1 Samuel 16-17

1 Samuel 16:1-13 – David Chosen as King

For a long time Samuel mourned for Saul’s rejection as king.  Then the Lord said that’s enough.  It’s time to move on, because He has chosen another to be king.  Samuel was to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem, because one of his sons had been chosen.  He was to take a heifer to be sacrificed and ask Jesse to join him.  Then the Lord would show Samuel what to do.  So Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

Jesse had 7 sons who were brought before Samuel, but the Lord said none of them were the chosen one.  He told Samuel to not look at their appearance or height.  The Lord doesn’t look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.  Then Jesse’s youngest son, David who was tending sheep was brought to Samuel.  He was ruddy with handsome features.  The Lord said this is the one.  Samuel anointed David with oil in the presence of his brothers and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord was on David with power.

Do you look for those perfect looks and personality?

Principle:  God looks at the heart not the outward appearance.

1 Samuel 16:14-23 – David Served Saul

“Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” – 1 Sam. 16:14.  Let me clarify this.  God never commits evil, but He can use evil whether it’s through nature, human actions or spiritual beings to accomplish His purposes.  However, we cannot blame our suffering on God’s punishment.  Sin has entered our world in every form.  Suffering will remain a part of our lives as long as we are alive or until Jesus returns.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came on a person temporally for a particular situation, but in the New Testament the Holy Spirit was much better.  When you become a believer, the Holy Spirit comes to you and will never leave.

Saul’s servants saw that he was tormented by this evil so David was brought into the palace to play his harp to soothe Saul and make him feel better.  Saul and David became friends and whenever the evil spirit came on Saul David would play his harp giving Saul relief and the spirit would leave him. 

David was humble and willing to serve as God called him.  He was patient and obedient.

Where has God called you to do special work?

What is keeping you from serving Him?

Principle:  God prepares and gives His children power to serve.

1 Samuel 17 – David Slays Goliath

Philistines continue to harass the Israelites.  They gathered on top of the hillside and the Israelites on the other hillside.  They never attack Israel.  Then one day a champion Philistine, Goliath who was a great warrior standing 9 feet tall stood and shouted at the Israelites to send someone out to fight him.  He wore bronze armor and helmet.  He said whoever wins the other will be the others servants.   Goliath continued to shout day after day at Israel.  Fear paralyzed Saul and the Israelites.

David was still tending sheep and playing the harp for Saul.  He was not old enough to be in the army.  One day David brought food to army camp where his brothers served.  He saw Goliath shouting and taunting the Israelite army.   As Goliath mocked Israel and God, David learned that Saul had offered rewards for anyone who could kill the giant Philistine.  David didn’t care about the size of the Philistine, but that he was disgracing Israel.  David told Saul that he would go and fight him.  His brothers burned with anger when they heard David and dismissed him and called him conceited and wicked.

David knew he was capable and had experience in fighting when he killed lions and bears who were after his sheep.  He showed great courage and faith that God would rescue him just as He had before with the lions and bears.  So Saul allowed him to go fight Goliath.  Saul dressed David in armor, but it was much too heavy so David removed it and went to fight with only the weapons he used to protect the sheep.

When Goliath was David coming, he cursed him.  David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled.  This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head ..… all those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’, and he will give all of you into our hands.”- 1 Sam. 17:45-47.

That’s exactly what happened.  David killed Goliath with his sling and a stone.  Then he cut off his head.  When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they turned and ran.  The Israel pursued them and plundered their camp.

We learn a lot from David.  He was a “man after God’s heart”.  His story points to the greatest King of all, Jesus who came from the line of David.  Jesus and David are very similar.  Samuel revealed God’s choice and John the Baptist revealed Jesus as God’s chosen One; the Holy Spirit came on David and Jesus was full of the Spirit after His baptism; David fought for the honor of God’s name and to protect his people; Jesus died for God’s glory and to free His people from sin; David and Jesus were born in Bethlehem.

