David's Humble Beginnings and Anointing

We find this amazing story in 1 Samuel 16. After King Saul was rejected by Yah for disobedience, he sent the prophet Samuel with a horn of oil to Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint a king among Jesse's sons. This is David's first appearance, in a very humbled manner. Samuel observed Jesse's sons while listening to Yahweh. When all the brothers in the house passed before Samuel, Yahweh did not approve of any of them. Samuel asked Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Jesse replied, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." This is telling because David was not even invited inside the house for the sacrifice like his brothers, portraying David's humble beginnings – the first form of Tsade. His father Jesse did not consider David worthy of this divine calling to be present.

However, as Yah testifies, "For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." This is why David was a man after God's own heart. In his early years, David grew up humble, the first form of Tsade, and was not considered worthy compared to others. Nonetheless, Yahweh had a different plan. We can relate to this today, as the world is full of outward appearances, vanity, and judgment based on physical attributes. We must remind ourselves to always look at the heart. Even great prophets like Samuel were reminded by Yah to look at the heart.

King David was corrected tremendously, but prophets were still reminded of God's perspective. Samuel was reminded to look at David's heart, not man's outward appearance. Today, the world focuses on outward appearance: dress code, makeup, and so on. While not inherently wrong, we can become fixated on vanity instead of the heart, according to God's word.

Think about it: David was chosen by God, yet he wasn't even invited to the anointing ceremony because they didn't think he was worthy. David's life was a tzadik's life, a humble life, and he was exalted in due time. He paid a heavy price for being anointed by God, being chased by King Saul, and facing opposition from his brothers and some of the people. He had a hard, travailing life, much like Yeshua. Even tzadikim like ourselves need to be reminded to look at the inward heart, not the outward appearance the world focuses on.

As we journey through David's life, we will see him continuously being lifted from humble beginnings to being exalted as king. However, his journey always involved trials that resulted in humility, ultimately exalting him to Yahweh's will.

The next scene is when Elohim sent a distressing spirit upon Saul. Saul's servants suggested finding a harp player. One servant exclaimed, "I have seen a son of Jesse, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and handsome, and the Lord is with him." This is when David was promoted or lifted up in the earthly realm. Saul sent for David, who was still tending sheep, a humbled position. When David came to Saul and stood before him, Saul loved him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer. Although a great honor, for David, who was already anointed king, this was a humbling experience until he was exalted.

1 Samuel 16:22-23 states: "Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, 'Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.' And it was so. Whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him." Remember, when David was anointed, the Holy Spirit came upon him. Saul was in a distressing spirit state, and David, a man of the Holy Spirit, came to play the harp, and the spirit left him. This demonstrates the power of the Holy anointing oil and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Saul began experiencing distressing spirits from Adonai, and David was sent to soothe him because the Holy Spirit was upon him.