The Honorable Heir and the Mad King
1 Samuel 18-20
The Honorable Heir and the mad king
1 Samuel 18-20
For every new testament point, there is an old testament picture.
James 3:13-4:2: Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.
Main Idea: Envy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. Humility leads to peace, love, and joy.
I. The Honorable Heir (18:1-5)
1 Samuel 18:1-4: As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
David was thirty when he became king (2 Samuel 5:4). Saul reigned for forty years (Acts 13:21). So David must have been born in the tenth year of Saul’s reign. Jonathan was already fighting with Saul during the third year of his father’s reign (1 Samuel 13:1, see footnote); and an Israelite solider needed to be at least 20 (Numbers 1:3). So in the tenth year of Saul’s reign, when David was born, Jonathan must have been at least 27. This means that Jonathan is old enough to be David’s father.
Real love offers no room for envy.
1 Samuel 18:5: As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on.
II. The Mad King (18:6-19:24)
1 Samuel 18:5: And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
It is through pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
…sorrow for another’s good
~ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Envy is self-destruction. Envy is self-deconstruction.
Love says, “I’m happy when you’re happy, I’m sad when you’re sad.”
Envy says, “I’m happy when you’re sad, and I’m sad when you’re happy.”
Romans 12:14-16: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Throughout these three chapters (18–20) we see the envy of Saul fill him with murderous hate over ten times:
David evades the spear of Saul twice (18:11)
Saul sends David to the front lines (18:12)
Saul tries to form an alliance through marriage (18:17a)
Saul tries to outsource his murder (18:17b)
Saul gives his daughter to David on one condition (20-28)
Saul tells Jonathan and Company to Kill David (19:1-7)
Saul attempts to kill David by spear (19:8-10)
Saul sends messengers to kill David at his house (19:11–17)
Saul chases David to Ramah (19:18-24)
Saul places David on a hit-list (20:30-31)
Saul hates Jonathan as though he was David (20:32-33)
III. The Story Retold (20:1-42)
The Savior King
Matthew 3:16-17: And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 4:1-2,17: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry…From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The Honorable Heirs
John 3:28-30: You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The Mad Kings
When Jesus called out His hometown for their unbelief (Luke 4:16–30).
When Jesus challenged the Pharisee’s traditions about the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–14; Mark 2:23–3:6; Luke 6:1–11).
When Jesus placed Himself above the Pharisee’s level of authority (John 5:1–18).
When Jesus called Himself by God’s name (John 8:48–59).
When Jesus referred to Himself as being God (John 10:31–39).
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:45–57).
When Jesus cleansed the temple the final time of corruption (Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45–48).
When Jesus told the chief priests and Pharisees that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to another nation (Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19)
Mark 15:10: For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.
Romans 8:32: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
David, Goliath, and the Living God
1 Samuel 17
David, Goliath and the living god
1 Samuel 17
Main Idea: David’s victory over Goliath anticipates Christ’s victory as our mighty champion.
I. The Stand-off (17:1-11)
This scene opens with a stand-off, as the Isrealites are under threat from the Philistines, fearful of a “giant,” just as they were before they entered the promised land (cf. Num. 13:32-33). The Israelites’ fear of who dwelt in the promised land contributed to their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, while their fearful stand-off in this scene has lasted for 40 days (17:16)
Goliath is given one of the most detailed descriptions of anyone in the Bible. As the “champion” (lit. ‘man of the in-between’), he is outwardly impressive and intimidating because of his:
Height: ~ 9.5 ft tall (or ~7 ft depending on manuscripts)
Armor: more than 125 pounds of bronze protection on his body
Weapons: wielded a large curved sword and a spear with a head of more than 15 pounds
Protection: a shield-bearer went before him to protect him from long-range attack
Goliath invites the Israelites into a “representative warfare,” urging them to “choose a man” for themselves to battle on behalf of each nation, while “defying” (taunting, scorning, or mocking) them. Though Saul is the obvious choice, both he and “all Israel… were dismayed and greatly afraid” (17:11).
II. The Contender (17:12-37)
David suddenly enters the storyline, underestimated by the people around him, just like the account of his anointing as the future king. As David brings provisions to his family, he hears the taunts of Goliath, and is stirred to righteous anger over his scorning of Israel and Yahweh.