When people see you in crisis, do they see you panic?
What Goliath are you facing?

In battle do you run or do you stand firm and fight?

Principle:  A heart filled with passion for God will respond to the Spirits call for courage.

Next time we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  See you here.

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1 Samuel 9-15

1 Samuel 9-10 – Saul Anointed as King

The Israelites wanted a king and God gave them what they wanted.  God chose Saul to be their king.  He was much taller than other men so he would look good when he led an army to war.  Saul’s father, Kish was an important man with wealth and power.  He owned valuable donkeys.  One day the donkeys wandered away so Saul and his servant spent 3 days looking for them.  They went to see the “seer”, which was Samuel in hopes he could help them find the donkeys.  A seer is another name for a prophet.  Prophets could understand what God said and they spoke God’s word to the people. 

This meeting was not a coincidence, but was planned by God.  God told Samuel about Saul and planned for them to meet.  Saul asked Samuel about the donkeys.  Samuel prophesied about the donkeys and told him to stay and hear more from God.  Samuel dealt with Saul as a man who deserves honor.  He had him sit in the most important place and gave him special meat to eat.  Saul stayed at Samuel’s house that night.  God showed Samuel who the people’s king would be and the donkeys. 

Samuel anointed Saul and told him that God anointed him and chose him as leader.  Samuel told Saul 3 things would happen to him on his way home.  This would show him that God had chosen him.  When these things happened, Saul would know Samuel’s words were true and that God was with him.  Then the Spirit of God changed him.  Saul started to prophesy and the people were surprised. 

Samuel called the people together and gave them their king that God had chosen.  Samuel reminded the people that they had refused the Lord as their king.  When they saw Saul they were very happy.  Samuel explained their king wouldn’t be like kings of other nations.  Their king had to lead in the proper way and had rights and duties.  God also had rules for a king.

Are you looking for something right now? 

Whose word will you trust?

Is Jesus your King?

Not everyone was a supporter of Saul, but God puts all government leaders in places of authority for His purposes.  We should respect those in office and pray for them whether we support them and their ideas or not.

Principle:  God puts all government leaders in places of authority for His purposes.

1 Samuel 11-12 – Saul Confirmed as King

The people of the city of Jabesh wanted to surrender and make a treaty with the Ammonites, but the Ammoinites would have nothing to do with that.  They wanted to gouge out the people’s right eye to humiliate the men of the city making them look weak.  It would also make them unable to fight effectively.  Saul required every man to fight, but they were afraid.  When Saul heard this, the Spirit of God came upon Saul and he burned with anger.  So Saul took oxen, cut them into pieces, and scattered the pieces across Israel.  He did this as a warning to those who didn’t follow him.  The people where filled with terror so they followed Saul.  Then Saul and his army went to the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them.

After Saul had rescued the town of Jabesh, the people declared Saul as their king and no one opposed him.  Saul was declared as king on 3 different occasions.  First Samuel anointed him with oil (10:1).  Then God chose Saul from all of Israel (10:17-25). Then the people went to the holy place and everyone knew God gave Saul to them as king. (11:14-15)

Samuel told the people now they have a king just as they wanted.  Samuel was old and gray and had been their leader from his youth.  He had been a good leader.  He was honest and fair and the people could trust him.  Samuel had warned them about having a king.  He led them in the way God wanted and now God chose and anointed Saul as king.  Samuel reminded them of the past that God had given them all they needed.  He rescued them from their enemies.  He had chosen leaders for them who led in battles and had been successful and won their battles.  He reminded them they had stopped worshiping God at times and worshipped idols instead and God letting their enemies defeat them.  When they disobeyed God, they were punished.  If they did it in the future, He would punish them again.  Samuel was stepping aside as their leader, but would continue to serve and pray for them.

Principle: God’s people never outgrow the responsibility to serve Him and His people.

