The Three-Hundred-Fourteenth (YHWH’s Anointed)

I’m reading through the account of David and Saul again, and something stood out to my mind as I read it. David had already been anointed by YHWH for a long time before he finally became king, over ten years and possibly even as long as fifteen years. It’s part of his actions and his mindset from the time he was anointed until he became king that we’re taking a look at this week.

If you recall, Saul was the first king anointed by YHWH to lead Israel. We covered his anointing and the unique circumstances that occurred as a sign to him that he was actually chosen ( 1 Samuel 9:1-10:9). Unfortunately, it was soon after he began to reign that he disobeyed Samuel’s direction and made a sacrifice to YHWH ( 1 Samuel 13:8-14).

At that point, it was the beginning of the end for Saul’s reign. He started commanding ridiculous things like preventing the soldiers from eating until the enemy was defeated ( 1 Samuel 14:24). He also disobeyed YHWH when defeating the Amalekites ( 1 Samuel 15:1-9), an act for which YHWH regretted making Saul king ( 1 Samuel 15:10-11).

It was around that time that YHWH had Samuel anoint the next king, David. We don’t know exactly how old David was when he was anointed, but he was at such a young age that he was thought insignificant enough not to be called to the sacrifice Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to ( 1 Samuel 16:5-11). Once David was anointed, YHWH’s Spirit departed from Saul and he was tormented for the rest of his life by an evil spirit ( 1 Samuel 16:12-14).

Unbeknownst to Saul, it was the newly anointed David that would be the only one able to drive the evil spirit away and give Saul relief ( 1 Samuel 16:22-23). Again, we don’t have an age for when David entered the king’s service, but it was likely while he was in his early teens. The next major event recorded in scripture was David’s defeat of the Philistines’ chief warrior, Goliath.

Based on the fact that David was not already in Israel’s army as a soldier, we know he hadn’t yet reached twenty years old when the fight against Goliath occurred. Saul still called him a boy ( 1 Samuel 17:33) and at twenty is when men in Israel were required to be numbered as being able to serve in the army ( Numbers 1:3). David was still with his father tending sheep while his brothers had already gone to be members of the troops against the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 17:17-20).

For years after being anointed, David did not try and usurp Saul, despite knowing his own status with YHWH. Despite seeing an army paralyzed under Saul’s command at the sight of Goliath, David did not try to take charge and claim his YHWH-appointed position as king. With confidence and the power of YHWH, David simply took his sling and stones and defeated the giant ( 1 Samuel 17:45-51).

Saul kept David in his company, even putting him in charge of troops ( 1 Samuel 18:5). However, David became more liked and respected by the people and the troops than Saul, and Saul began to resent him for it ( 1 Samuel 18:8-9). Despite Saul’s attempts to get rid of David by sending him on nigh impossible tasks ( 1 Samuel 18:20-25), David succeeded in everything he was commanded to do.

David became so esteemed among the troops and people because of his success that it got to the point where Saul finally just started trying to actively kill him, even ordering his son to carry out the task ( 1 Samuel 18:30-19:1). Jonathan loved David though, and confronted his father, Saul, on this. Whether it was simply reason that got through to Saul, or the language of YHWH’s Law and the fact that Saul’s order was, in fact, an order to shed innocent blood, Saul changed his mind and swore not to kill David ( 1 Samuel 19:4-6).

The oath was short-lived though, and soon Saul was on the path to murder David once again ( 1 Samuel 19:9-11). As you read through these episodes though, you have to wonder if it wasn’t the evil spirit working through Saul to try and kill David rather than simply Saul himself. I tend to think it was a team effort. In other words, Saul already had it in his mind to get rid of David due to jealousy of him, and the evil spirit essentially joined in during the times it was tormenting Saul to try and bring about David’s death as well, knowing David had YHWH’s Spirit with him.

Again, through none of these events did David fight back. He knew he was anointed to be king. He knew YHWH was with him, with all the successes he had. He could have easily defended himself against Saul, possibly resulting in Saul’s death and providing the opportunity for him to become king.

Instead, David ran away. Each and every time Saul tried to kill him either directly or through his people, David ran and hid. The mighty warrior that defeated so many in battle, the mightiest fighters among their enemies, chose to escape rather than confront Saul.

Why? Why did David run away rather than fight back? At this point, everyone had to have known that Saul was out to get him, with all the suicide missions he was being sent on and Saul ordering his own son to kill him, even sending his messengers to get David so he could kill him. I don’t think anyone would have blamed David for defending his own life against the king, a king that no one really respected anyway, and they certainly didn’t respect more than David.

To answer that question, we need to get to the point where David actually gets the opportunity to kill Saul. Once Saul’s youngest daughter, who was David’s wife, warned David and he fled, he did not return to Saul’s palace. Instead, he met up with Jonathan who, despite Saul’s previous order to kill David, couldn’t believe his father would try to kill David still ( 1 Samuel 20:1-2).

