Introduction: The Transitional Chapter
Chapter 16 is the great transitional chapter in Sefer Shmuel: Shaul has already been rejected from the kingship, and from here onward David's star begins to rise. The chapter is built of two parts: the secret anointing of David in Beit Lechem, and afterward his entry into the king's court as a musician who plays before Shaul. We will go through the pesukim in order, mainly in light of the explanations of the Malbim, and we will add the words of Chazal and the Midrashim that illuminate the matter.
Passing the Sons Before Shmuel: Why Were Two Mentioned by Name?
וַיִּקְרָא יִשַׁי אֶל־אֲבִינָדָב וַיַּעֲבִרֵהוּ לִפְנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר גַּם־בָּזֶה לֹא־בָחַר יְהֹוָה׃ וַיַּעֲבֵר יִשַׁי שַׁמָּה וַיֹּאמֶר גַּם־בָּזֶה לֹא־בָחַר יְהֹוָה׃ וַיַּעֲבֵר יִשַׁי שִׁבְעַת בָּנָיו לִפְנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי לֹא־בָחַר יְהֹוָה בָּאֵלֶּה׃ - And Yishai called Avinadav and passed him before Shmuel, and he said: Neither has Hashem chosen this one. And Yishai passed Shammah, and he said: Neither has Hashem chosen this one. And Yishai passed seven of his sons before Shmuel, and Shmuel said to Yishai: Hashem has not chosen these.
Shmuel saw that Eliav was not chosen, and Yishai went on and passed the next son. We must understand: why does the text mention Avinadav by his name, and Shammah by his name, while all the rest it mentions collectively, "Hashem has not chosen these"? The commentators explain that Eliav, Avinadav and Shammah still had some connection to the kingship. There was regarding them a "hava amina" (an initial supposition): by virtue of their stature, by virtue of the fear of Heaven within them, by virtue of their capacity for leadership, there was something in them that was fit for kingship, and they were the closest to being worthy. But with the rest of the sons there was not even a hava amina. They were rejected from the outset, they were not fit at all, and therefore they were all included together: "Hashem has not chosen these."
"Are the Lads All Here?" - A Question That Is Not a Question
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי הֲתַמּוּ הַנְּעָרִים וַיֹּאמֶר עוֹד שָׁאַר הַקָּטָן וְהִנֵּה רֹעֶה בַּצֹּאן וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי שִׁלְחָה וְקָחֶנּוּ כִּי לֹא־נָסֹב עַד־בֹּאוֹ פֹה׃ - And Shmuel said to Yishai: Are the lads all here? And he said: There still remains the youngest, and behold, he is tending the flock. And Shmuel said to Yishai: Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.
The Malbim asks: what does "Are the lads all here?" mean? After all, Hashem told Shmuel explicitly that he would anoint one of the sons of Yishai, so what is the question? Rather, this is not a question but a statement: it must be that you have not sent all of them. The Holy One, blessed be He, told me, "For I have seen among his sons a king for Me," and behold, I see here no one fit to reign. If so, whose word is fulfilled, Hashem's word or yours? It cannot be that the lads are all here.
And then Yishai answers: "There still remains the youngest, and behold, he is tending the flock." There are two reasons here: first, he is the youngest, and it is the way of the youngest to keep to the background and conceal himself. And second, someone had to be left responsible for the flock, and one cannot leave the flock alone. And Shmuel's response is an ultimatum: "Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down until he comes here." We do not sit to the meal and we do not recline until he comes here.
And here is a great wonder: Shmuel asked to bring all the sons, and Yishai did not bring him. And not only did he not bring him, but when he was pressed again, he makes excuses and explains why it is not worthwhile: he is the youngest, he is with the flock, he is not part of the matter. And Shmuel stands firm: we are not smoothing things over here, until you bring him we do not continue. What is the meaning of this?
David's Secret: Why He Was Hidden From His Father's House
It is brought in the Midrashim and in the holy books that David's birth did not come about in a natural manner. In Yishai's time, the halachah of "an Ammonite but not an Ammonitess, a Moabite but not a Moabitess" was not yet clarified, and they thought that all of Ammon and Moav were forbidden to enter the congregation. This halachah was unsteady in their hands, and we will see later that even Doeg the Edomite, at a later period, raises this issue. Therefore Yishai feared for himself: after all, I am the grandson of Rut the Moabitess, and if Rut is a Moabitess, and a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem forever, I am not fit to enter the congregation. At the time of his marriage he indeed gathered all the sages and the beit din so that they would approve the marriage and no doubt would remain, but the matter kept resurfacing. So much so, that when David strikes Goliath and Shaul asks "Whose son is this lad," for he sees in him the bearing of royalty, Doeg the Edomite says to him: the question is not whether he is fit to reign, but whether he is fit to enter the congregation at all.