1 Samuel 13-15 – Saul Rejected as King

Israelite soldiers under Saul’s son Jonathan attacked a group of Philistines.  Saul knew this attack would lead to war so he gathered additional soldiers.  Saul was told by Samuel to go to Gilgal and wait 7 days for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices which would seek the Lord’s blessing before they went into battle.  It was important for Saul to wait, because only Samuel was authorized to perform sacrifices.   As Saul saw some of his soldiers deserting, he panicked and became impatient.  Saul was disobedient and didn’t wait.  He performed the sacrifices himself. 

When Samuel arrived and saw what Saul had done, Saul chose to blame others.  Saul failed to follow God and acted on his own in willful disobedience against God’s specific command.  Saul would suffer the consequences.  His kingdom would not endure.  If he had been obedient, God would have established his future kingdom.

Like Saul we don’t always understand all of God’s Word, but we should obey and trust His plans.  We should wait on God and His timing, because He always knows best although we may not see it right away.

When have you surrendered to impatience instead of waiting on the Lord?

When have you trusted God’s timing?

The army had only 600 men left and they were without swords.  Only Saul and his son Jonathan were armed.  Jonathan and his armor-bearer went behind enemy lines while Saul stayed under a tree.  Jonathan showed courage, leadership and faith in God.  He killed 20 men.  God struck the Philistines with panic and the ground shook.  Men scattered.  They began to strike each other.  The Lord rescued His people through Jonathan’s leadership.

Saul made a foolish oath telling the people to not eat before evening causing the men to become weak with hunger as they marched in the woods.  Jonathan didn’t hear the oath and when he found honey he ate it.  After the battle the men were so hungry they slaughtered the enemies’ animals and ate them, which violated God’s law of eating meat with blood till in it.  Saul stopped this sin and built an altar for proper slaughter and sacrifice.

Saul sought guidance from God about whether to attack the Philistines during the night, but no answer came.  Because God didn’t answer, Saul assumed it was because someone had sinned.  Jonathan was revealed as guilty and confessed that he ate honey.  Saul said he must die.  The men insisted that he must not die so Saul relented.

The Amalekites had been Israel’s enemy for 400 years.  God said He intended to completely blot out their name from the earth.  God had withheld His punished on them until now.  He commanded Saul attack and destroy them completely.  Saul gathered his soldiers, attacked and destroyed those near Egypt’s border, but he spared King Agag.  Saul and his men sinned by keeping the good animals for themselves.  This was disobedience to God’s command.

God told Samuel that He was grieved by making Saul king because he didn’t carry out instructions.  Grieved doesn’t mean God had been wrong or changed His mind.  He was just grieving or regretting the people had made bad choices and sinned.  Saul rejected God by not obeying and God rejected Saul as king.

God convicted Saul to confess his sin, but still Saul made excuses and blamed others.  He was concern was not that he sinned, but concerned about his public image.  He only feared how he would look to others.  Samuel told Saul that he had rejected the word of the Lord and now the Lord had rejected him as king over Israel.  Samuel mourned over Saul, but never saw him again.  Saul began his reign well, but success made him put himself before God.  He became self-focused and self-righteous.  Saul continued to rule until he died many years later.  Saul had many problems and was not a good leader.  

When you repent, are you truly sorry or do you take your sin too lightly?

Do you give yourself the benefit of the doubt and say you almost completely obeyed God?

Do you try to blame others for your sin?

Principle:  Obedience to some commands does not justify disobedience to other commands.

When a person disobeys God, they sin.  The Bible calls this rebellion.  There is a warning in 15:23.  Evil magic comes from the devil.  Rebellion is as bad as evil magic.  People who worship idols don’t give honor to God.  They think the idol is better than God.  A proud person thinks that he is the best person.  He gives honor to himself and doesn’t give honor to God or worship Him.  There is good news - God will forgive sin if we repent and turn from it.

