It's normal to mourn about sad things but the Lord loves us and doesn't want us to get stuck in sadness and not be able to keep moving ahead with our lives. As King Solomon famously said, there is "a time to mourn and a time to dance". (Ecclesiastes 3:4b) There's nothing wrong with mourning when it's appropriate but there is something wrong with letting ourselves miss out on the time of rejoicing---the time of dancing---when there are things to rejoice about. The Lord has good news for Samuel today. The Lord has chosen the next king of Israel and this king will be everything that Saul isn't. That's good news not only for Samuel but for the whole nation! It's time to stop weeping and start rejoicing.
"The Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.'" (1 Samuel 16:1) Samuel's mourning is a normal response to the condition of Saul's ungodly heart and the end of their friendship but sitting around feeling blue isn't going to change anything. It's not going to change who Saul is and it's not going to change the Lord's decision about Saul. The Lord has some positive action for Samuel to perform and it will be very helpful to him to concentrate on that.
Samuel is willing to go to Bethlehem but wonders how he can accomplish the anointing of a new king without Saul having him executed for treason. "But Samuel said, 'How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.'" (1 Samuel 16:2a) Samuel knows Saul better than anyone else knows him. He's aware of how easily Saul gives in to rage. But even though Saul would consider it treason for Samuel to anoint another man as king, in reality it's not treason because Samuel is acting upon the orders of the Lord and the Lord is a greater authority than King Saul. The Lord is in charge of Israel and her kings. He has the right to promote or depose anyone He chooses.
"The Lord said, 'Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.'" (1 Samuel 16:2b-3) Samuel really is going to take a heifer with him to make a sacrifice. The Lord isn't telling him to lie. The Lord never tempts anyone to sin. As Jesus' brother James informed us, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone." (James 1:13) If someone sees Samuel leading a heifer to Bethlehem and asks him where he's going with it, he'll be telling the truth when he says he plans to make a sacrifice with it at Bethlehem. He just won't be revealing what else he plans to do in Bethlehem.
"Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, 'Do you come in peace?'" (1 Samuel 16:4) Samuel is the Lord's prophet and a former judge of Israel. Since Bethlehem was a small town, the appearance of Samuel is interpreted as a bad sign. The elders think, "Why would this great man go out of his way to visit us unless he has bad news for us? Perhaps the Lord is angry about something and has a word of judgment against us. Samuel is a man of God but that doesn't mean he's a weakling; he slaughtered King Agag of the Amalekites not long ago. Maybe he's come here, upon instruction of the Lord, to put to death someone who has grievously sinned against the Lord."
Samuel puts these men's fears at ease. "Samuel replied, 'Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.' Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice." (1 Samuel 16:5) The men are relieved to know this is an occasion for rejoicing before the Lord and not an occasion for mourning. It is an honor to have the prophet Samuel in their midst. They consider it a blessing for this man of God to come to their town and give thanks to the Lord together with them.
The type of sacrifice Samuel is going to make is not a whole burnt offering. Those were made to acknowledge and atone for sin. Samuel's sacrifice is the type in which the people will share a ceremonial meal together in the attitude that the Lord (the source of all their blessings) is present at the table with them. This is probably a "fellowship offering", which we studied earlier in the Old Testament. There were other types of offerings---a "peace offering", for example---in which the people could share, so we can't say definitively what Samuel called his offering other than it could not have been a whole burnt offering. That would have been a very solemn occasion but the feast over which Samuel presides here in Chapter 16 is an occasion of thankfulness and rejoicing.
There is good reason to be thankful, for the Lord has chosen the next king even though the people don't know it yet. And this king will be a man who loves the Lord. He will be a man who loves his fellow Israelites. He won't be ruled by negative emotions like King Saul. He will be ruled by God's word. Imagine if every country in our day had as its head of state a man or woman who loves the Lord and wants to obey Him! Wouldn't this be a much kinder world to live in? Wouldn't we all be so much better off? Samuel is sad that Saul has no heart for the Lord, and we should all be sad whenever someone rejects the Lord, but at the same time Samuel knows Israel will be better off without King Saul. Israel needs a king who puts the Lord ahead of everyone and everything else. Join us tomorrow as the identity of the future king is revealed to the prophet Samuel.
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