David has never spoken before in our story. Now the silence is broken. David brings a whole new world view. To this point the narrative has been “godless” (much like our own stewing over some insoluble dilemma), but now David injects: Doesn’t having a living God make a difference in all this? … Israel thought the Philistine invulnerable; for David he was only uncircumcised. A living God gives a whole new view of things. David’s question is not a magic charm for solving every problem; but surely it instructs us... All the believer’s life and all the church’s life requires theocentric thinking. The tragedy is that were someone to hear our thoughts and words in our dangers and troubles they would never guess that we had a living God.
~ Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart
Before he stands up to Goliath, he must triumph over 2 others: Eliab (17:28-30) & Saul (17:31-37). David appeals to the wild beasts he has faced as a shepherd, confident that God delivered him then, he will deliver him now against this blasphemous giant. David had already learned dependence upon God in difficulty, and the Lord has trained and prepared him for this moment.
We ought not to be unmindful of the way by which the Lord our God has led us, for if we are we shall lose much. Some saints have very short memories. It has been well said that we write our benefits in dust and our injuries in marble, and it is equally true that we generally inscribe our afflictions upon brass, while the records of the deliverances of God are written in water. It ought not so to be. If our memories were more tenacious of the merciful visitations of our God, our faith would often be strengthened in times of trial.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Lion-Slayer—The Giant-Killer”
III. The Battle (17:38-49)
Saul (ironically) dresses David in his kingly armor, trying to equip him for battle like Goliath. David refuses, choosing to fight with the weapons of a shepherd, not the weapons of the world.
The lengthy speeches leading into the battle reveal the theological clash of this scene. Goliath is offended that Israel sends a young man to fight him, and curses David (and Yahweh) by his gods; David appeals to the true God, who saves through what the world would regard as weakness.
Psalm 118:22-23:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
IV. The Victory (17:50-58)
The narrator continually draws attention to the “head” of Goliath to show the folly of idolatry and as an allusion to Genesis 3:15. He has already described the armor of Goliath as being “scale-like” (17:5) as he defames the name of God. David takes the instrument of the enemy meant for evil and death and defeats him with it (cf. Heb. 2:14-15).
In the same way, we, as it were, stand on the hillside, surveying the story of history. Down in the valley we see our Christ, Jesus, entering the battle armed only with a beam of wood strapped to his shoulders. We see him face the snake who has tyrannized our lives, as he hangs on the cross. There is Jesus, like David, appearing small compared to the might of the Roman Empire, appearing weak compared to the power of the snake. But he enters the battle bravely. He entrusts himself to God. We see him saying, in effect, what David said: ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, with lies and threats and accusations, with sin and law and death. But I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, whom you have defied. This day you may strike my heel, but the LORD will hand you over to me, and I will crush your head.’ As we look, we see defeat turn into victory as Jesus bursts from the tomb. The snake is defeated. His head is crushed.
~ Tim Chester, 1 Samuel for You
Upon the defeat of the enemy by their “champion,” the Israelites rush down the hill into the field of battle, striking down the Philistines, and plundering their camp. In the same way, we must follow our champion into the battle, plundering the camp of our defeated enemy, knowing the victory has already been won by Christ (cf. Eph. 6:10-20, 2 Cor. 10:3-5).
Romans 16:20: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Seeing the King
1 Samuel 16
Seeing the king
1 Samuel 16
1 Sam. 16:7 [lit.]: “The Lord sees not as man sees, for man sees according to the eyes, but the Lord sees according to the heart.”
Main Idea: Though the Lord sees differently than we see, he has given us illumination by the Holy Spirit.
I. Seeing According to the Eyes (16:1-6)
Despite the failure of the king the people wanted for themselves, God will provide (lit. ‘see’) for himself a king to rule over his people, from the family of Jessie in Bethlehem.