No one ever perfectly obeys God.  It may appear we have.  Our righteousness is often “self-righteousness” and our service “self-serving”.  There is only one person whose obedience has been perfect.  That is Jesus Christ.   He is the only one that can claim perfect obedience to the will of God.  It’s this obedience that made it possible of the salvation of unworthy sinners.

Next week we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  Hope to see you here.

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1 Samuel 4-8

1 Samuel 4 – Ark Captured

Israel went to fight the Philistines, but the Philistines defeated Israel and killed about 4,000.  Israel didn’t understand why this happened.  They decided take the Ark with them at the next battle in hopes by having it there they would win the battle.   Eli’s sons went with the Ark.  When the Ark arrived in the Israelite camp the people shouted and the ground shook.  The Philistines heard their shout, which made them afraid.  This motivated them to be strong and to fight harder.  The Philistines and Israel fought, but Israel was defeated.  Israel lost 30,000 soldiers.  The Ark was captured and Eli’s 2 sons died as God had promised.

When Eli who was now 98 years old heard all this, he fell over backwards, broke his neck and died.  His daughter-in-law who was pregnant heard the news, went into labor and died.  She had a son and named him Ishabad and said “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.” – 1 Sam. 4:22

Philistines are people who worshiped the gods of Baal, Astarte, and Dagon.  They were hostile people and often fought with Israelites.  Philistine comes from the Philistines and includes modern-day Israel, Gaze, Lebanon and Syria.  This is known as the Gaza Strip where there is still conflict today.

The Ark was a wooden box that held God’s laws, the Ten Commandments.  It was a symbol of the presence of God.  The lid of the Ark was a mercy seat where sacrifices were made.  God gave it to Israel because He chose them to be His people.  The Israelites thought if they brought it with them in battle, they would defeat the enemy.  Israel didn’t turn to God for help, but wanted to fix it themselves so they brought the Ark as if it were a type of mascot or good luck charm.  They found out that they could not manipulate God to get what they wanted.

How do you try to manipulate God?

Do you manipulate Him by giving money, but not surrendering to Him?

Principle:  God is in control and you cannot manipulate Him into doing what you want.

1 Samuel 5-6 – Ark Returned

The Philistines took the Ark of God to Ashdod, then to the temple of Dagon and set the Ark beside Dagon.  Dagon was a god worshipped by the Philistines.  The next morning they found that Dagon had fallen on his face before the Ark of the Lord.  They put Dagon back in his place and the next morning they found that Dagon had fallen on his face and his head and hands had broken off.  This was a clear that lifeless idols are powerless and the Lord is a Living God.   

The Lord brought devastation upon the people and afflicted them with tumors.  He could have destroyed them, but He wanted them to recognize His judgment and power.  They decided that Ark could not stay here so they took it to Gath.  After they moved it, the Lord afflicted the people of Gath with tumors.  They sent the Ark away again.  This time it was sent to Ekron, but the people of Ekron cried out that the Ark could not stay there.  They decided to send the Ark back to its own place in Israel.

The Ark had been with the Philistines for 7 months.  For 7 months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the Ark of God.  They looked at the Ark as a prize of battle and didn’t give honor to God.  They worshipped other gods and were not willing to serve the real God.  They should have sent it home sooner.  Egypt’s plagues would have been fewer if Pharaoh had let the people go sooner.  Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by refusing to repent of their sins. 

They saw the power of Israel’s God and now must be humble and give honor to Him.  They felt guilty so they sent a guilt offering of 5 gold tumors and 5 gold rats along with the Ark.  God didn’t need gold.   He needed their hearts.  They placed the Ark on a cart along with the offerings and hitched cows to it.  The Philistines followed the cart.  They watched to see which way it went.  If it went straight toward its own territory and didn’t turn right or left, then they would know that it was the Lord who brought disaster on them.  If it did not, then they would know that it was just happened by chance.

