What Does I Samuel 16:21 Mean?

The anointing upon the young shepherd instantly commands the affection of the tormented monarch. In a sequence of divine irony, the failing king is instantly drawn to the individual heaven has authorized to tear the kingdom directly out of his hands. Saul promotes his own replacement to one of the most intimate, highly trusted, and defended positions within the royal court.

We are amazed by the incredible, favor that the Holy Spirit will suddenly, unexpectedly grant to an obscure, faithfully serving believer directly in the eyes of a compromised, powerful secular or religious authority. When a person is carrying the actual, heavy presence of the Lord, even tormented hostile leaders will frequently, inexplicably find themselves trusting them and highly promoting them. We must recognize that this sudden, favor is never intended to compromise our holiness, but exclusively to strategically position us for the impending purposes of the kingdom.

Saul’s immediate love for the true, anointed servant provides a dramatic, beautiful foil precisely to the perfect, eternal love shared between the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father did not love the Son because He was highly useful in soothing a crisis or successfully bearing armor; the Father has eternally loved the Son before the foundation of the world precisely because He is the radiance of divine glory (John 17:24). Christ enters the throne room possessing the eternal favor of heaven itself.