nation (yes, God orders genocide). Saul essentially completes the job except that he spared the king along with the best of the cattle, fatlings, lambs, and everything that had value. Now, when Samuel confronts him about not fulfilling the terms of victory, Saul tells Samuel that he had spared them for the sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. It was a good excuse, but God doesn’t accept it. So Samuel kills the Amalekite king (cuts him into pieces), finishing the job that Saul neglected. Therefore, God rejects Saul because he failed to obey God’s orders. Now, I expect most of my readers will find this part of the story rather distasteful since it portrays God in a rather negative light. Surely this isn’t the God who is love? That leads to another question, is this a different God? But, if we ask that question we move toward Marcionism and we want to stay clear of that. Nevertheless, the story of Saul’s fall raises significant questions about how God is portrayed in the Bible.

                Our reading begins at the end of Chapter 15 of 1 Samuel. Immediately preceding this reading is the story of Samuel’s summary execution of Agag, the Amalekite king. We witness the separation of Samuel and Saul. While Samuel goes to Ramah, Saul goes to his house in Gibeah. According to the narrator, Samuel and Saul would never again see each other until the day of Samuel’s death. As for God, well there is great sorrow at the decision to make Saul the king of Israel.  (1 Sam. 15:34-35).

                After Samuel is informed of God’s intention to start over with a new king, the prophet/priest/judge sets out to fulfill his assignment. However, Samuel doesn’t begin his quest to find Saul’s successor until after God asks Samuel why he is grieving over God’s rejection of Saul. After that question is posed, God instructs Samuel to fill his horn with oil and seek out Jesse of Bethlehem. That’s because God has chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be Saul’s replacement, though the exact identity of this replacement is not yet revealed. Samuel has his assignment, but he’s stymied by fear of Saul who might try to kill him if he finds out that Samuel is going to anoint a rival to the throne. But of course, God has a plan that will help Samuel evade Saul. Yes, God suggests a bit of deception to fool Saul. Take a heifer and if Saul finds out, just tell him you’re going to sacrifice the heifer to the Lord and invite Jesse to join you. Are you getting the sense that God might not play by the rules? So, Samuel heads out with the heifer in tow.

                While the story of sacrificing the heifer might be a ruse to cover Samuel’s tracks, when he gets to Bethlehem, he is confronted by the elders of the village who seem afraid of Samuel. They tremble before this prophet/priest, but he tells them that he has come in peace to offer a sacrifice to Yahweh. He told them to sanctify themselves and join him in the sacrifice. So, he gathered those who wished to come, including Jesse and his sons, for the sacrifice. With the ruse set in place, Samuel can now fulfill the task at hand—anointing a replacement for Saul.

                Normally the process is fairly straightforward. It is the firstborn who receives the inheritance. That is true for a crown as well. Before we get to the selection process we might want to return to Saul’s anointing, where we’re told something about Saul’s stature. We’re told in Chapter 9 that Saul looked like a king. According to the narrator, Saul was “a handsome young man. There was not a man among the Israelites more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else” (1 Sam. 9:2). Surely the next king would also be of similar stature. After all, the king needs to command the nation’s army. So, Samuel begins the process of finding a replacement with what one would assume is the oldest of Jesse’s sons, Eliab.  Samuel is sure this is the one. From his response, he’s sure this is the anointed one. You get the sense that Eliab is like Saul in terms of stature. He looks like a king, and as Mel Brooks might say: “It’s good to be the king.” Unfortunately for Eliab, God says no. This isn’t the one. God lets Samuel in on the new criteria for Israel’s next king. God tells 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” (1 Sam. 16:7). Apparently, character counts in such matters. Or, as Stephen Chapman points out: “Not only is outward appearance an unreliable guide for selecting a leader, it actually misleads. If Saul’s failure has shown nothing else, it is that” [1 Samuel as Christian Scripture, p. 147]. So, Samuel goes down the line to the next son, Abinidab, but he isn’t the chosen one either, nor is Shammah.

After Jesse presents all seven of his sons to Samuel, none of whom God has chosen, Samuel is a bit perplexed. But he knows that God had sent him to Jesse to find the next king. So, Samuel asks Jesse whether all his sons were with him. Jesse, who can’t believe none of the seven were worthy of the crown, tells Samuel that there is one more son, the youngest of the lot who is out in the fields tending the sheep. Samuel instructs Jesse to send for this one. As for Samuel and the rest, they won’t sit down until the forgotten son arrives.  

Finally, the youngest son arrives. We’re told that he was “ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome” (1 Sam. 16:12). We need to keep this description in mind because we’ve already been told that God doesn’t look at the externals but focuses on the heart. Could this be a hint that not all is well with this choice? After all, something similar had been said of Saul. Nevertheless, Samuel is given the all-clear sign from God, who declares to Samuel: “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Having received the proper signal, he gets up and anoints the youngest son in the presence of his family. Surely his brothers, like Joseph’s brothers before him, were none too pleased by this state of affairs. Here was the son who was sent out to tend the sheep who would now be king. With this anointing, we are told that “the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam. 16:13). If we drop down one verse, we’re told that even as the spirit of Yahweh fell on young David, the spirit of the Lord left Saul only to be replaced by an evil spirit who would torment him from then on. Stephen Chapman notes that these two verses suggest that the Spirit can “rest upon one leader at a time, that God’s investment of the spirit in David cannot occur without the removal of that spirit from Saul, an action resulting in bitter consequences” [Chapman, 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture, pp. 145-146]. As for Samuel, he left Bethlehem for Ramah having fulfilled his calling.  A new era has begun for Israel, even if Saul is still the acknowledged king. In fact, David will enter Saul’s service, at least for a time.

 The stories of Saul and David invite serious questions as to the character of God. This is a God who calls and abandons kings, orders genocide, and more. It is easy to read this through a Christian lens and presume that the God of Jesus is a different God. However, that leads to Marcionism and anti-Judaism. So, we must be careful how we read this story.

If we can avoid reading this through supersessionist eyes, perhaps we can gain some insight for our own lives, including the life of our churches. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher offers helpful insight for churches that pick up on the rejection of Saul and the embrace of David.

“In with the new” invariably also meant “out with the old.” The new is typically the easier part; rejecting the old is hard. What seemed to work so well in the past is hard to give up, even when clear mistakes were made. Recognizing mistakes can be the hardest part of change, because it means that “restoration” will involve new directions. Churches search for new pastors that closely resemble the previous—even when times have changed—and sometimes even ignoring clear mistakes of the past. [Connections, p. 75].

As with this story, there are times in our lives when change is required. It might not be easy to discern the right path forward. Besides, we might even grieve the change, but change will be necessary to move forward in the Spirit of God. Perhaps that’s the key point here—our service to God is rooted in God’s Spirit and the gifts that come with the Spirit’s presence in our lives. It is the Spirit that empowers David and empowers us as well. 

Image Attribution: Brauer, Erich, 1929-. Samuel Anoints David, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57946 [retrieved June 8, 2024]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_28199_Bible_paintings_in_Castra_center_Haifa.JPG.