Why did God not just simply announce to Samuel at the beginning who the new king would be?... Why did he need to have each of Jesse’s many sons presented to him rather than just David? The answer is that this episode is not primarily about the next king, but about God. God looks at people differently from how we do. When Samuel met the first of Jesse’s sons, it seemed as though this was the obvious choice as king. He had the right look and stature. It was as if he’d come straight from central casting. He looked the part. And that’s the point… God tells Samuel something significant here about humanity. We look at outward appearance. Not just that we notice one another’s outward appearance, which is natural and understandable, but that we assess one another by outward appearance... We know there’s more to people than how they look, but we nevertheless resort to making appearance what shapes our estimation of them.
~ Sam Allberry, What God has to Say About our Bodies
II. Seeing According to the Heart (16:7-12)
1 Samuel 13:14: The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.
“A man after God’s own heart” has been taken in popular Christian jargon to mean a particularly godly man, a man with a heart like God’s. But I do not believe that the words can mean that. “A man after God’s own heart” means a man of God’s own choosing, a man God has set his heart on. “A man after God’s own heart” is—if I can put it like this—talking about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart.
~ John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader
Though David has “beautiful eyes” and is “handsome,” he is hardly kingly-material from an earthly valuation; in God’s economy, external appearance and impressiveness neither qualifies nor disqualifies someone. Jesse assumes it must be one of his 7 older sons, not the “youngest” (‘inconsequential’ or ‘insignificant’).
The Lord’s choosing of David as King is consistent with his great work of redemption:
The “insignificant” and “inconsequential” youngest son is precisely who God loves to use for his glory (cf. 1 Cor. 1:27-29)
The menial work of shepherding becomes the primary metaphor for leadership over God’s people (cf. Ps. 23, John 10:11)
This small place (cf. Mic. 5:2) and ordinary family will be the birthplace of the Messiah to come
The greater Son of David appeared to the eyes to be nothing special, but is the long-promised Christ (cf. Isa. 53:2-3, Mk. 6:3)
III. Seeing According to the Spirit (16:13-23)
In the OT, the Holy Spirit came upon particular individuals to empower and authorize them to complete God-given tasks, such as ruling, prophesying, or building. As the Spirit rushes onto David in his anointing (and remains from that day forward), He departs from Saul, removing his authority and ability to be an effective king over God’s people.
From an earthly perspective, David is filled by the Spirit and then immediately put into harm’s way and a dangerous situation. From a divine perspective, this is the consistent pattern of God (cf. Mk. 1:10-12) in order to learn dependency and submission to God. No matter what difficulties David encountered, “the Lord was with him” (16:18).
Yahweh equips David… but no sooner does the Spirit touch David than he is catapulted into endless trouble—the envy, anger, and plots of Saul from chapter 18 on. David, the man with the Spirit, will be hunted and betrayed, trapped and escaping, hiding in caves, living in exile, driven to the edge—right to the end of 1 Samuel. We must see this larger view of verse 13 in the context of the whole: The Spirit comes, the trouble begins … No sooner are we brought into subjection to Jesus than we are swamped in trouble; there may seem no end to the pressures, no relief from the pounding we seem to be taking. But if we remember David and his Descendant we begin to understand that this conflict is not a sign of our sin but a mark of our sonship, that we are under not God’s displeasure but his discipline. The wilderness is not the sign of the Spirit’s absence but the scene of his presence.
~ Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart
Because of the finished work of Christ, we have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit in order to have the “eyes of our hearts enlightened” (Eph. 1:18) to rightly see both our difficult circumstances and rightly behold Jesus.
Psalm 118:22-23:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
A Sinful King and a Steadfast God
1 Samuel 15:1-35
A Sinful King and a steadfast god
1 Samuel 15:1:35
Main Idea: God is faithful to his promises even when we are unfaithful to his commands.
I. A Sinful People (15:1-3)
Misconception: God is a moral monster
Correction: God is a just judge
1 Samuel 15:2: Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.”
Exodus 17:14-17: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Deuteronomy 25:17-19: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.”
To modern ears, this sounds alarmingly like ethnic cleansing. But this is ethical cleansing rather than ethnic cleansing. This is an act of judgment against sin. Destruction will come to the Amalekites not because they are Amalekites, but because they are sinners. In a sense, this should alarm us. Not because it is unfair, but because it is fair; and because while we are not Amalekites, we are sinners. Their destruction is a picture of what humanity deserves, and faces, from God. When judgment comes, nothing—nothing—is left.
