Chapter 16 establishes God's choice of David to be the next king. David receives the Holy Spirit to empower and guide him as the king. This chapter also records the Holy Spirit leaving Saul because of his disobedience. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/holyspirit]])
Humans judge others by what they look like, but God judges people by their true inner character. God rejected David's older brothers in favor of David, who truly loved and obeyed him. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/judge]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/love]])
God scolds Samuel with this rhetorical question for his unwillingness to accept God's decision: "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?" It was wrong to mourn because it was God's punishment of Saul. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])