King David is at center stage in today’s readings. As the author of the two psalms we cover today, we get snapshots of him being caught in grievous sin and the ensuing tragedy. The Lord, though he does not forsake his covenant with David, now returns evil for his evil. David, though he is loved by God, fails to be the redemptive figure needed by his people. Jesus fulfills that which was lacking him him.

As we read these things, it is important to remember that, though this is history, it is also about us. In the context of a modern world that is still enslaved to the same sins of every era, we would be wrong to think ourselves any more advanced than they. Messed up family dynamics continue to take place, even in “advanced” nations like ours. There is nothing new under the sun. The scriptures should give us the humility to realize that these stories are about us every bit as much as people in any other time and place. The scriptures are universally true. That is what points to Christ as a universal Savior.

2 Samuel 11

In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. 

One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 

So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam  and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 

Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. 

And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 

At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 

When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war. Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” 

So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house. 

And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” 

“Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” 

Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” 

“Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 

Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home. 

The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 

In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” 

So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. 

And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. 

Joab sent to David a full account of the battle and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle, if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? 

Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth ? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ 

If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’ ” 

So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. 

The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 

Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.” 

Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.” 

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 

And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. 

But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

2 Samuel 12

Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms  and was like a daughter to him. 

Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.” 

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 

Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” 

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 

I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 

Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. 

Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 

This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. 

You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ” 

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” 

“The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. 

Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.” 

After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 

David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth  on the ground. 

The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them. 

On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.” 

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” 

“He is dead,” they replied. 

Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate. 

“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.” 

David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 

But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they  named him Solomon. 

Now the LORD loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him. 

Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress. 

Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. 

Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.” 

So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; and he fought against it and captured it. 

Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold  and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city. 

David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 13

After some time, David’s son Amnon fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of David’s son Absalom. 

Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her. 

Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man, so he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” 

Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” 

Jonadab told him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare it in my sight so I may watch her and eat it from her hand.’ ” 

So Amnon lay down and feigned illness. When the king came to see him, Amnon said, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.” 

Then David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare a meal for him.” 

So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked them. 

Then she brought the pan and set it down before him, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone away!” said Amnon. And everyone went out. 

Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat it from your hand.” 

Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom. 

And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!” 

“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! 

Where could I ever take my shame? And you would be like one of the fools in Israel! Please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 

But Amnon refused to listen to her, and being stronger, he violated her and lay with her. 

Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. “Get up!” he said to her. “Be gone!” 

“No,” she replied, “sending me away is worse than this great wrong you have already done to me!” 

But he refused to listen to her. 

Instead, he called to his attendant and said, “Throw this woman out and bolt the door behind her!” 

So Amnon’s attendant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a robe of many colors, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore. 

And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying bitterly. 

Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Do not take this thing to heart.” 

So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom. 

When King David heard all this, he was furious. And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon for disgracing his sister Tamar. 

Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king. 

And he went to the king and said, “Your servant has just hired shearers. Will the king and his servants please come with me?” 

“No, my son,” the king replied, “we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he was not willing to go, but gave him his blessing. 

“If not,” said Absalom, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.” 

“Why should he go with you?” the king asked. 

But Absalom urged him, so the king sent Amnon and the rest of his sons. 

Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!” 

So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had ordered. Then all the other sons of the king got up, and each one fled on his mule. 

While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom has struck down all the sons of the king; not one of them is left!” 

Then the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn. 

But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the sons of the king, for only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar. 

So now, my lord the king, do not take to heart the report that all the sons of the king are dead. Only Amnon is dead.” 

Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man standing watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road west of him, along the side of the hill. And the watchman went and reported to the king, “I see men coming from the direction of Horonaim, along the side of the hill.” 

So Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have arrived! It is just as your servant said.” 

And as he finished speaking, the sons of the king came in, wailing loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly. 

Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day. 

After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years. And King David  longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.

2 Samuel 14

Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 

So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time. 

Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth. 

When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!” 

“What troubles you?” the king asked her. 

“Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead. 

And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 

Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed. Then we will cut off the heir as well!’ So they would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the earth.” 

“Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.” 

But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.” 

“If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!” 

“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” 

“As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.” 

Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” 

“Speak,” he replied. 

The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son? 

For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him. 

Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant. 

For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’ 

And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel  of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’ ” 

Then the king said to the woman, “I am going to ask you something; do not conceal it from me!” 

“Let my lord the king speak,” she replied. 

So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” 

The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say. 

Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.” 

Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.” 

Joab fell facedown in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “your servant knows that he has found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted his request.” 

So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 

But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the king. 

Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw. 

And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard. 

Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. 

Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king. Then he sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. 

So Absalom sent a second time, but Joab still would not come. 

Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” 

And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. 

Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?” 

“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.” 

So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

2 Samuel 15

Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. 

Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” 

Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.” 

And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.” 

Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. 

Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 

After four  years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD. 

For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’” 

“Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron. 

Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’ ” 

Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter. 

While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. 

So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing. 

Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” 

And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.” 

The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.” 

Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace. 

So the king set out with all the people following him. He stopped at the last house, and all his servants marched past him—all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath. 

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland. 

In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.” 

But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!” 

“March on then,” said David to Ittai. So Ittai the Gittite marched past with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 

Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness. 

Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices  until the people had passed out of the city. 

Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. 

But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.” 

The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan. 

See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 

So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there. 

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went. 

Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” 

So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” 

When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. 

David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. 

But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’ 

Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace. 

Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.” 

So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, 

according to Your loving devotion; 

according to Your great compassion, 

blot out my transgressions. 

Wash me clean of my iniquity 

and cleanse me from my sin. 

For I know my transgressions, 

and my sin is always before me. 

Against You, You only, have I sinned 

and done what is evil in Your sight, 

so that You may be proved right when You speak 

and blameless when You judge. 

Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; 

I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 

Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; 

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; 

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 

Let me hear joy and gladness; 

let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 

Hide Your face from my sins 

and blot out all my iniquities. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

and renew a right spirit within me. 

Cast me not away from Your presence; 

take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, 

and sustain me with a willing spirit. 

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, 

and sinners will return to You. 

Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, 

the God of my salvation, 

and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. 

O Lord, open my lips, 

and my mouth will declare Your praise. 

For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; 

You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; 

a broken and a contrite heart, 

O God, You will not despise. 