-Tim Chester
Exodus 34:6-7: The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Genesis 4:7a: …sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.
Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.
-John Owen
II. A Sinister King (15:4-31)
Misconception: God is arbitrary and fickle
Correction: God is unchanging and steadfast
1 Samuel 15:6: Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:7-9: And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
1 Samuel 15:10-11: The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
Frequently the first step, upon hearing such a text, is to wax theological and ask how God could be so grieved over something he, if he’s God, must have known would happen. The next step is to introduce the term anthropomorphism (attributing human forms or characteristics to God) or anthropopathism (attributing human feelings to God) in order to indicate that sometimes the Bible must use the grammar of humanity to communicate the truth about deity, that sometimes Scripture stoops to use human categories to tell the truth about a God far beyond all our categories. That is all right, but there is a danger that we will dismiss the matter there and not go back to the text!
-Dale Ralph Davis
We so focus on the form in which the truth comes that we neglect the truth that comes. Did we really hear the parallel clause in Genesis 6:6, “and his heart was filled with pain” (NIV), and sense the intensity of divine sorrow over human sin? And ought not verse 11 of the present chapter move us beyond the problem of anthropomorphisms? “I am sorry that I made Saul king, because he has turned back from following me....” It is a tragedy when Saul refuses to be Yahweh’s disciple; it grieves Yahweh. He is not a “you win some, you lose some” god. Nonchalance is never listed as an attribute of the true God. Verse 11 does not intend to suggest Yahweh’s fickleness of purpose but his sorrow over sin; it does not depict Yahweh flustered over lack of foresight but Yahweh grieved over lack of obedience…We need to know that the God of the Bible is no cold slab of concrete impervious to our carefully defended apostasies.
-Dale Ralph Davis
III. A Sorrow-Filled Prophet
Misconception: God is vengeful
Correction: God is true, good, and beautiful
1 Samuel 15:32-33: Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
Kingdom Lost (Part II)
1 Samuel 14:24-52
Kingdom Lost (part II)
1 Samuel 14:24-52
Main Idea: The Lord desires a humble heart of faithfulness more than empty religiosity and worldly success.
I. Bright Eyes and Empty Bellies (14:24-35)
Even though “the Lord saved Israel that day” (14:23), the men of Israel were “hard pressed” (14:24a; cf. 13:6) because of a fasting oath laid upon them by King Saul. His motivation is selfishly related to the vindication of his own name (14:24b) rather than a concern for the Lord and His people.
As the people fight hard for Saul, they come upon a forest dripping with honey; Jonathan, unaware of the oath, eats some of the honey and his eyes become “bright” (invigorated & refreshed). While the people are “faint,” Jonathan sees the foolishness of Saul’s oath; he has forbidden a good thing provided by the Lord, ruining the spoils of a great victory (14:30).
Saul’s foolish man-made commandment ends up causing the people to break God’s clear commandment, as they “pounce” and eat meat with blood (cf. Lev. 17:10-13, Matt. 15:3). Ultimately, Saul is acting as a legalist, driven by his own fear and insecurities to use external religiosity to manipulate and curry God’s favor.
Works righteousness or legalism [is the] subtle proclivity to seek to leverage Christ’s favor with our behavior… There is an entire psychological substructure that, due to the fall, is a near-constant manufacturing of relational leveraging, fear-stuffing, nervousness, score-keeping, neurotic-controlling, anxiety-festering silliness that is not something we say or even think so much as something we exhale. And if you trace this fountain of scurrying haste, in all its various manifestations, down to the root… you find gospel deficit. You find a lack of felt awareness of Christ’s heart.
~ Dane Ortlund, Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners & Sufferers
II. Silly Vows and Silent Responses (14:36-46)
Though Saul has just built an altar to the Lord, he forgets about him moments later. The priest urges Saul to “draw near to God” in prayer before another attack, but “the Lord did not answer him that day” (cf. 8:18). The silence of the Lord is compounded by the silence of the people (14:39).