We do the same kind of things today.  We put stipulations and meanings on things and events.  God wants Christians to be different and doesn’t want us to live our lives according to norms and attitudes of society.  He wants us to live according to His Word.  Society puts lots of pressures of all people including Christians.  We can overcome these pressures by focusing on God and stay in His Word.

It was harvest by tin Israel and as the people were working, they saw the Ark coming down the road.  They shouted and rejoiced.  God had not forgotten His people and the Ark was the evidence.  The Levites carried the Ark to a large rock.  The people offered burnt offering and sacrifices to the Lord.  The Philistines saw all this and returned to Ekron.

Christians today try to use God and His Word to get what they want.  They pick and choose parts of the Bible that suits them and their agendas.  They only go to God when they are in trouble or want something from Him.

The people received the Ark with joy, but some men opened the sacred and looked inside.  That was a very unholy thing to do.  They should have known better.  The result was that many of them died.  God holds His people accountable.  Relationship with God is on His standards and on His terms and that’s through Jesus Christ.  Finally the people understood that God is holy and they must respect Him.

Principle:  A relationship with God is based on His holy standards not ours.

1 Samuel 7 – Israel Repents

They took the Ark to Abinadab’s house and consecrated Eleazor his son to guard it.  The Ark remained there for 20 years and all the people sought after the Lord.  They went to Samuel and asked how they could serve God.   Samuel told them they must serve the real God and not their false gods.  They must trust God alone to save them from their enemies.  The people followed Samuel’s advice.  They confessed and repented.  They began to depend on God alone.

The Israel gathered at Mizpah for prayer, but when the Philistines heard they came to attack them.  The Israelites were afraid and when to Samuel and asked him to continue praying for them.  Samuel offered sacrifices and prayed on their behalf.  There was a loud thunder which was God at work.  Israel won the battle, but really it was God who won on their behalf.

Samuel wanted the people to remember what God had done for them so he made a monument using a large stone to remind them of a past event.  The monument was called Ebenezer which means stone of help.  Many churches today have chosen the name Ebenezer.

There are 3 steps to true repentance - being truly sorry, naming your sins, then turning from your sin.

Principle:  True repentance restores our fellowship with God.

1 Samuel 8 – Israel Demands King

Samuel became the leader not as a king or ruler, but as its judge.  He continued to pray for the people.  God was Israel’s true king.  Samuel was the last person who led Israel as its judge.  He tried to appoint his sons but they were dishonest.  They accepted bribes and prevented justice.  The elders of Israel were unhappy with Samuel’s sons and gathered to ask Samuel to give them a king to lead.  They wanted to be like other nations who had kings.  This displeased him because of their hearts and motives.  He wanted the people to respect God as their king.  So he prayed to the Lord as to what he should do.

The Lord told Samuel to listen to the people and that it wasn’t Samuel they were rejecting but God.   God told Samuel to warn the people.  They needed to understand how a powerful king would behave.  They need to know just how a king would use his authority and how they would suffer because of their decision in wanting a king.  It was their decision and God would permit them to have a king.

The people acted foolishly and would not listen.  They wanted a powerful king who would defeat all their enemies so they would have peace and security.  They didn’t think about the problems they would have only the benefits.  They had convinced themselves that this was an excellent idea.

When we reject God is life, we become slaves to little gods.  When we ignore God’s rule and authority, we will suffer the consequences.  We are not to be like the world.  We are to be different, because God has set us apart.  We should have different views, morals and standards.

Sensible people think carefully about any problems that may occur, but wise people learn from the words of others.  Fools refuse to listen to advice.  God gave clear instructions to Samuel.  He should appoint a king to rule Israel because that’s what the people wanted.

When have you not listened to wise advice?

What were the results?

Principle:  Rejection of God’s rule brings consequences. 

God is the one true God.  He is fully present everywhere.  He has perfect judgments.  He is holy and wants His people to be holy.  He is an all-powerful and self-sufficient God. 

Next week we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  See you here.

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