Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.
When the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, all good departed with Him. He had driven away God's grace by willful sin; now the evil spirit had possession of him, and he became prey to fear, rage, and suspicion. God made David his physician, and in serving at court the young shepherd would learn the ways of a kingdom without knowing he was being fitted to rule it.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Samuel 16:14-23
1Sa 16:19-20 Saul thereupon sent to ask Jesse for his son David; and Jesse sent him with a present of an ass’s burden of bread, a bottle of wine, and a buck-kid. Instead of the singular expression לחם חמור, an ass with bread, i.e., laden with bread, the lxx read לחם חמר, and rendered it γόμορ ἄρτων; but this is certainly wrong, as they were...
Commenting on 1 Samuel 16:19-20
Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David--In the East the command of a king is imperative; and Jesse, however reluctant and alarmed, had no alternative but to comply.