In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; 

build up the walls of Jerusalem. 

Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, 

in whole burnt offerings; 

then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Psalm 3

O LORD, how my foes have increased! 

How many rise up against me! 

Many say of me, 

“God will not deliver him.” 

Selah  

But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, 

my glory, and the One who lifts my head. 

To the LORD I cry aloud, 

and He answers me from His holy mountain. 

Selah 

I lie down and sleep; 

I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. 

I will not fear the myriads 

set against me on every side. 

Arise, O LORD! 

Save me, O my God! 

Strike all my enemies on the jaw; 

break the teeth of the wicked. 

Salvation belongs to the LORD; 

may Your blessing be on Your people. 

Selah

In some ways, the reign of King David is the high water mark of Israelite history. As I personally read through the Old Testament, I cannot help but rejoice in the mutual blessing of King David and his Lord. David was blessed by the Lord, even as he blessed the Lord. The relationship between God and man has always been mutual in some ways. We are most blessed when we have a right heart toward the Lord, blessing him in all we do. And we are never more cursed than when we turn away from him.

Similarly, we see the bitter seeds of bitterness planted in David’s marriage with Michal, which is embodied for the rest of her life in Michal’s barrenness. Blessing and cursing are choices. We choose how to interpret one another. Many see the harshness of life and curse the Lord for allowing evil things to transpire. Others see his loving kindness and bless his name even despite many sufferings. The Lord is the same in both cases, but different people to choose to receive him differently. Likewise, there are many people who are unhappily married to people that they are blessed to have. It is a choice to be ungrateful and entitled. May we be a people who choose gratitude and service rather than bitterness and resentment.

2 Samuel 6

David again assembled the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all. 

And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah  to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name— the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. 

They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart, bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark. 

David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. 

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled. 

And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God. 

Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day. 

That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 

So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 

Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and all his household. 

Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” 

So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing. 

When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. 

And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD, while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn. 

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. 

So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 

When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts. 

Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each for his own home. 

As soon as David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.” 

But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD, and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.” 

And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

2 Samuel 7

After the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 

And Nathan replied to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 

But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in? 

For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved about with a tent as My dwelling. 

In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders  I appointed to shepherd My people Israel, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’ 

Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel. 

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like the greatest in the land. 

And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. 

The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you. 

And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 

He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 

But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I moved out of your way. 

Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.” 

So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire vision. 

Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 

And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord GOD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD? 

What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord GOD. 

For the sake of Your word and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished this great thing and revealed it to Your servant. 

How great You are, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears. 

And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself and to make a name for Himself? You performed great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt. 

For You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God. 

And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised, so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You. 

For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You. 

And now, O Lord GOD, You are God! Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. 

Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”

2 Samuel 8

Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah  from the hand of the Philistines. 

David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute. 

David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River. 

David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots. 

When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men. 

Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went. 

And David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 

And from Betah  and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze. 

When King Toi  of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, he sent his son Joram  to greet King David and bless him for fighting and defeating Hadadezer, who had been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver and gold and bronze, and King David dedicated these to the LORD, along with the silver and gold he had dedicated from all the nations he had subdued— from Edom  and Moab, from the Ammonites and Philistines and Amalekites, and from the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 

And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites  in the Valley of Salt. 

He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went. 

Thus David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people: 

Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; 

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; 

Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; 

Seraiah  was the scribe; 

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; 

and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

2 Samuel 9

Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?” 

And there was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” 

“I am your servant,” he replied. 

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show the kindness of God?” 

Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.” 

“Where is he?” replied the king. 

And Ziba said, “Indeed, he is in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.” 

So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. 

And when Mephibosheth  son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. 

Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” 

“I am your servant,” he replied. 

“Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?” 

Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 

You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” 

Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” 

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table  like one of the king’s own sons. 

And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.

2 Samuel 10

Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun. And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” 

So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites, 

the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?” 

So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away. 

When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.” 

When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob. 

On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. 

The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. 

When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. 

And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites. 

“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue. 

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.” 

So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him. 

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. 

When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. 

Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach  the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them. 

When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought against him. 

But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. 

When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

Psalm 20

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; 

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 

May He send you help from the sanctuary 

and sustain you from Zion. 

May He remember all your gifts 

and look favorably on your burnt offerings. 

Selah 

May He give you the desires of your heart 

and make all your plans succeed. 

May we shout for joy at your victory 

and raise a banner in the name of our God. 

May the LORD grant all your petitions. 

Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; 

He answers him from His holy heaven 

with the saving power of His right hand. 

Some trust in chariots and others in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 

They collapse and fall, 

but we rise up and stand firm. 

O LORD, save  the king. 

Answer us on the day we call.

Psalm 21

O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength. 

How greatly he exults in Your salvation! 

You have granted his heart’s desire 

and have not withheld the request of his lips. 

Selah 

For You welcomed him with rich blessings; 

You placed on his head a crown of pure gold. 

He asked You for life, and You granted it— 

length of days, forever and ever. 

Great is his glory in Your salvation; 

You bestow on him splendor and majesty. 

For You grant him blessings forever; 

You cheer him with joy in Your presence. 

For the king trusts in the LORD; 

through the loving devotion of the Most High, 

he will not be shaken. 

Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; 

Your right hand will seize those who hate You. 

You will place them in a fiery furnace 

at the time of Your appearing. 

In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, 

and the fire will consume them. 

You will wipe their descendants from the earth, 

and their offspring from the sons of men. 

Though they intend You harm, 

the schemes they devise will not prevail. 

For You will put them to flight 

when Your bow is trained upon them. 

Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; 

we will sing and praise Your power.

1 Samuel ended with King Saul and his son Jonathan being killed in battle with the Philistines. Meanwhile David had been sent back to Ziklag to find that his wives and all the city had been abducted. While he was chasing down the plunderers and regaining his loved ones, Saul and Jonathan died among their countrymen.

2 Samuel begins with David learning of their demise and slowly gaining control of the realm. It also begins a feud between Abner and the sons of Zeruiah, which comes to a pretty tragic end. Get ready for a lot more palace intrigue. David’s reign is marked with great prosperity, as well as great sin. What wisdom is there in all of this? For those of us who similarly live in a world drenched in sin and violence?