Yishai wanted to purify his line from that point onward. He already had six sons, and he said: I want at least one more son, so I will have continuity in Israel, one about whom I can be certain that my seed is pure. And how can one purify one's line, and even purify mamzerim? The Gemara says: if a man marries a woman who has the status of a maidservant, and afterward her master frees her, a freed maidservant automatically becomes a Jewess, and when she gives birth the child is fully Jewish. Thus a woman who conceives from him would bear a kosher child without any doubt. Today we have no status of maidservant, and this applies only through a prohibition: one who cohabits with a non-Jewish woman, and she or the son later convert, you have a Jewish child, but it is not his, for biologically he is his son yet halachically a convert who converts is like a newborn child.
Yishai said to his maidservant: designate yourself for this matter for one night. The maidservant heard and thought that something had gone wrong with Yishai, and she went and told his wife, Nitzevet the daughter of Ada'el. Nitzevet said to her: you should know that my husband has not come near me for several years, and his entire concern is that a defective son might be born to him. Come, let us switch. And since they were exceedingly modest, she switched with her, exactly as it was with Yaakov, Rachel and Leah. The maidservant agreed on condition that she make her swear not to tell the master that she had revealed the matter to her, and Nitzevet swore. After some months they saw Yishai's wife pregnant, and Yishai knew he had not come near her for several years, and of the switch he knew nothing. They said: surely she conceived through harlotry.
It was a terrible disgrace that in the household of Yishai's family there should be such a story. For Yishai would "enter with a multitude and leave with a multitude": a hundred thousand people would come to hear a lesson from him. A man who delivered a lesson to myriads, Teddy Stadium would have been too small for him. Yishai was a giant among giants, one of those who died only through the counsel of the serpent, pure and clean without any blemish or flaw. Yishai understood that he could not publicize the matter, and they decided to hush the affair up, but they distanced the mother. And when the child was born, they said: we will make him a shepherd of the flock, perhaps the lion and the bear will come and strike your servant and thus we will be rid of him, and that evil strain and that blemish clinging to the family will depart from us.
About this David says: "I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother's sons." They would distance him: the whole family sits and eats, and David eats in the corner, for he is not one of us. And David says: "That which I did not steal I paid for": if something went missing in the city or a rumor spread, they would immediately say, "That is surely Yishai's son, they have a son who went astray, they keep throwing him out to the flock and do not bring him close, apparently they know he is problematic." "More than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause": more than the hairs of my head I have enemies without any sin. Until beyond the age of twenty they suspected him of being a mamzer, and everyone was certain he was not Yishai's son. On his father's side they did not know the truth at all, and from Heaven the matter was hidden from him, but within the family David was the black sheep.
Now Yishai's conduct is understood. When Shmuel arrived and said to gather his sons, Yishai said to himself: he asked for my sons, and David is surely not my son. He therefore brought his seven sons, even though he had eight sons. And when Shmuel asked, "Are these all the young men," he answered yes, for David from the outset was not among the young men. And when he saw that perhaps Shmuel sensed there was something here, he said, "There yet remains the youngest, and behold he is tending the flock," as if to say: leave him be, do not bring him into the matter. And Chazal say that at that moment Yishai said: Shmuel has come only to reveal my shame. Apparently his whole coming here is only to publicize and disgrace our family. And so he went and hid him.
"And he was ruddy" - when appearance misleads
וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיְבִיאֵהוּ וְהוּא אַדְמוֹנִי עִם־יְפֵה עֵינַיִם וְטוֹב רֹאִי וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה קוּם מְשָׁחֵהוּ כִּי־זֶה הוּא׃ - And he sent and brought him, and he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and of goodly appearance. And Hashem said: Arise, anoint him, for this is he.
With no choice, facing Shmuel's ultimatum, they were forced to bring him. Shmuel sees that he is ruddy and is alarmed. What is ruddy? A person in whom the blood is dominant, a person born under the influence of Mars, who is meant to be a shedder of blood. And who was ruddy? Esav. Shmuel said: woe and alas, a new version of Esav? It cannot possibly be that this one will be the king. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: do not look at his appearance. You look and see a ruddy shedder of blood, but is one born under the influence of Mars necessarily going to be a murderer? He can be a shochet, he can be a mohel, and he can be a hero of Israel who will fight all of Israel's wars and shed the blood of those who rise to destroy us. That one was a shedder of blood not by ruling of the Sanhedrin, and this one sheds blood by ruling of the Sanhedrin and by ruling of a prophet. Arise, anoint him.
