Go to Bethlehem!
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Reluctant as Samuel may have been in the first place to give Israel a king, once the king had been selected; Samuel remained loyal to him in spite of his mistakes.
To Samuel, as later to David, Saul was ‘the Lord’s anointed’ ([1 Samuel] 24:10).
Samuel’s grief over the course Saul had chosen . . . is evidence of the sincerity of Samuel’s solicitude for him.” “As the first chief of state under a new form of administration, . . . [Saul] had almost hypnotic power over the high-spirited and independence-loving Israelite people. But he had rapidly developed into a despot—cruel, tyrannical, and unforgiving.” Samuel still carried a burden for Saul as a friend gone astray.
The Lord instructed Samuel to go to the home of Jesse the Bethlehemite to anoint one of his sons as the new king of Israel. God instructed him to take a heifer with him to Bethlehem and offer a sacrifice there to the Lord. During his periodic visits, Samuel would often reaffirm the plan of salvation with the residents and encourage promising young men to attend the schools of the prophets. It was routine, therefore, to hold a local meeting and should elicit no questions. The anointing of David was done secretly in much the same manner as that of Saul.
Even the elders, who were present at the feast prepared for Saul and his servant, did not know of his selection. “The only difference between Samuel’s anointing of Saul and his trip to Jesse’s home was that at this time there was already a king, suspicious of every move the prophet made since he had announced the Lord’s rejection of Saul.” As Samuel’s arrival was a surprise, the elders of Bethlehem were concerned that something terrible had happened. Samuel eased their minds, announcing, “Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD” (1 Samuel 16:5). Bethlehem, the City of David, would gain even greater prominence as the birthplace of our Savior—Jesus Christ.