Jonathan confirmed his father’s bloodthirst for David and told him to flee ( 1 Samuel 20:33, 42). It was during this exile that David ended up receiving and eating the bread of presence ( 1 Samuel 21:1-6), an act recounted by Yeshua when being confronted by Pharisees about his disciples picking heads of grain on Shabbat ( Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5). Even in exile though, David had the hearts of the people, and groups would come stay with him ( 1 Samuel 22:1-2).

Perhaps it was disenchantment against Saul and his leadership, perhaps it was David’s success that drew these people to him. Who could blame the people though? Saul was doing things like killing priests because they helped David ( 1 Samuel 22:13-19).

Even while in exile, David was mustering a fighting force and delivering cities from enemies ( 1 Samuel 23:1-5). When about to be confronted by Saul in a city he saved, David still chose to flee ( 1 Samuel 23:13). He didn’t use his fighting force, about six hundred men, to fight back against Saul. Perhaps David would have been outnumbered, but with all we’ve seen in scripture that YHWH helps small forces overcome many enemies and with David being His anointed, David and his team would have surely succeeded.

During this pursuit by Saul, he had to attend to a higher priority and David and his men escaped ( 1 Samuel 23:27-29). Once finishing his task, Saul took three thousand men to continue to try and capture David and his men ( 1 Samuel 24:2). It was during this run that Saul was given into David’s hands.

Saul was “taking care of business” in a cave…the same cave David and his men were in. YHWH gave David the opportunity to do whatever he desired to Saul ( 1 Samuel 24:3-4).

Instead of take his life, David took a part of Saul’s robe. Yet even in this action, David was grieved for lifting his hand against him! He told his men not to attack and went out to show Saul that he had the opportunity to kill him but didn’t ( 1 Samuel 24:5-11).

Saul wept at David’s righteousness. He rewarded Saul’s evil with good, and Saul realized David was truly meant to be king. He lets David go but has David promise not to end his bloodline once he takes the throne ( 1 Samuel 24:16-22).

This wouldn’t be the last time Saul tried to kill David, but in this instance we see David’s mindset when it comes to King Saul. Regardless of what Saul had done, both to his people, his troops, and to David himself, Saul was still YHWH’s anointed king. Who was David to say that it was no longer Saul’s time to reign?

Even in his interaction with Saul, David compared himself to a dead dog and a flea ( 1 Samuel 24:14). Despite his successes and his anointing, David did not consider himself any more important or worthy of the throne than Saul. Saul was still David’s master, his lord, his king, and he would not do anything to harm him.

Again, David was presented with an opportunity to kill Saul and he told his men not to kill him ( 1 Samuel 26:7-11). This time, he instead took items from near Saul’s head while he and his troops were sleeping…a sleep that was imposed by YHWH Himself.

He called across a gulf to Saul’s army commander, telling him he failed to protect the king ( 1 Samuel 26:13-16). He confronts Saul, again asking why he continues to pursue his servant, and again comparing himself to a flea. Again, Saul swears not to harm David and states that he made a grave mistake in pursuing him ( 1 Samuel 26:17-25).

David did not trust Saul to keep his word, he had been burned by it too many times. Years passed, David continued to fight with his men, and Saul summoned Samuel’s spirit from death to inquire about YHWH being against him. Finally, the Philistines attacked and Saul was mortally wounded, falling on his own sword because of his injury rather than being captured by the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 31:2-6).

When David heard the news, what did he do? Did he rejoice, for the man that pursued him for over a decade had died? No, David instead had the messenger who reported Saul’s death killed because he claimed to have killed the king by his request, out of mercy ( 2 Samuel 1:14-16).

Even a mercy killing of the king, to David, was an act worthy of the death penalty. The status of being YHWH’s anointed should have been enough to keep the man from killing Saul. If you read closely, and recall our studies on the words ger, toshab, and nekar, you’ll find that this Amalekite claiming to have killed King Saul was actually the son of a sojourner, a non-Israelite that had fully joined Israel, even in following YHWH’s commandments.

While this man was as much an Israelite as David based on his parents becoming a part of Israel, there were still customs and thought processes that he did not grow up learning. In the actual event, Saul’s armor-bearer was too afraid to kill Saul even in mercy ( 1 Samuel 31:4), exactly what David said the Amalekite’s reaction should have been. According to David, the status of being YHWH’s anointed should be looked upon with reverence and respect, giving the anointed the same fear as we have of YHWH Himself.

How many people, today or even in David’s day, would look at a man’s actions and lose the respect and reverence that being YHWH’s anointed demands? For those that would maintain the respect, how would that change if they knew they had been anointed to take that man’s place? We should look inside ourselves and consider how we would react if we were in David’s shoes…sandals…and experienced the same thing.

The word “anointed,” and the phrase “have the anointing,” is thrown around a lot today, especially in the evangelical world. The act of being anointed by YHWH is not such a distinct, visible thing as it was in David’s day. We need to really test those who claim to be anointed, but if we find it to be true, we should strive to be just like David was with Saul.

We hope you have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!

-Rob and Sara Gene

The Gospel

We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin ( Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)

The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death ( Romans 6:23)

Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death ( Hebrews 4:15)

His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death ( 2 Corinthians 5:21)

He rose on the third day ( 1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life ( 1 Corinthians 15:17-18, John 3:16)