Prayer of the Day: O LORD God, You who choose Your servants by grace and anoint them with Your Holy Spirit, fix our hearts not on outward appearances, but on Your mercy revealed in Christ. As You anointed David and sent Your Spirit upon Your Son at His baptism, so strengthen us by the same Spirit, that we may faithfully confess Jesus as our Savior and boldly proclaim His glory in a dark and desperate world; through Jesus Christ, Your Chosen Servant and our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Epiphany season of the church year is centered around Jesus’ glory as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. This has been revealed to us for our salvation. We see that this week in the events of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River. This remarkable event records for us God the Father’s proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God and His Chosen Servant in whom He is well pleased. This is a powerful revelation of glory, to say the least! However, there was a second wonder that took place at the same time. It was the appearing of the Holy Spirit in visible form, resting upon Jesus and abiding with Him. John the Baptist had been told to watch for this as a mark that this person was indeed the Christ who had come into the world. This element brings us a powerful message concerning Jesus’ ministry. We are informed here not only of the glory of God in Christ but also of the Holy Spirit’s role in directing, empowering, and blessing the life and ministry of Jesus. We are informed here as well about others chosen as God’s people to reveal His glory of salvation to the world. Our text this morning takes us back to God choosing and then anointing David, Jesus’ ancestor, to fulfill his role in leading God’s people to this central event in world history. This central event is when David’s Son and David’s Lord would be introduced to the world as the Christ, the Chosen Servant of the LORD.

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I see a king for myself among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the person that I point out to you.” So Samuel did what the LORD had told him to do and went to Bethlehem. Trembling with fear, the elders of the city came to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?” He said, “Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice When they had come, he looked at Eliab and said, “Certainly this is the LORD’s anointed.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at how tall he is, because I have rejected him. For the LORD does not look at things the way man does. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” Then Jesse had Shammah pass by. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse said, “There still is the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him, for we cannot sit down to eat until he comes.” He sent for him and brought him in. David had red hair and striking eyes, and was good-looking. The LORD said, “Get up! Anoint him, because this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD rushed on David with power from that day forward. After that Samuel set out and returned to Ramah.

This is the Word of God. Sanctify us, O Lord, through Your truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
In Christ Jesus, the Chosen Servant of the Father, anointed with the Holy Spirit, dear fellow redeemed: Our first lesson from our text takes us from the lesser to the greater, as the Spirit reveals that—

I. The LORD Chooses His Servants.

It may seem obvious to us that the Lord chooses His servants. However, it isn’t always so obvious, because there are those—and always have been those—who act presumptuously, declaring themselves to be servants of the true God when, in fact, they are not true servants of the LORD.

Consider the events surrounding our text. God had chosen Saul to be the first king of Israel. Saul began as a humble and capable man who served the LORD in defending God’s people against those who were attacking them. Sadly later, Saul himself acted presumptuously—offering a sacrifice to God instead of waiting for God’s appointed servant. Then Saul chose to disobey the LORD’s command to destroy all that the enemies of the LORD possessed, and Saul allowed his soldiers to take cattle and other animals for themselves. When confronted, Saul lied in an attempt to justify his disobedience, claiming the animals were to be offered as sacrifices to God. So it is for those who would serve the LORD but neglect the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In our text, we read how the LORD directed Samuel to anoint Saul’s successor. Samuel was sent to Bethlehem in the territory of Judah, where Samuel was to offer a sacrifice to the LORD among the people living there. Such a sacrifice involved not only offering an animal to the LORD, but also a feast where those invited joined in partaking of the offering, making it a fellowship offering with the LORD.

Samuel was instructed to invite Jesse’s family. Jesse came with seven of his eight sons. Samuel looked at the oldest of Jesse’s sons and saw a fine man—surely a man possessing greatness—but the LORD said, “No, not this one.” And so it went with each of Jesse’s sons until all seven who had come to the feast had been rejected by the LORD. None of them were the chosen servant the LORD would have serve as king of His people Israel.

How was possible for Samuel to see such potential in these men, yet they still were not chosen by the LORD? “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at how tall he is, because I have rejected him. For the LORD does not look at things the way man does. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (v.7) What the LORD saw in the hearts of David’s brothers led the LORD to reject them. They were not to serve the LORD as the LORD had chosen David.