Here we go…

2 Samuel 1

After the death of Saul, David returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. 

On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage. 

“Where have you come from?” David asked. 

“I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he replied. 

“What was the outcome?” David asked. “Please tell me.” 

“The troops fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” 

Then David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 

“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him. 

When he turned around and saw me, he called out and I answered, ‘Here I am!’ 

‘Who are you?’ he asked. 

So I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 

Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me, but my life still lingers.’ 

So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” 

Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same. 

They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 

And David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” 

“I am the son of a foreigner,” he answered. “I am an Amalekite.” 

So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 

Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died. 

For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ” 

Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar: 

“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. 

How the mighty have fallen! 

Tell it not in Gath; 

proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, 

lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 

and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 

O mountains of Gilboa, 

may you have no dew or rain, 

no fields yielding offerings of grain. 

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, 

the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil. 

From the blood of the slain, 

from the fat of the mighty, 

the bow of Jonathan did not retreat, 

and the sword of Saul did not return empty. 

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, 

were not divided in death. 

They were swifter than eagles, 

they were stronger than lions. 

O daughters of Israel, 

weep for Saul, 

who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, 

who decked your garments with ornaments of gold. 

How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! 

Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. 

You were delightful to me; 

your love to me was extraordinary, 

surpassing the love of women. 

How the mighty have fallen 

and the weapons of war have perished!”

2 Samuel 2

Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” 

“Go up,” the LORD answered. 

Then David asked, “Where should I go?” 

“To Hebron,” replied the LORD. 

So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 

David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron. 

Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” 

So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. 

Now may the LORD show you loving devotion  and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this. 

Now then, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.” 

Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim, and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel. 

Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. 

The house of Judah, however, followed David. 

And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. 

One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 

So Joab son of Zeruiah, along with the servants of David, marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two camps took up positions on opposite sides of the pool. 

Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” 

“Let them get up,” Joab replied. 

So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. 

Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is called Helkath-hazzurim. 

The battle that day was intense, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David. 

The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle, and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit. 

And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” 

“It is,” Asahel replied. 

So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” 

But Asahel would not stop chasing him. 

Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?” 

But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died. 

But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 

The Benjamites rallied to Abner, formed a single unit, and took their stand atop a hill. 

Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?” 

“As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.” 

So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight. 

And all that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning, and arrived at Mahanaim. 

When Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. 

In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing, but they had struck down 360 Benjamites who were with Abner. 

Later, they took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

2 Samuel 3

Now the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was protracted. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 

And sons were born to David in Hebron: 

His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; his fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; his fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital; and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. 

These sons were born to David in Hebron. 

During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had continued to strengthen his position in the house of Saul. 

Meanwhile, Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?” 

Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman! 

May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him: to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 

And for fear of Abner, Ish-bosheth did not dare to say another word to him. 

Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.” 

“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.” 

Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.” 

So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel  son of Laish. 

Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he returned home. 

Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king. 

Now take action, because the LORD has said to David, ‘Through My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and of all their enemies.’ ” 

Abner also spoke to the Benjamites and went to Hebron to tell David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin. 

When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them. 

Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” 

So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace. 

Just then David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid, bringing with them a great plunder. But Abner was not with David in Hebron because David had sent him on his way in peace. 

When Joab and all his troops arrived, he was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, who sent him on his way in peace.” 

So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away! 

Surely you realize that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to track your movements and all that you are doing.” 

As soon as Joab had left David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David was unaware of it. 

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel. 

Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 

May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.” 

(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.) 

Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier. 

When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept. And the king sang this lament for Abner: 

“Should Abner die the death of a fool? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As a man falls before the wicked, so also you fell.” 

And all the people wept over him even more. 

Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!” 

All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them. 

So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner. 

Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel? 

And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

2 Samuel 4

Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed. 

Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin, because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as foreigners to this day. 

And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. 

Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap. 

They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away. 

They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed, and having stabbed and killed him, they beheaded him, took his head, and traveled all night by way of the Arabah. 

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.” 

But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news! 

How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!” 

So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

2 Samuel 5

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. 

Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the LORD said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’ ” 

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel. 

David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 

In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. 

Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.” 

Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). 

On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.” 

So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces  inward. 

And David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of Hosts was with him. 

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 

And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel. 

After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 

These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. 

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went down to the stronghold. 

Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” 

“Go,” replied the LORD, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 

So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, the LORD has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim. 

There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away. 

Once again the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 

So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 

As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has marched out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 

So David did as the LORD had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon  to Gezer.

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD? 

Will You forget me forever? 

How long will You hide Your face from me? 

How long must I wrestle in my soul, 

with sorrow in my heart each day? 

How long will my enemy dominate me? 

Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. 

Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death, 

lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” 

and my foes rejoice when I fall. 

But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; 

my heart will rejoice in Your salvation. 

I will sing to the LORD, 

for He has been good to me.

These chapters have always been so fascinating to me, as David is able to fool the Philistines into thinking that he has betrayed his people. He is able to masterfully maneuver himself around in this dangerous world to advance the cause of his people and rightfully establish himself as the successor to the failed kingship of Saul. One cannot fathom the terror he experienced when his two beloved wives and all of his children were abducted.

The anecdote of the witch and Endor has always been such a strange and revealing one. As Samuel’s presence is, in some sense, revived from the dead, the witch calls him a “god.” The Hebrew word is elohim. It just means ‘spiritual being.’ The fact that our Lord is sometimes called by the same title doesn’t mean that he is one among equals, but that he is chief among a whole host of spiritual beings. This glimpse behind the curtain with this witch tells us that modern spiritualism and its adherents are not imagining things, but are actually tapping into something real. The problem is that, when one is engaging in the spiritual realm outside of Jesus, one is prone to corruption and sin.

There is only one right way to get to the Father, and that is through the Son. All other paths lead to misery and eternal death and suffering.

1 Samuel 26

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

So Saul, accompanied by three thousand chosen men of Israel, went down to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon, but David was living in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had followed him there,

David sent out spies to verify that Saul had arrived.

Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp, with the troops camped around him.

And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?”

“I will go with you,” answered Abishai.

That night David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the troops were lying around him.

Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

But the LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and water jug by his head, and let us go.”

So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

Then David crossed to the other side and stood atop the mountain at a distance; there was a wide gulf between them.

