This coming Lord’s Day we will once again open the Word of the Lord to 1 Samuel 16 as we continue our study of the life of David, the great king of Israel. And our focus will be upon how he became the second king of Israel following the disastrous reign of Saul.

We remember that Saul was not a faithful king since he failed to do the first and most critical thing that every king should do—to listen to and obey the Word of the Lord. And now, in the storyline that we are following, Saul is fading from the scene as the Lord has removed his kingdom from him, and this man named “David”—the man who was ‘after God’s own heart’—appears on the stage of the Biblical drama for the very first time.

And you will also remember that David is one of the most important Bible characters of all, for he uniquely foreshadows the ministry and the reign of a Greater King, the greatest King of all! There would ultimately be One who would descend from David’s royal line as the Savior of the world and the Sovereign Ruler of the entire universe, our Lord Jesus Christ!

But the story of how and why the Lord chose David, the little shepherd boy from Bethlehem, is very interesting and informative. You can read the details in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Of particular interest is the Lord’s word to the prophet Samuel in verse 7: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”