Saul suspects that his son Johathan has played a role in this situation, but he doubles down on his man-made oath. After Jonathan is “taken” by lot, Saul takes up the role of a prophet (cf. 13:11), willing to shed the blood of his own son who freely “confesses” his actions.
Jonathan’s conscience is unburdened and free because of his genuine faith in God, while Saul acts in wickedness, choosing himself and his foolish vow over his faithful son. The people courageously swear an oath of their own before the Lord and “ransom” Jonathan, knowing that he is the one who truly “worked with God this day.”
III. History’s Accounting and God’s Assessment (14:47-52)
This summary of Saul’s kingship seems to be positive, though it fulfills Samuel’s warnings (cf. 8:11) and hints that his kingship is coming to an end.
History’s judgment is that external human calculation of a person’s life and work. It’s what folks can observe. By such a standard, Saul had made his mark and made it well… But [history’s judgment] does not have the decisive verdict… The vital assessment cannot come from the applause of men within history but only from the God who reigns over history. What matters then is not success (whether political or military) but covenant. Yahweh is not looking for winners but for disciples. And for the Bible, covenant obedience matters far more than vocational achievement… We have then these two estimates of Saul, the historical and the covenantal. Both are true... But only one matters.
~ Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart
1 Samuel 16:7: But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Mark 8:34-37: And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Kingdom Lost (Part I)
1 Samuel 13:1-14:23
Kingdom Lost (part 1)
1 Samuel 13:1-14:23
Main Idea: True faith in God patiently trusts in his Word, no matter our circumstances.
I. The Folly of the King (13:1-22)
As Saul officially begins his reign over the people of Israel, trouble is immediately brewing:
Jonathan’s action provokes the Philistines to muster up a great show of force that surrounds Israel “like the sand on the seashore” (cf. Gen. 22:17)
The Israelites are “trembling” with fear, and they begin to hide or scatter from Saul
The Israelites are “hard pressed” and left without any weapons to defend themselves
Despite these circumstances, Saul has been instructed to wait for Samuel to arrive at Gilgal (1 Sam. 10:8). However, Saul acts “foolishly” (cf. Ps. 14:1), and makes an unlawful sacrifice before Samuel arrives. When confronted by the prophet, he makes self-justifying excuses and blame shifts (13:11-12), and his kingdom is rejected.
Though his arguments seem sensible and rational, Saul’s sin is (at least) threefold:
He impatiently does not wait upon the Lord with a heart to obey
He superstitiously presumes upon God’s blessing
He pridefully places himself as the ultimate authority.
Saul was to wait for Samuel’s arrival, so that he would receive the prophet’s instructions about the conduct of the battle. God’s prophet would give him God’s guidance for the Philistine war. Samuel was the bearer of Yahweh’s word, and Saul’s task was to wait for it. Instead, he proceeded without it. For Saul sacrificial ritual was essential but prophetic direction dispensable. Saul’s was an act of insubordination, a failure to submit to Yahweh’s word through his prophet. By his action Saul confessed that certain emergencies rendered Yahweh’s word unnecessary. When the chips were down kingship could function on its own.
~ Dale Ralph Davis
II. The Faith of the Son (14:1-15)
Jonathan is ironically one of the only faithful sons throughout 1 & 2 Samuel (vs. the sons of Eli, Samuel, & David), and is set in sharp contrast to his father. He is different because of:
The godly company he keeps (14:1-3)
The bold risk he takes (14:4-5)
The dependent faith he exercises (14:6)
How refreshing to hear Jonathan’s ‘perhaps…’ Many in our own day think otherwise. They think that to say “perhaps” cuts the nerve of faith, that if faith is faith it must always be certain, dogmatic, and absolutely positive. Faith, however, must not be confused with arrogance. Jonathan’s ‘perhaps’ is part of his faith. He both confesses the power of Yahweh and retains the freedom of Yahweh. Faith does not dictate to God, as if the Lord of hosts is its errand boy. Faith recognizes its degree of ignorance and knows it has not read a transcript of the divine decrees for most situations. All this, however, does not cancel but enhances its excitement. Who knows what this omnipotent God may be delighted to do against these uncircumcised Philistines.