And David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner, “Will you not answer me, Abner?”

“Who calls to the king?” Abner replied.

So David said to Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And who in Israel is your equal? Why then did you not protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?

This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

Then Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?”

“It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.

And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?

Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”

“Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of the young men come over and get it.

May the LORD repay every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. For the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed.

As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and rescue me from all trouble.”

Saul said to him, “May you be blessed, David my son. You will accomplish great things and will surely prevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

1 Samuel 27

David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah. And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing.

Then he would return to Achish, who would ask him, “What have you raided today?”

And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”

David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.

So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

1 Samuel 28

Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”

David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.”

“Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid and trembled violently. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

“There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.

So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I name.”

But the woman replied, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why have you set a trap to get me killed?”

Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.”

“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked.

“Bring up Samuel,” he replied.

But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

“Do not be afraid,” the king replied. “What do you see?”

“I see a god coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.

“What does he look like?” asked Saul.

“An old man is coming up,” she replied. “And he is wearing a robe.”

So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed facedown in reverence.

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

“I am deeply distressed,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

“Why do you consult me,” asked Samuel, “since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?

He has done exactly what He spoke through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.

Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out His burning anger against Amalek, the LORD has done this to you today.

Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground, terrified by the words of Samuel. And his strength was gone, because he had not eaten anything all that day and night.

When the woman came to Saul and saw how distraught he was, she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice. I took my life in my hands and did as you told me.

Now please listen to your servant and let me set a morsel of bread before you so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”

Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. And that night they got up and left.

1 Samuel 29

Now the Philistines brought all their forces together at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

As the Philistine leaders marched out their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched behind them with Achish.

Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?”

Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”

But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?

Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances:

‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright in my sight, and it seems right that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you have no favor in the sight of the leaders.

Therefore turn back now and go in peace, so that you will not do anything to displease the leaders of the Philistines.”

“But what have I done?” David replied. “What have you found against your servant, from the day I came to you until today, to keep me from going along to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

Achish replied, “I know that you are as pleasing in my sight as an angel of God. But the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’

Now then, get up early in the morning, along with your master’s servants who came with you, and go as soon as it is light.”

So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 30

On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”

So Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?”

“Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat— a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”

“I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked.

And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them, but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.

Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute as an ordinance for Israel to this very day.

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir; to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa; to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites; to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach; and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 31

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.

So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.

When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan.

When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

Psalm 57

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy,

for in You my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter

until the danger has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills His purpose for me.

He reaches down from heaven and saves me;

He rebukes those who trample me.

Selah

God sends forth

His loving devotion and His truth.

My soul is among the lions;

I lie down with ravenous beasts—

with men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

may Your glory cover all the earth.

They spread a net for my feet;

my soul was despondent.

They dug a pit before me,

but they themselves have fallen into it!

Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing and make music.

Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;

I will sing Your praises among the peoples.

For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens,

and Your faithfulness to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

may Your glory cover all the earth.

Psalm 63

O God, You are my God.

Earnestly I seek You;

my soul thirsts for You.

My body yearns for You

in a dry and weary land without water.

So I have seen You in the sanctuary

and beheld Your power and glory.

Because Your loving devotion is better than life,

my lips will glorify You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;

in Your name I will lift my hands.

My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

When I remember You on my bed,

I think of You through the watches of the night.

For You are my help;

I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek my life to destroy it

will go into the depths of the earth.

They will fall to the power of the sword;

they will become a portion for foxes.

But the king will rejoice in God;

all who swear by Him will exult,

for the mouths of liars will be shut.

Despite his many flaws, which we will cover later, David is a model of righteousness. In today’s readings, David is persecuted and pursued by Saul. Saul, for his part, is happy to deal with the unscrupulous Doeg the Edomite. By our worldly standards, David would be within his rights to kill Saul when he gets the chance. Incredibly, David chooses to spare Saul’s life when he could have easily taken it.

I named my youngest daughter after the Abigail of these stories. The mixing of beauty and intelligence is an unstoppable force in the world. Such a combination can be used to save many lives, as Abigail does in this story.

1 Samuel 21

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 

“The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place. 

Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 

“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” 

David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the equipment of the young men is holy, as it is even on common missions, and all the more at this time.” 

So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away. 

Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD. And his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief shepherd for Saul. 

Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.” 

The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one.” 

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” 

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 

But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: 

‘Saul has slain his thousands, 

and David his tens of thousands’?” 

Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 

So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard. 

Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me? 

Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”

1 Samuel 22

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. 

And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. 

From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay  with you until I learn what God will do for me.” 

So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold. 

Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. 

Soon Saul learned that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with his spear in hand and all his servants standing around him. 

Then Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse giving all of you fields and vineyards and making you commanders of thousands or hundreds? 

Is that why all of you have conspired against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made a covenant with the son of Jesse. Not one of you has shown concern for me or revealed to me that my son has stirred up my own servant to lie in wait against me, as is the case today.” 

But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 

Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 

Then the king sent messengers to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests at Nob. And all of them came to the king. 

“Listen now, son of Ahitub,” said Saul. 

“Here I am, my lord,” he replied. 

And Saul asked him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him so that he could rise up against me to lie in wait, as he is doing today.” 

Ahimelech answered the king, “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David, the king’s son-in-law, the captain of your bodyguard who is honored in your house? 

Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of my father’s household, for your servant knew nothing of this whole affair—not in part or in whole.” 

But the king replied, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” 

Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” 

But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 

So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” 

And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 

He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep. 

But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 

Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s house. 

Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks your life is seeking mine as well. You will be safe with me.”

1 Samuel 23

Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.” 

So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” 

And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 

But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 

Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 

Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, and carried off their livestock, striking them with a mighty blow. So David saved the people of Keilah. 

(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) 

When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” 

Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men. 

When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 

And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account. 

Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” 

“He will,” said the LORD. 

So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” 

“They will,” said the LORD. 

Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth. 

And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand. 

While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. 

And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God, saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.” 

So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home. 

Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon? 

Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.” 

“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me. 

Please go and prepare further. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning. 

Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.” 

So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon, and Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard of this, he pursued David there. 

Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. 

Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!” 

So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth. 

And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.

1 Samuel 24

After Saul had returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.” 

