- 1And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
- 2And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
- 3And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
- 4And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?
- 5And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
- 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.
- 7But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
- 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.
- 9Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.
- 10Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.
- 11And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
- 12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
- 13Then 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.
- 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
- 15And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
- 16Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
- 17And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
- 18Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.
- 19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.
- 20And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.
- 21And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.
- 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.
- 23And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
KING JAMES VERSION
1 SAMUEL 16
Read the chapter, follow a linked verse, and continue into related Watchman 33 teaching.
CHAPTER VISUAL
1 Samuel 16 — God chooses the shepherd David by the heart, and David later brings music and relief into Saul’s troubled court.
About this illustration
The anointing is primary, while the harp quietly connects David’s later service to Saul. Spiritual realities are conveyed through human response and light without visualizing God or an evil spirit bodily.
Scripture basis: 1 Samuel 16:1–23King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom
EXPLORE THE MESSAGEANCIENT TEXT CONNECTIONS 
Related Watchman 33 Resources
Related 1 Enoch Passages
These links distinguish direct quotation, explicit retelling, strong literary parallel, and broader shared tradition. A parallel does not by itself prove direct dependence.
A chosen sheep rises to leadership amid conflict with the first king and Israel’s enemies.
Archaeological Evidence
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
Late eighth or seventh century BC
Bethlehem Fiscal Bulla
A tiny provenanced clay docket from Jerusalem reads most plausibly 'in the seventh [year] / Bethlehem / [to the ki]ng,' providing the earliest secure extrabiblical attestation of Judahite Bethlehem while leaving the king, commodity, and administrative mechanism unknown.
Micah 5:2 · Ruth 1:1–2 · 1 Samuel 16:1–13
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCECult & worship
Synagogue remodeled AD 244–245; buried about AD 256
Dura-Europos Synagogue and Biblical Wall Paintings
The Dura-Europos synagogue preserves the most extensive surviving cycle of ancient Jewish biblical wall paintings, sealed when the city fell in the third century.
Exodus 14:21–31 · 1 Samuel 16:1–13 · Ezekiel 37:1–14
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCECult & worship
AD 508-509
Gaza Synagogue King David Mosaic
A synagogue floor panel depicting a lyre-playing figure labeled David in Hebrew, discovered near ancient Gaza's port. A direct, labeled example of late antique Jewish reception of David as musician and psalmist, rendered through Greco-Roman Orpheus-like imagery.
1 Samuel 16:14–23 · Psalms 33:1–3 · Psalms 150:3–6
Sermons
The Anointing of the Holy Spirit (2026)
In The Anointing of the Holy Spirit (2026), Pastor Dean Odle calls believers to seek more than routine church activity: the presence, power, guidance, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Beginning with Jesus in Luke 4, Odle argues that Christ ministered as the anointed Son and model for believers, and that the Spirit’s power exposes darkness, breaks bondage, gives authority for witness, and may provoke resistance as well as revival.
Spiritual WarfareHoly Spirit and Spiritual GiftsChristian LivingPrayer and Revival
View sermon The Anointing of the Holy Spirit
In “The Anointing of the Holy Spirit,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a Scripture-centered message about holiness, the anointing, the Holy Spirit. Drawing especially from John 14:12, Luke 4, Colossians 2:9, 1 Timothy 3, the teaching emphasizes that God calls believers to reject compromise and pursue practical holiness. Odle connects that foundation with the conviction that spiritual anointing is given for service and must remain joined to character and obedience.
Doctrine and DiscernmentHoly Spirit and Spiritual GiftsChristian Living
View sermon Trump & the Future of America
Preached immediately after the July 2024 attempt on Donald Trump’s life, this message presents Dean Odle’s belief that God raised Trump as a flawed instrument to restrain evil and give the United States further mercy. Odle recounts prophetic impressions from 2016 onward, compares God’s choices of Cyrus and David, discusses presidential security, foreign policy, political office, and personal dreams, and distinguishes support for an instrument from worship of a politician; those prophetic and political claims remain the speaker’s interpretations.
Bible ProphecyChrist AlonePrayer and RevivalDoctrine and Discernment
View sermon Showing 1–3 of 6 sermons