~ Dale Ralph Davis
2 Chronicles 20:12: O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
Mark 14:36: And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
III. The Victory of the Lord (14:16-23)
Despite Jonathan’s faithful actions, the situation in Israel still seems bleak; the Philistines have them surrounded, God’s people have no weapons, and Saul, their king, is unaware of the actions of Jonathan. He tries to consult the Lord by calling for the “ark” (or “ephod”) with the help of the rejected priesthood.
Despite these circumstances and spiritual dullness from their leader, “the Lord saved Israel that day” (14:23), sending earthquakes, turning the Philistines against themselves in fear, confusion, and panic. The Lord’s salvation of Israel on this day is paradigmatic for his greater salvation in Christ, the one who saves us single-handedly from our hopeless situation, and invites us to a life of dependent, patient trust.
Remembering the Great Things God Has Done
1 Samuel 12:19-25
REmembering the Great Things God HAs Done
1 Samuel 12:19-25
Main Idea: God is gracious to his people, so we remember the great things He has done and respond with faithful service.
I. Remembering God’s Grace in Repentance (12:19-21)
1 Samuel 12:19-21: And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
II. Remembering God’s Grace in His Covenant (12:22-23)
1 Samuel 12:22-23: For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
III. Remembering God’s Grace in Service (12:24-25)
1 Samuel 12:24-25: Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.
A Forgetful People and a Faithful God
1 Samuel 11-12
a Forgetful people and a faithful god
1 Samuel 11-12
Main Idea: We rightly fear the Lord by remembering his saving work on our behalf.
I. A Familiar Story (11:1-15)
Nahash (lit. ‘snake’ or ‘serpent’), the King of the Ammonites, besieged Jabesh-gilead threatening to gouge the Israelites right eyes out and to reign over them. Meanwhile, though Saul has been anointed as King, he is out in the fields with the oxen, failing to step into his God-ordained role.
There are obvious allusions in this story to the era of the Judges:
Jabesh-Gilead & Gibeah feature prominently at the end of judges (Jdg. 19-21)
The Spirit “rushed upon Saul” (11:6), as He did to empower other judges (Jdg. 3:10, 6:34, 14:6)
Saul cuts up an oxen to muster Israel for battle (11:7), just as the Levite did to his concubine (Jdg. 19:29)
Saul musters up the army at Bezek (11:8a), the place of the first victory in Judges (Jdg. 1:4-5)
Saul’s army size (11:8b) and military strategy is similar to Gideon (Jdg. 7:16)
God raises him as a judge to rescue his people—just as God has previously delivered Israel. But this will change with the confirmation of Saul as king. This marks the moment when he ceases to be a judge, raised up by God as an expression of God’s rule… Saul will show himself to be a new-style king. Instead of mediating God’s rule, he will replace God’s rule. Instead of liberating God’s people, he will oppress God’s people. Instead of being exalted by God, Saul will exalt himself, only to be brought low by God.
~ Tim Chester, 1 Samuel For You
After this deliverance from the Lord (cf. Zech. 4:6), Samuel calls the people to Gilgal to “renew the kingdom” in the same place Joshua renewed the covenant (Josh. 5). Saul is to be a king “before the Lord” (11:15), but he lacks the character and spiritual awareness to properly reign in this way.
Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
II. Forgetting the Lord (12:1-13)
Samuel’s “farewell” address marks a shift in Israel; he will now step-aside from being the de-facto leader of the people and give way to Saul. After establishing his innocence before them (12:1-5), he indicts the Israelites for continually “forgetting” (12:9) the Lord and “forsaking” proper worship of him for idols (12:10).
Samuel’s address to the people completes a major and radical transition in Israel’s life, from leadership by men and women whose primary orientation was to God, to a leadership by kings, leaders whose primary orientation was to the people: God raised up judges; the people demanded a king. The prophetic judges were God-appointed; the political kings were people-acclaimed... Samuel announces the era of the “second best.” For a long time now, leadership has come from God’s saving initiative; now it takes shape from the people’s fears and wishes.
~ Eugene Peterson, First and Second Samuel
As the people of Israel forgot God’s redemptive acts and kingly rule over them, they began to fear what is right in front of them (Nahash) rather than the Lord.
