God sends Samuel to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, with instructions to anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel, a decision God has already made even though Samuel has not yet been told which son it is. Jesse presents seven sons in turn, each passed over by Samuel with the Lord’s confirmation that none of them is the one.

Samuel finally asks Jesse if these are all the sons he has. There is one more, still out with the sheep.

Samuel Almost Chose by the Same Standard Everyone Else Would Have

“When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.'” Even Samuel, a prophet specifically sent for this purpose, is initially drawn to the eldest son’s appearance and bearing. The correction he receives is immediate and direct, before he can act on that first instinct.

God Named the Standard He Was Actually Using

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is not offered as a general principle detached from the moment. It is the specific reason Eliab, and then six more brothers after him, are each turned down in succession.

David Wasn’t in the Room Because No One Thought to Include Him

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse says, “but he is tending the sheep.” The detail is not that David was deliberately excluded out of malice, but that it apparently did not occur to anyone in the house to call him in for a ceremony this significant, until Samuel specifically asked whether there was anyone left.

He Was Anointed and Went Straight Back to the Sheep

“So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” Scripture does not describe a celebration or a change in David’s daily responsibilities immediately following this. The next thing the text records him doing is returning to tend the flock, the same task he had been pulled away from.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height… The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”
1 Samuel 16:7

Seven older brothers stood in that house before anyone remembered the one still in the field. He was anointed the next king of Israel, and went back to the sheep the same day.