And even in the word "arise" there is precision: at first Shmuel did not want to anoint him and did not believe it was he. Chazal say that when David entered, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: My anointed one stands and you sit? This is the anointed one, this is the one destined to be anointed king, and you continue to sit? And then he arose to anoint him.
And what is "beautiful eyes"? That his intellect was well-blended, David had a good temperament and good character traits. As the Gemara says: a bride whose eyes are beautiful, her whole body needs no examination. The intention is not large eyes with mascara, but a good heart. If she has a good heart, that is everything, that is the entire essence, and the rest of the traits need not be examined. So too with David, "beautiful eyes" means that he has everything, and he does everything according to Hashem's will and according to the choice of the Sanhedrin.
The anointing: the stone the builders rejected
וַיִּקַּח שְׁמוּאֵל אֶת־קֶרֶן הַשֶּׁמֶן וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ בְּקֶרֶב אֶחָיו וַתִּצְלַח רוּחַ־יְהֹוָה אֶל־דָּוִד מֵהַיּוֹם הַהוּא וָמָעְלָה וַיָּקָם שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ הָרָמָתָה׃ - And Shmuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of Hashem came upon David from that day onward. And Shmuel arose and went to Ramah.
Shmuel took the horn of oil and anointed David's head in the midst of his brothers. And what is meant by "and the spirit of Hashem rushed upon David"? That he received a spirit of might and a divine spirit, enabling him to lead the people, just as we saw with Shaul, of whom it is said, "and the spirit of Hashem rushed upon him."
Chazal say that at that moment, when David was anointed, his mother opened her mouth and said: "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." She had always known the secret, and all those years she quietly endured the taunts and insults. Shmuel said, "This is the day Hashem has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," and she said, "The stone the builders rejected." A stone is one of the materials used in building, and pinah means a tower, as in "I have cut off nations, their corners (pinotam) are desolate," their towers. Pinah is the important place, as in "the corners (pinot) of the armies, a shepherd from the fields," the officers of the armies. That is, the stone the builders rejected became the central stone of the tower. And do not read habonim (the builders) but habanim (the sons): the sons rejected him, and in the end he was set at the head. "This was from Hashem, it is wondrous (niflat) in our eyes," pele meaning something hidden and concealed: it was hidden from us that he was the one chosen by Hashem, it was hidden from us that he was holy and pure and came through a path of holiness and purity, and not, Heaven forbid, from illicit relations or the like.
Shmuel's Two Errors
Let us note that Shmuel had a double error here: at first he thought Eliav was the chosen one, and afterward he was certain it was not David, and both were mistakes. Chazal say this was as a punishment. For what? When Shaul came searching for the donkeys and asked, "Where is the house of the seer," Shmuel answered him, "I am the seer." Heaven forbid to present the matter in the extreme way I have presented it, but there was here a flaw of the finest degree, entirely beyond our grasp and understanding. The Rambam writes that a prophet's inclination does not overpower him in anything in the world, this is a person who has nullified all the bad traits within him, and yet in the finest degree there can be a failing. He should have said: ask the people, or: what do you seek and in what would you like help, and not say "I am the seer." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You are the seer? In the end you will not see.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל אַל־תַּבֵּט אֶל־מַרְאֵהוּ וְאֶל־גְּבֹהַּ קוֹמָתוֹ כִּי מְאַסְתִּיהוּ כִּי לֹא אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה הָאָדָם כִּי הָאָדָם יִרְאֶה לַעֵינַיִם וַיהֹוָה יִרְאֶה לַלֵּבָב׃ - And Hashem said to Shmuel: Do not look at his appearance or at his tall stature, for I have rejected him, for it is not as man sees, for man sees to the eyes, but Hashem sees to the heart.
And when he saw Eliav he was told "do not look": you do not see. What you see, you see with the eyes, whereas Hashem sees to the heart.
An Evil Spirit from Hashem
וְרוּחַ יְהֹוָה סָרָה מֵעִם שָׁאוּל וּבִעֲתַתּוּ רוּחַ־רָעָה מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה׃ - And the spirit of Hashem departed from Shaul, and an evil spirit from Hashem terrified him.