David was only a youth. Jesse didn’t see any point in inviting the youngest of his sons to the feast. Samuel ordered that David be summoned from tending the sheep. Jesse “sent for him and brought him in. David had red hair and striking eyes, and was good-looking. The LORD said, ‘Get up! Anoint him, because this is the one.’ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers.” (vv.12–13a)

There is no record that they were told what this anointing was for. David’s family only knew that David had been chosen by the LORD to serve the LORD in some special way at some time in the future. What was clear was that the LORD had chosen His servant. The basis was not outward appearance, although the words of our text make it clear that David was as fine-looking a young man as the rest of Jesse’s sons. That was not the LORD’s concern. Other spiritual qualities that form the true character of a man were the LORD’s concern. Our LORD sees what others cannot see. We are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Where do such qualities of heart and mind originate? Was David by nature a person of higher moral character than the rest of his family, or for that matter, than the rest of the world? David himself would later reveal his sinful nature to the world when he fell into sinful pride and committed adultery and murder. The Word of God makes it clear that “There is no one who does good. There is not even one.” (Psalm 53:3) If not found naturally in David, where did such qualities begin but in the grace and blessing of God? This grace only expanded as the LORD instructed Samuel to proceed with anointing David. Our text makes it clear that this anointing was something far more than simply an outward designation of one being chosen to serve the LORD.

We stated earlier that our text provides us with a lesson that goes from the lesser to the greater. What was true for David is all the more true for Jesus, who was Himself the Son of God, but as the Son of Man, Jesus was chosen by God to be His Servant—chosen by God to receive special anointing. The closing verse of our text makes a clear statement regarding the LORD’s anointing.

II. The LORD Anoints with the Holy Spirit and Power.

“Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD rushed on David with power from that day forward.” (v.13)

This event was life-changing for David. He wasn’t the same young man that he was before; he was something much more. The difference was the Holy Spirit. With the anointing by Samuel came the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the LORD rushed on David with power from that day forward. The Spirit of the LORD enabled David to be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. The Spirit of the LORD equipped David for important service to the LORD, in serving the LORD’s people from that day forward.

Now let us go forward to David’s greater Son, to Jesus of Nazareth, and the event recorded in our Gospel lesson. Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, and God the Father spoke from heaven, assuring Jesus of the blessing of His heavenly Father as Jesus began His public ministry as the Christ. That ministry would reach its climax at Calvary, where Jesus would destroy the mighty giant of sin and death—that old evil foe, the Devil. He would crush the serpent’s head and win for you salvation. Remember that Jesus, although He was the Son of God, was living in the state of humiliation. He went forward as the Son of Man, as our Champion of salvation.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove and would abide with Him. Even as David was empowered by the Holy Spirit, so Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit from that day forward, so that Jesus, as true man, would be equipped for the task of winning our salvation. Immediately following Jesus’ baptism, we are told: “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.” (Luke 4:1–2)

Following that momentous event of defeating the Devil’s temptations, the Holy Spirit continued to direct Jesus in His ministry: “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” (Luke 4:14–15)

So we see the glory of God in Jesus Christ our Savior—God in man made manifest! We know and we bear witness to the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who has come into the world. He came and paid for all our sins. This is our calling. God has chosen us for this salvation and called us out of the sin of this world. Peter wrote of our place in God’s plan: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

How, then, can we be so certain of this truth of Christ that we know and believe and bear witness to this truth? How dare we speak with confidence to the people in our lives—indeed, to the world? It is because we too have been blessed with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When did that happen? Am I sure that this happened for you and me? I am every bit as certain of this blessed outpouring of the Spirit coming into our hearts and empowering our lives as I am that it happened with David, and that it happened with Jesus. I am certain because the Holy Spirit teaches us this truth in this morning’s Epistle lesson: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:5–6)

It happened for us in our baptism. As certain as you are that you were baptized into Christ Jesus, know that you also have been blessed with the Holy Spirit guiding, directing, and empowering you in your life. He gives us the strength, along with the directive, to speak the truth of Christ for the salvation of sinners. Let us go forth boldly in the spirit of Epiphany, in the Spirit of our God, knowing our sins have been forgiven and proclaiming the glory of our God and Savior Jesus Christ in a sin-darkened—indeed, desperate—world in need of salvation. Amen.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Amen. (Romans 15:13)

—Pastor Theodore Barthels

Austin, MN

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