So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to look for David and his men in the region of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 

Soon Saul came to the sheepfolds along the road, where there was a cave, and he went in to relieve himself. And David and his men were hiding in the recesses of the cave. 

So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’ ” 

Then David crept up secretly and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 

Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. 

So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.” 

With these words David restrained his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. 

After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” 

When Saul looked behind him, David bowed facedown in reverence and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? 

Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 

See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. See and know that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life. 

May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you, but my hand will never be against you. 

As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you. 

Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 

May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.” 

When David had finished saying these things, Saul called back, “Is that your voice, David my son?” 

Then Saul wept aloud and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil. 

And you have shown this day how well you have dealt with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 

When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go away unharmed? May the LORD reward you with good for what you have done for me this day. 

Now I know for sure that you will be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 

So now, swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s house.” 

So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 25

When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. 

Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran. 

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 

His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings. 

While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you. 

Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel. 

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ” 

When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited. 

But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. 

Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?” 

So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words. 

And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies. 

Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them. 

Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them. 

They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 

Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!” 

Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 

As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them. 

Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good. 

May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.” 

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him. 

She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant. 

My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent. 

Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal. 

Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you. 

Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live. 

And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling. 

When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel, then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.” 

Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day! 

Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. 

Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.” 

Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.” 

When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light. 

In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead. 

On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” 

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage. 

When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.” 

She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 

So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife. 

David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives. But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti  son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

Psalm 34

I will bless the LORD at all times; 

His praise will always be on my lips. 

My soul boasts in the LORD; 

let the oppressed hear and rejoice. 

Magnify the LORD with me; 

let us exalt His name together. 

I sought the LORD, and He answered me; 

He delivered me from all my fears. 

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; 

their faces shall never be ashamed. 

This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; 

He saved him from all his troubles. 

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, 

and he delivers them. 

Taste and see that the LORD is good; 

blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 

Fear the LORD, you His saints, 

for those who fear Him lack nothing. 

Young lions go lacking and hungry, 

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 

Come, children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Who is the man who delights in life, 

who desires to see good days? 

Keep your tongue from evil 

and your lips from deceitful speech. 

Turn away from evil and do good; 

seek peace and pursue it. 

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, 

and His ears are inclined to their cry. 

But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, 

to wipe out all memory of them from the earth. 

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; 

He delivers them from all their troubles. 

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; 

He saves the contrite in spirit. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 

but the LORD delivers him from them all. 

He protects all his bones; 

not one of them will be broken. 

Evil will slay the wicked, 

and the haters of the righteous will be condemned. 

The LORD redeems His servants, 

and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Psalm 52

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? 

The loving devotion of God endures all day long. 

Your tongue devises destruction 

like a sharpened razor, 

O worker of deceit. 

You love evil more than good, 

falsehood more than speaking truth. 

Selah 

You love every word that devours, 

O deceitful tongue. 

Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; 

He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; 

He will uproot you from the land of the living. 

Selah 

The righteous will see and fear; 

they will mock the evildoer, saying, 

“Look at the man 

who did not make God his refuge, 

but trusted in the abundance of his wealth 

and strengthened himself by destruction.” 

But I am like an olive tree 

flourishing in the house of God; 

I trust in the loving devotion of God 

forever and ever. 

I will praise You forever, 

because You have done it. 

I will wait on Your name— 

for it is good— 

in the presence of Your saints.

Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by Your name, 

and vindicate me by Your might! 

Hear my prayer, O God; 

listen to the words of my mouth. 

For strangers rise up against me, 

and ruthless men seek my life— 

men with no regard for God. 

Selah 

Surely God is my helper; 

the Lord is the sustainer of my soul. 

He will reward my enemies with evil. 

In Your faithfulness, destroy them. 

Freely I will sacrifice to You; 

I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. 

For He has delivered me from every trouble, 

and my eyes have stared down my foes.

Psalm 56

Be merciful to me, O God, 

for men are hounding me; 

all day they press their attack. 

My enemies pursue me all day long, 

for many proudly assail me. 

When I am afraid, 

I put my trust in You. 

In God, whose word I praise— 

in God I trust. 

I will not be afraid. 

What can man do to me? 

All day long they twist my words; 

all their thoughts are on my demise. 

They conspire, they lurk, 

they watch my steps 

while they wait to take my life. 

In spite of such sin, will they escape? 

In Your anger, O God, cast down the nations. 

You have taken account of my wanderings. 

Put my tears in Your bottle— 

are they not in Your book? 

Then my enemies will retreat 

on the day I cry for help. 

By this I will know that God is on my side. 

In God, whose word I praise, 

in the LORD, whose word I praise, 

in God I trust; I will not be afraid. 

What can man do to me? 

Your vows are upon me, O God; 

I will render thank offerings to You. 

For You have delivered my soul from death, 

and my feet from stumbling, 

that I may walk before God 

in the light of life.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! There is much to be thankful for. I recorded this one outside. That created a slight buzzing that you can hear in the audio. I’m sorry, friends. I hope you can persevere despite its presence.

Yesterday we saw how Saul ruined his standing with the Lord. Today we get to meet David and watch things quickly sour between Saul and David. Despite the love and quality of the elect, the reprobate have always hated the elect. Moreover, the call of the elect is to bless the reprobate, even as David continues to bless Saul.

A brief note about the role of music therapy. In this section, Saul’s evil spirit is quelled by music. Music can have some happy benefits for people. Even so, it is no cure. At best, it is palliative. The underlying illness is only ever cured by one thing: Jesus. While there is nothing wrong with believers practicing palliative care, we would be wrong to think we are benefiting people truly by offering anything other than Jesus. There is no other name under which people can be saved.

God bless you.

1 Samuel 16

Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” 

“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!” 

The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 

Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.” 

So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?” 

“In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” 

Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.” 

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” 

Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 

Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 

Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 

And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” 

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” 

“Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” 

So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.” 

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah. 

After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress  from the LORD began to torment him. 

Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. 

Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” 

And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.” 

One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.” 

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 

And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David. 

When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer. 

Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 

And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play, and Saul would become well, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.

1 Samuel 17

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 

Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines. 

The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them. 

Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height, 

and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels, and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 

The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him. 

And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 

If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and labor for us.” 

Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!” 

On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid. 

Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons in the days of Saul. And Jesse was old and well along in years. 