Pay very close attention to this verse, for we will return to it constantly in what follows, in every place where we see Shaul doing things that do not accord with halachah, with justice, and with fairness. "Uvi'atatu" is from the word be'atah, fear, being terrified: the evil spirit frightened him. The Malbim explains what happened here: as long as the spirit of Hashem fills a person, he is at a very high spiritual level. And the moment that spirit departs from him all at once, a vacuum is created within him. That supernal spirit that had been with him leaves him, and the person is alarmed and stunned by the utter void suddenly created within him, and his mind becomes disturbed. This is what happened with Shaul: a spirit of sadness, a spirit of dread, a spirit of terror began to terrify him, and this is the evil spirit. Therefore all of Shaul's actions that we will see in what follows are not actions that stemmed from rational control, but from that evil spirit that interfered with sound judgment.
All of this came in the wake of the announcement that he would lose the kingship. From the anointing itself he still did not know, for the matter was kept secret. There is a dispute about this: the Malbim says the anointing was done in the presence of ten, Yishai and his eight sons and Shmuel. Opposed to him, he brings in the name of the Abarbanel that even David's brothers did not know of the anointing, so secret was the matter. Whether according to the Abarbanel or according to the Malbim, the anointing did not leave the four cubits of the room, and no one knew of it, for such knowledge would have been a mortal danger.
The Advice of the Servants: The Power of Music
וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדֵי־שָׁאוּל אֵלָיו הִנֵּה־נָא רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים רָעָה מְבַעִתֶּךָ׃ יֹאמַר־נָא אֲדֹנֵנוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ יְבַקְשׁוּ אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ מְנַגֵּן בַּכִּנּוֹר וְהָיָה בִּהְיוֹת עָלֶיךָ רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים רָעָה וְנִגֵּן בְּיָדוֹ וְטוֹב לָךְ׃ - And Shaul's servants said to him: Behold now, an evil spirit of God is terrifying you. Let our master now speak, your servants are before you, let them seek out a man who knows how to play the harp, and it shall be that when the evil spirit of God is upon you, he will play with his hand and it will be well with you.
The servants say to Shaul: you are suffering from the disturbances of an evil spirit that terrifies you. The Malbim explains that the evil spirit here is the illness of melancholy, depression. A person who sinks into a black mood, into sadness, and especially one who reached a high level and fell from the lofty heights to the deepest pit, enters a feeling of depression and loss of the will to live. "Let our lord speak now," and parenthetically "your servants are before you," meaning we are here before you to do whatever you ask, and therefore let him give the command: "let them seek out a man who knows how to play the harp." And as is known, in the words of the Malbim, music transfers the soul from one thing to its opposite: a person hears the sweet sound of a harp and comes to tears, and hears the sound of music and comes to dancing and joy and a desire to emerge from his depression. And they ask only for "a man who knows how to play," without any additional qualities: the main thing is that he knows how to play, and when he plays you will emerge from the feeling of depression.
"Provide me now a man who plays well"
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־עֲבָדָיו רְאוּ־נָא לִי אִישׁ מֵיטִיב לְנַגֵּן וַהֲבִיאוֹתֶם אֵלָי׃ - And Shaul said to his servants: provide me now a man who plays well, and bring him to me.
There are two changes here. They said "a man who knows how to play" and he says "a man who plays well," and they did not say "for me" while he says "provide me now." The Malbim explains that Shaul is coming to tell them: when seeking a musician for an ordinary person who is depressed, it is enough that he knows how to play and does not play off key. But when seeking one for a king, knowing how to play is not enough, rather one needs a proper and fitting person to stand before a king. Not everyone is fit to stand before a king. You cannot take a beggar sitting with a musical instrument in the street and set him to play before the king; the king will kick both him and you down all the stairs. You need a person fit to stand before a king by virtue of his qualities, his character traits, his clothing, his outward appearance, and the royal manners he possesses. Imagine a musician standing before the king and suddenly reaching out to scratch himself, they would take his head off. And so it is said: "Do you see a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before lowly men." A person who stands before a king must meet certain criteria.
And further: before a king one needs one who "plays well." What is his advantage? That he knows exactly which melody stirs the soul, which tune will bring the king out of depression to joy and from sorrow to gladness. This is what is called playing well.
