Our tendency is to believe God values the most talented and those with the greatest gifts. However, God chose the youngest and the least inexperienced. They were likely more gifted in leadership and had more experience. When Jesse lined his sons up, the older more advanced sons were not the ones that God chose. However, God values what is seemingly small and insignificant. We tend to think bigger is always better. Particularly, here in the West, we value, large and significant. We Learn that God Values Small and Insignificant The word Messiah means “anointed one.” When Samuel anoints David, he provided a picture of the coming Messiah.ġ. In fact, Jesus was called the “Son of David.” When the blind man, Bartimaeus, sat by the side of the road and yelled, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me” he likely knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah ( Mark 10:47). The prophets predicted that the Messiah would come from David’s roots. David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons and it’s almost as if Jesse was thinking, “Surely the youngest wouldn’t be anointed to be king!” However, sure enough, when David came in, the LORD spoke to Samuel and told him to anoint young David, as the next King of Israel.ĭavid went on to be the greatest of all Israel’s king and actually, was in the lineage of Jesus. Jesse hesitated and then told Samuel that he had just one more who was out tending the sheep. Finally, Samuel asked Jesse, if he had any other sons. When Samuel arrived, Jesse brought in each of his sons, starting with the oldest, however, none of them were the LORDs anointed. As Samuel was grieving, the LORD spoke to him and called him to fill his horn with oil and to go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the new King over Israel. The prophet felt deep regret that he had ever anointed Saul as King because Saul no longer followed God whole heartedly. The story is found in 1 Samuel 16 and begins with Samuel the prophet grieving the loss of relationship with Saul. From the story of when Samuel anoints David, we can learn 3 profound lessons about God and the way He works among humanity. The story of Samuel anointing David as the future King of Israel is one of the most pivotal stories in the Old Testament.