God tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint the next king, a son of Jesse. God tells Samuel to take an animal to sacrifice which will be cover for why Samuel is going to Bethlehem. God tells Samuel not to judge based on appearance alone, but then the text says that David was very dark and handsome.
Meanwhile, Saul is still king. God sends an evil sprit to fill Saul with fear and depression. Woah. What? Is this really happening? My guess is that God is directing the evil spirit to do what the evil spirit already wants to do - torment the king of Israel. Plus, Saul has sinned against God, so the evil spirit is only fulfilling the judgment of God on Saul. Regardless, it is a strange anecdote and comes out of nowhere.
Saul's advisers say they should get a harpist to play nice music to put Saul at ease. They select David, whose music drives away the evil spirit. David now is also getting crucial experience of seeing what a kingly court looks like. Plus, he finds favor before Saul and Saul selects David as his armor-bearer.
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