David's praises and Doeg's intention
וַיַּעַן אֶחָד מֵהַנְּעָרִים וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה רָאִיתִי בֵּן לְיִשַׁי בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי יֹדֵעַ נַגֵּן וְגִבּוֹר חַיִל וְאִישׁ מִלְחָמָה וּנְבוֹן דָּבָר וְאִישׁ תֹּאַר וַיהֹוָה עִמּוֹ׃ - And one of the young men answered and said: behold, I have seen a son of Yishai the Beit HaLachmi, who knows how to play, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a handsome man, and Hashem is with him.
Chazal expound that this "one of the young men" is Doeg the Edomite, and everything he said here he intended to say in disparagement of David. How so? He came to tell Shaul that there is someone here whom your son does not equal. He said to him "knows how to play," Shaul answered: so does my son. "A mighty man of valor," so is my son. "A man of war," so is my son, for Yonatan and his lad struck down all the Philistines. "Prudent in speech," understanding one matter from another, so is my son. "A handsome man," so is my son. But when he said "and Hashem is with him," which means that the halacha follows him everywhere, his arguments were silenced, for one cannot say of two people that the halacha follows both of them everywhere.
And Rashi says that he intended to arouse jealousy in him and to cast an evil eye upon him, and this is included in the words: he came to tell him that David is fit for kingship, that all the qualities are in him. Shaul naturally thought that if the kingship fell away from him, his son would inherit it, and therefore he replied "so is my son," my son is fit for kingship and he will continue my dynasty. But when Doeg reached a quality that is not in his son, he could no longer say "so is my son," and this was the decisive blow: this is the king. And from that point feelings of jealousy toward David were aroused in Shaul, which have not yet found expression here, but will become quite clear following the episode of David and Goliath that begins in the next chapter.
Qualities that do not go together
And apart from this the Malbim explains, in the name of the Abarbanel, that all the titles here are seemingly titles that do not go together with a person who knows the science of music to perfection. "Knows how to play," that he knows the science of music. "A mighty man of valor," and who has heard of a brutish poet or a wrestler poet? Usually one comes at the expense of the other. One who develops his body, this often indicates a small mind, and you will not find a muscle man who at the same time serves as a professor at the university. The way of poets is that their imagination is developed but their body is weak, and here he was a mighty man of valor.
"A man of war," this too, for in a man of war you do not find poetic tendencies. He is not a lyrical person occupied with music and song and versifying, which indicate delicacy of soul, but rather is skilled in the strategies of war. "Prudent in speech," against what is usual among poets who are perfected in imagination but mostly lack true intellect. Poets lack practicality and technical knowledge, they do not know from which side to hold a screwdriver or a hammer and nail. The power of imagination is very strong in them, but the practical power, wisdom and common sense are not present. And this is the familiar expression "the absent minded professor": from being so occupied with matters of science he does not know on which side to spread the slice of bread. And here this man is prudent in speech, possessing intellect and counsel.
"A man of good appearance": this too is uncommon, for musicians are generally not men of beauty, form and splendor, yet here he was handsome. "And Hashem is with him": this too runs contrary to the nature of a musician, for if a person is both a musician and handsome, such a person is usually found among immorality, with many women pursuing him, and it is hard to call him righteous. But here, though he plays and though he is handsome, he does not chase after his desires; rather Hashem is with him. Such a person is certainly fit to stand in the king's palace, like Yosef.
From the Flock to the King's Palace
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל מַלְאָכִים אֶל־יִשָׁי וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁלְחָה אֵלַי אֶת־דָּוִד בִּנְךָ אֲשֶׁר בַּצֹּאן׃ וַיִּקַּח יִשַׁי חֲמוֹר לֶחֶם וְנֹאד יַיִן וּגְדִי עִזִּים אֶחָד וַיִּשְׁלַח בְּיַד־דָּוִד בְּנוֹ אֶל־שָׁאוּל׃ - Shaul sent messengers to Yishai and said, "Send me David your son who is with the flock." And Yishai took a donkey laden with bread, a skin of wine, and one kid goat, and sent them with David his son to Shaul.
Notice that at this stage he says only "send me," that is, I am not yet determining that he will stand before me; rather, first send him, for I wish to see him and check whether all that was told me is true. Yishai sends his son with a gift, for it was customary in their times that one going to see the face of a distinguished and great man, and especially a king, brings a present with him.
וַיָּבֹא דָוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל וַיַּעֲמֹד לְפָנָיו וַיֶּאֱהָבֵהוּ מְאֹד וַיְהִי־לוֹ נֹשֵׂא כֵלִים׃ - David came to Shaul and stood before him, and he loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.