The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. And David was the youngest. 

The three oldest had followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem. 

For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand. 

One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain  and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 

Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them. 

They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.” 

So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry. 

And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other. 

Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 

And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard. 

When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear. 

Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.” 

David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 

The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 

Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!” 

“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?” 

Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered. 

Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, who called for him. 

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!” 

But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 

David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 

I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 

Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 

David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 

“Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.” 

Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor. 

David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. 

“I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off. 

And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine. 

Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him. 

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome. 

“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 

“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” 

But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 

This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 

And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” 

As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 

Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 

Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 

David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. 

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 

Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath  and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 

When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 

David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent. 

As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” 

“As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.” 

“Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king. 

So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. 

“Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul. 

“I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.

1 Samuel 18

After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself. 

And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house. 

Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 

And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. 

So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well. 

As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments. 

And as the women danced, they sang out: 

“Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 

And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” 

And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David. 

The next day a spirit of distress  sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. 

So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. 

Therefore Saul sent David away and gave him command of a thousand men. David led the troops out to battle and back, and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him. 

When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back. 

Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 

And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?” 

So when it was time  to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. 

Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 

“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.” 

Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’ ” 

But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.” 

And the servants told Saul what David had said. 

Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’ ” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines. 

When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, 

David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage. 

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy. 

Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

1 Samuel 19

Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. 

But Jonathan delighted greatly in David, so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. 

I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.” 

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you. 

He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?” 

Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.” 

So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before. 

When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him. 

But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress  from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, 

Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night. 

Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 

So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped. 

Then Michal took a household idol  and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. 

When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.” 

But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” 

And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair on its head. 

And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away and he has escaped!” 

Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’ ” 

So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 

When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, he sent messengers to capture him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy. 

When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well. 

So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy. 

Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” 

“At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told. 

So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 

Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 20

Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?” 

“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!” 

But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.” 

Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.” 

So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now. 

If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’ 

If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions. 

Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?” 

“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?” 

Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 

“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” 

So the two of them went out into the field, and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? 

But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father. 

And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die, 

and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” 

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.” 

And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. 

Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty. 

When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel. 

I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target. 

Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 

But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away. 

And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.” 

So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat. 

He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty. 

Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” 

But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?” 

Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.” 

Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you? 

For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!” 

“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?” 

Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David. 

Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David. 

In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him. 

He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 

When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 

Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 

But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.” 

When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more. 

And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’ ” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

Psalm 59

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; 

protect me from those who rise against me. 

Deliver me from workers of iniquity, 

and save me from men of bloodshed. 

See how they lie in wait for me. 

Fierce men conspire against me 

for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD. 

For no fault of my own, 

they move swiftly to attack me. 

Arise to help me, and take notice. 

O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, 

rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; 

show no mercy to the wicked traitors. 

Selah 

They return in the evening, snarling like dogs 

and prowling around the city. 

See what they spew from their mouths— 

sharp words from their lips: 

“For who can hear us?” 

But You, O LORD, laugh at them; 

You scoff at all the nations. 

I will keep watch for You, O my strength, 

because You, O God, are my fortress. 

My God of loving devotion will come to meet me; 

God will let me stare down my foes. 

Do not kill them, 

or my people will forget. 

Scatter them by Your power, 

and bring them down, 

O Lord, our shield. 

By the sins of their mouths 

and the words of their lips, 

let them be trapped in their pride, 

in the curses and lies they utter. 

Consume them in wrath; 

consume them till they are no more, 

so it may be known to the ends of the earth 

that God rules over Jacob. 

Selah 

They return in the evening, 

snarling like dogs 

and prowling around the city. 

They scavenge for food, 

and growl if they are not satisfied. 

But I will sing of Your strength 

and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. 

For You are my fortress, 

my refuge in times of trouble. 

To You, O my strength, I sing praises, 

for You, O God, are my fortress, 

my God of loving devotion.

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

This week we cover the first part of chapter 15 of the Gospel of Matthew.

I am recording on the road to Georgia today. I was pleased that the background noise here wasn’t nearly as loud in the recording as it was in my own ears. I hope it isn’t too distracting to you.

In understanding today’s reading, remember that the urim and the thummim were objects contained in the breastplate of the high priest, which he would use to divine the will of the Lord. Also remember God’s firm requirement that his people obey him. King Saul conducts himself reasonably in two instances today, but he stands condemned because he refuses to obey the letter of God’s law.

Christ said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” These things have not changed. We should keep in mind the standard of obedience to the Lord.

1 Samuel 11

Soon Nahash  the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty  with us, and we will serve you.” 

But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.” 

“Hold off for seven days,” replied the elders of Jabesh, “and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to save us, we will surrender to you.” 

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud. 

Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh. 

When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he burned with great anger. 

He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the land of Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not march behind Saul and Samuel.” 

Then the terror of the LORD fell upon the people, and they turned out as one man. And when Saul numbered them at Bezek, there were 300,000 Israelites and 30,000  men of Judah. 

So they said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’ ” 

And when the messengers relayed this to the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced. 

Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.” 

The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together. 

Then the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Bring those men here so we can kill them!” 

But Saul ordered, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 

Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.” 

So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.

1 Samuel 12

Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king. 

Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 

Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it  to you.” 

“You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.” 

Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” 

“He is a witness,” they replied. 

Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who  appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 

Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers. 

When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 

But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 

Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’ 

So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. 

But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. 

Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you. 

If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well. 

But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers. 

Now, therefore, stand and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 

Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.” 

So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. 

As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 

They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.” 

“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 

Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty. 

Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own. 

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way. 

Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 

But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

1 Samuel 13

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 

He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home. 

Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 

And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. 

Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand  chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. 

Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns. 

Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, remained at Gilgal, and all his troops were quaking in fear. 

And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul. 

So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering. 

Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 

“What have you done?” Samuel asked. 

And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, 

I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” 

“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 

But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.” 

Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men. 

Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 

And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness. 

And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” 

Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 

The charge was a pim  for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad. 

So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons. 

And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

1 Samuel 14

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father. 

Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree  in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men, including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left. 

Now there were cliffs on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh. 

One cliff stood to the north toward Michmash, and the other to the south toward Geba. 

Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” 

His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” 

“Very well,” said Jonathan, “we will cross over toward these men and show ourselves to them. 

