This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in 1 Samuel 16:1-13, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Saul who was the king of Israel. But God was not happy with Saul because he had not been a good king. So God told a man named Samuel to go to the town of Bethlehem and find a new king from among the sons of a man named Jesse.
Samuel was scared to go because he was afraid that Saul would try to hurt him, but God told him to take a heifer with him and say that he had come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. When Samuel arrived in Bethlehem, he invited Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice.
When Jesse’s sons came before Samuel, he thought that the oldest son, Eliab, was surely the one that God had chosen. The Lord instructed Samuel, “Do not base your judgment on his appearance or his height, for I have refused him. The Lord does not see things as humans do; people judge by outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Jesse presented Abinadab to Samuel, but he was not chosen. The same happened with Shammah and seven other sons. Samuel informed Jesse, “The Lord has not selected any of these.”
Then Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons, and Jesse said that he had one more son, but he was out taking care of the sheep. So Samuel asked Jesse to bring that son to him, and when he arrived, God told Samuel that this was the one he had chosen. This son’s name was David.
So Samuel anointed David with oil, which means he put oil on David’s head to show that he was chosen by God. And from that day on, God’s Spirit was with David.
Biblical Lessons
- God chooses people based on what’s in their heart, not just on what they look like on the outside.
- Sometimes the person we least expect can be the one that God chooses.