Because of all the special qualities within him, everyone loved him. We will see further on that not only Shaul loved him, but the entire nation loved David, on account of those special qualities. And which trait did David possess? The trait of humility. Chazal wrote that whoever is humble, everyone loves him. Observe this in society: a person whom many love, you will find that he is not critical, does not seek out others' faults, gets along with everyone, and speaks at eye level, as we say nowadays.
"And he became his armor bearer": the servant most closely attached to the king. A king has weapons of war, and he does not carry them upon himself all the time, and so he has an armor bearer, who is attached to him constantly, like a minister's aide, though there is no comparison whatsoever. From here, incidentally, comes the expression "nosei kelim" (commentators) that we are familiar with: when we say to look at the nosei kelim on Tanach, or to check in the Shulchan Aruch and its nosei kelim, the intention is to those who clarify its acquisition. The commentators you see around the page are called nosei kelim, for they, as it were, serve the Tanach by carrying its vessels and clarifying its words, and likewise the nosei kelim of the Gemara and of the Rambam.
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל אֶל־יִשַׁי לֵאמֹר יַעֲמָד־נָא דָוִד לְפָנַי כִּי־מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָי׃ - Shaul sent to Yishai, saying, "Let David please stand before me, for he has found favor in my eyes."
At first he said "send me," for he wished to see him. After he had tested him he said "let him please stand before me," I request that he remain here always. Yet we will see further on that even "let him please stand before me" is not complete permanence, for he would go and shepherd his flock from time to time; rather the intention is that he be always ready to stand before him at any hour he is summoned. And here we must note: this closeness did not last long. Shaul began to feel that David posed a threat, and that when he draws near to himself a person fit for kingship he places himself in danger, for he brings him into affairs and he amasses honor and a name among the people, and in effect he brings in the rival and assists him.
"And Shaul Was Relieved and It Was Good for Him"
וְהָיָה בִּהְיוֹת רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים אֶל־שָׁאוּל וְלָקַח דָּוִד אֶת־הַכִּנּוֹר וְנִגֵּן בְּיָדוֹ וְרָוַח לְשָׁאוּל וְטוֹב לוֹ וְסָרָה מֵעָלָיו רוּחַ הָרָעָה׃ - And it was, whenever the spirit of God came upon Shaul, David would take the harp and play with his hand, and Shaul would be relieved and it would be good for him, and the evil spirit would depart from him.
There are three stages here. "And Shaul was relieved": the inner distress that was within him left him. "And it was good for him": this is not merely the removal of the evil but an addition of good: not only did the evil depart, but it turned into a state of joy. And through all this "the evil spirit departed from him," that spirit which was always terrifying him.
This whole introduction is telling us how Hashem arranges events so that David will gradually become accustomed to royal conduct. Until now he was with the sheep, and not only that, but he did not even have a warm home, and now he must enter the world of kingship. The Holy One, blessed be He, prepares the ground. So too it was with Moshe Rabbeinu: he was destined to be a leader, and how does a leader emerge from a nation of slaves? True, Moshe himself was not a slave, since he was from the tribe of Levi, but he was part of a nation of slaves, so how would he know the ways of royalty? For this reason he was raised in Pharaoh's house, and there he learned the conduct of kingship and how a king leads, and afterward he went out as a leader of the people.
From here onward the prophet begins to describe how David's stature keeps rising. Until now he is known among the important people, before the king and before the officers, but how would the people themselves know him? This was a period with no newspapers and no media, and the people had no idea who David was and had never heard his name. And now Hashem wants the entire nation to begin to recognize David, and this too is described to us as part of paving the way to his kingship, that the whole people would come to know and recognize who is being spoken of.
In summary:
Chapter 16 teaches one great principle: "For man looks at the eyes, but Hashem looks at the heart." Shmuel erred regarding Eliav and erred regarding David, Yishai hid his youngest son and thought he had no part in the matter, the brothers rejected him and the people were suspicious of him, and in the end "the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone." At the same time, the moment the spirit of Hashem departed from Shaul a vacuum was created within him, and an evil spirit of melancholy and dread began to terrify him, and from here onward all his actions must be read in the light of this pasuk. And it is precisely that evil spirit that brought David to the king's palace: his harp heals Shaul, his character and his humility win over everyone's heart, and he becomes the king's armor bearer. Thus, in a hidden way, the Holy One, blessed be He, paves the way to the kingship of the house of David.