If they say, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stay where we are and will not go up to them. 

But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we will go up, because this will be our sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.” 

So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!” 

So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” 

“Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” 

So Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off. 

In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men over half an acre  of land. 

Then terror struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked and panic spread from God. 

Now when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin looked and saw the troops melting away and scattering in every direction, 

Saul said to the troops who were with him, “Call the roll and see who has left us.” 

And when they had called the roll, they saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 

Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.) 

While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 

Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor. 

And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps of the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 

When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle. 

So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven. 

Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food. 

Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 

And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 

Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had charged the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened. 

Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.” 

“My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. 

How much better it would have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been much greater?” 

That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint. 

So they rushed greedily to the plunder, taking sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them on the ground and ate meat with the blood still in it. 

Then someone reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.” 

“You have broken faith,” said Saul. “Roll a large stone over here at once.” 

Then he said, “Go among the troops and tell them, ‘Each man must bring me his ox or his sheep, slaughter them in this place, and then eat. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.’ ” 

So that night everyone brought his ox and slaughtered it there. Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had built an altar to the LORD. 

And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” 

“Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. 

But the priest said, “We must consult God here.” 

So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” 

But God did not answer him that day. 

Therefore Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the troops, and let us investigate how this sin has occurred today. 

As surely as the LORD who saves Israel lives, even if it is my son Jonathan, he must die!” 

But not one of the troops said a word. 

Then Saul said to all Israel, “You stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other side.” 

“Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. 

So Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have You not answered Your servant this day? If the fault is with me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim; but if the fault is with the men of Israel, respond with Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected, but the people were cleared of the charge. 

Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected. 

“Tell me what you have done,” Saul commanded him. 

So Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must die?” 

And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!” 

But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for with God’s help he has accomplished this today.” 

So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die. 

Then Saul gave up his pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own land. 

After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings  of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them. 

He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of its plunderers. 

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. His two daughters were named Merab (his firstborn) and Michal (his younger daughter). 

His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Saul’s uncle Ner. 

Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel. 

And the war with the Philistines was fierce for all the days of Saul. So whenever he noticed any strong or brave man, Saul would enlist him.

1 Samuel 15

Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. 

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt. 

Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction  all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ” 

So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim—200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 

And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” 

So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. 

Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 

He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword. 

Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves  and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless. 

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” 

And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night. 

Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.” 

When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” 

But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?” 

Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.” 

“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” 

“Tell me,” Saul replied. 

And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ 

So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?” 

“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 

The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” 

But Samuel declared: 

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.” 

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 

Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.” 

“I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.” 

As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 

So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 

Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” 

“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.” 

So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. 

Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” 

Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 

But Samuel declared: 

“As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” 

And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal. 

Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 

And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Psalm 10

Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? 

Why do You hide in times of trouble? 

In pride the wicked pursue the needy; 

let them be caught in the schemes they devise. 

For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; 

he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 

In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; 

in all his schemes there is no God. 

He is secure in his ways at all times; 

Your lofty judgments are far from him; 

he sneers at all his foes. 

He says to himself, “I will not be moved; 

from age to age I am free of distress.” 

His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; 

trouble and malice are under his tongue. 

He lies in wait near the villages; 

in ambush he slays the innocent; 

his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless. 

He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; 

he lurks to seize the oppressed; 

he catches the lowly in his net. 

They are crushed and beaten down; 

the hapless fall prey to his strength. 

He says to himself, “God has forgotten; 

He hides His face and never sees.” 

Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! 

Do not forget the helpless. 

Why has the wicked man renounced God? 

He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.” 

But You have regarded trouble and grief; 

You see to repay it by Your hand. 

The victim entrusts himself to You; 

You are the helper of the fatherless. 

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; 

call him to account for his wickedness 

until none is left to be found. 

The LORD is King forever and ever; 

the nations perish from His land. 

You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; 

You will strengthen their hearts. 

You will incline Your ear, 

to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, 

that the men of the earth 

may strike terror no more.

Saul is introduced as a guy who is bad at tracking donkeys, who is super tall, and who seems to have some social malfunction. When it comes time to be publicly named, he is revealed to be hiding in the luggage. He also has a complete personality shift/change when exposed to some prophets. The method of storytelling gives few details about the inner makeup of such a man. We later find that the man is willful and jealous, or rather, these things grow in him as he becomes king.

The sadness of Eli’s dysfunction getting replicated by Samuel with his own sons cannot be overstated. Note the sermon in here about the terrible impact a faithless man and his family have upon the covenant community. Were it not for Samuel’s failure as a father, the people of Israel may have decided to maintain the Lord as their king. Even so, their hearts were far from him. They had already rebelled, and they were going to continue to do so, seeking the world instead of the Lord. In the end, that is how it is today: Folks who say they left the church because of bad behavior, though they might be telling the truth, cannot see the deeper truth that they are in rebellion against God. When we are right with him, then he is our Lord. It really is that simple. May we be blessed with better obedience than the folks we read about in our bibles…

1 Samuel 6

When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months, 

the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.” 

They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.” 

“What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. 

“Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. 

Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land. 

Why harden  your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people on their way as they departed? 

Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 

Take the ark of the LORD, set it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending Him as a guilt offering. 

Then send the ark on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.” 

So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves. 

Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest containing the gold rats and the images of the tumors. 

And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh. 

Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight. 

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 

And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. 

And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day. 

As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 

The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock  on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. 

But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter. 

The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?” 

So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”

1 Samuel 7

Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the LORD and took it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of the LORD. 

And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD. 

Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 

So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD. 

Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.” 

When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged  the Israelites at Mizpah. 

When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. And when the Israelites learned of this, they feared the Philistines and said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 

Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him. 

As the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel. 

Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth-car. 

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” 

So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 

The cities from Ekron to Gath, which the Philistines had taken, were restored to Israel, who also delivered the surrounding territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between the Israelites and the Amorites. 

So Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places. 

Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.

1 Samuel 8

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges  over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 

But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice. 

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 

“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” 

But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. 

Just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 

Now listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.” 

So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 

He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to his own chariots and horses, to run in front of his chariots. 

He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots. 

And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 

He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and grape harvest and give it to his officials and servants. 

And he will take your menservants and maidservants and your best cattle  and donkeys and put them to his own use. 

He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 

When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.” 

Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. 

Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.” 

Samuel listened to all the words of the people and repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 

“Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” 

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.”

1 Samuel 9

Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 

And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people. 

One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” 

So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them. 

When they reached the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Come, let us go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” 

“Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.” 

“If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?” 

The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have here in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.” 

(Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.) 

“Good,” said Saul to his servant. “Come, let us go.” So they set out for the city where the man of God was. 

And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?” 

“Yes, he is ahead of you,” they answered. “Hurry now, for today he has come to the city because the people have a sacrifice on the high place. 

As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.” 

So Saul and his servant went up toward the city, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place. 

Now on the day before Saul’s arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel, 

“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” 

When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule over My people.” 

Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?” 

“I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And when I send you off in the morning, I will tell you all that is in your heart. 

As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And upon whom is all the desire of Israel, if not upon you and all your father’s house?” 

Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?” 

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them into the hall, and seated them in the place of honor among those who were invited—about thirty in all. 

And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.” 

So the cook picked up the leg and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Here is what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat, for it has been kept for you for this occasion, from the time I said, ‘I have invited the people.’ ” So Saul dined with Samuel that day. 

And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house. 

They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went outside together. 

As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I will reveal to you the word of God.” So the servant went on.

1 Samuel 10

Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance? 

When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?” ’ 

Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak  of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 

They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. 

After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person. 

When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you. 

And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.” 

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day. 

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them. 

All those who had formerly known Saul and saw him prophesying with the prophets asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 

Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 

And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place. 

Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” 

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 

“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?” 

And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship. 

After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.” 

Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him. 

So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” 

And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 

So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others. 

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” 

And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” 

Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home. 

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him. 

But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.

Psalm 150

Hallelujah! 

Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre. Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute. Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! 

Hallelujah!

We have completed the Israelite history through Judges. Now it is time to enter the time of the United Kingdom of Israel. The story begins with the miraculous birth of Samuel and leads to the downfall of Eli and his house. Take note of the sermon in that about parents who love this children more than they fear the Lord. Also, take note that the Israelites weren’t able to force God’s hand to proper them on the battlefield. There is never anything we can do to put God in our debt.

I love Samuel and Kings. I’m excited to cover these books with you in the coming weeks. May the Lord bless you as you attend upon these things with me!

1 Samuel 1

Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim  in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 

He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 

Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. 

And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 

But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. 

Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously. 

And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. 

“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 

So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 

In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. 

And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.” 

As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. 

So Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!” 

“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. 

Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.” 

“Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.” 

“May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began eating again, and her face was no longer downcast. 

The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. 

And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. 

So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” 

Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.” 

“Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” 

So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 

Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 

And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 

“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 

I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” 

So they worshiped  the LORD there.

1 Samuel 2

At that time Hannah prayed: 

“My heart rejoices in the LORD 

in whom my horn  is exalted. 

My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, 

for I rejoice in Your salvation. 

There is no one holy like the LORD. 

Indeed, there is no one besides You! 

And there is no Rock like our God. 

Do not boast so proudly, 

or let arrogance come from your mouth, 

for the LORD is a God who knows, 

and by Him actions are weighed. 

The bows of the mighty are broken, 

but the feeble are equipped with strength. 

The well-fed hire themselves out for food, 

but the starving hunger no more. 

The barren woman gives birth to seven, 

but she who has many sons pines away. 

The LORD brings death and gives life; 

He brings down to Sheol and raises up. 

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; 

He humbles and He exalts. 

He raises the poor from the dust 

and lifts the needy from the ash heap. 

He seats them among princes 

and bestows on them a throne of honor. 

For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, 

and upon them He has set the world. 

He guards the steps of His faithful ones, 

but the wicked perish in darkness; 

for by his own strength shall no man prevail. 

Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. 

He will thunder from heaven against them. 

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth 

and will give power to His king. 

He will exalt the horn of His anointed.” 

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest. 

Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD or for the custom of the priests with the people. 

When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 

Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” 

And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!” 

Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they  were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt. 

Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. 

Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 

And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home. 

So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. 

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD. 

Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people. 

No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people. 

If a man sins against another man, God  can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” 

But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death. 

And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man. 

Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? 

And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire. 

Why then do you kick at  My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’ 

Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 

‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained. 

Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no older man will be left in your house. 

You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. 

And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants  will die by the sword of men. 

And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day. 

Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time. 

And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

1 Samuel 3

And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. 

Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce. 

And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room. 

Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located. 

Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 

He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” 

“I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” 

So he went and lay down. 

Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” 

So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” 

“My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” 

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 

Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” 

Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ ” 

So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” 

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 

Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. 

On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his family, from beginning to end. 

I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God  and he did not restrain them. 

Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ ” 

Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” 

“Here I am,” answered Samuel. 

“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.” 

So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. 

“He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.” 

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 

So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 

And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

1 Samuel 4

Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. 

Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 

The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield. 

When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go  with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.” 

So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 

When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that it shook the ground. 

On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” 

And when they realized that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,  the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered  their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. 

Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 

Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!” 

So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 

The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 

That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 

When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. 

When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out. 

Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” 

So the man hurried over and reported to Eli. 

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see. 

“I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” 

“What happened, my son?” Eli asked. 

The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 

As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged  Israel forty years. 

Now Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news of the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth, for her labor pains overtook her. 

As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” 

But she did not respond or pay any heed. 

And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed  from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed. 

“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”

1 Samuel 5

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue. 

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 

But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained. 

That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold. 

Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors. 

And when the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon.” 

So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” 

“It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel. 

But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!” 

Then the Ekronites assembled all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. It must return to its place, so that it will not  kill us and our people!” 

For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was heavy upon it. 

Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord, 

how majestic is Your name in all the earth! 

You have set Your glory 

above the heavens. 

From the mouths of children and infants 

You have ordained praise  

on account of Your adversaries, 

to silence the enemy and avenger. 

When I behold Your heavens, 

the work of Your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, 

which You have set in place— 

what is man that You are mindful of him, 

or the son of man that You care for him? 

You made him a little lower than the angels; 

You crowned him with glory and honor. 

You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; 

You have placed everything under his feet: 

all sheep and oxen, 

and even the beasts of the field, 

the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, 

all that swim the paths of the seas. 

O LORD, our Lord, 

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!