III. Fearing the Lord (12:14-19)
In a miracle of judgment, the Lord sends thunder and rain to disrupt the driest season in Israel (“wheat harvest”). This produces a “fear” in the people, acknowledging they have sinned greatly against the Lord in their request for a king.
There are two different kinds of ‘fear’ in this passage:
The sinful fear of the people (12:18-19), afraid of God’s righteous judgment upon them as they stand condemned
The proper fear Samuel urges, flowing from the gracious redemptive acts of God toward them, received by repentance (12:14)
1 Timothy 1:15: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
~ Martin Luther, “Letter to Jerome Weller”
Romans 8:31-34: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Give Us a King
1 Samuel 9-10
Give us A king
1 Samuel 9-10
Main Idea: The Lord prepares His people to receive the King they really need by allowing them to have the king they think they want.
I. The Kind of King They Wanted
It is clear from everything leading up to these donkey’s going missing that a “king like the nations around them” was the perceived solution to a set of national problems Israel was facing.
When they looked at their “problem,” they saw that the system was broken beyond repair. It needed to be replaced with a better solution, namely, a king like all the nations around them.
The solutions we demand from God and others match the characteristics of the problems we are most recently experiencing.
Set in the context of this story, the kind of “king” we want solves the problem we think we have. But the problem we think we have may not be our biggest problem or even our root problem.
Without ever intending to get there, we find ourselves stalled and stuck in a pattern of reactive “problem-solving” that only creates more and more problems for us.
II. How They Got the King They Got
On the surface, the story of how King Saul came to be king is strange and confusing. It is definitely not your typical “founding father of the nation” kind of story. It is actually more like a comedy than a drama.
1 Samuel 10:1-2: Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
There is no question that the Lord is behind all the strange and confusing events that play out in this story. This is the universal and absolute story of the Bible.
Nothing happens of which the Lord is not completely aware and over which He does not exercise complete and sovereign power.
No one involved in what happens under the Lord’s rule is coerced to do anything against their own wishes or inclinations.
Anyone who fails to consider life in all of its complexity outside the lens of the Lord’s sovereignty will run into futility and failure time and time again.
What is the Lord trying to do when he allows problems into our lives that cause more brokenness than the brokenness we are already experiencing?
The Lord did what He did in relation to Saul and the kingdom because Israel was His people, His heritage. His people had rejected Him from being king over them, but in the most beautiful yet subtle of ways the Lord is saying through this brokenness he allows, “Though you have rejected Me, I will not ever break my promise to you. You just can’t see that yet.”
III. The King We Really Need
The kind of King the Israelites failed to see they needed was actually the kind of king the nations thought they had. Both were missing the King they really needed because of two different kinds of blindness.
The kings we think we want, they lie and they take life from us.
The King we really need, He died to give us Life and Truth.
The Lord allows us the kings we think we want to prepare us to see the King we really need.
God the King
1 Samuel 8
God the king
1 Samuel 8
Main Idea: True Kingship belongs only to God’s Son, who reigns in grace and truth.
I. The Tension of the King
The Israelites demand a king for a few reasons:
Samuel’s sons, who would presumably judge Israel after he dies, are wicked men who “turned aside after gain,” taking “bribes” and “perverting justice” (8:1-3)
They want a king to “judge us… that we also may be like all the nations” (8:5, 20a)
They want a king who can “go out before us and fight our battles” (8:20b)
There is tension in this request from the Israelites. Their desire for a king is not necessarily bad; God promises a future King to come through Abraham (Gen. 17:6, 16) and Judah (Gen. 49:10), and he gives detailed instructions and guidelines for how a king in Israel ought to reign (Deut. 17:14-20).
However, their motivations for a king, and the type of king they ask for reveal they are:
Rejecting their identity as a people chosen, set apart, and distinct from the other nations
Rejecting God as their true King (8:7)
When people transfer their expectations for righteousness and salvation from God to government, they are sure to be disappointed. There are many things that human government is good for, but there are some things that it cannot do. And one of those things is to function as a God substitute. The issue that day at Ramah, when the elders confronted Samuel, was one not of political science, but of spiritual faith.
~ Eugene Peterson
II. The Threat of the King
Surprisingly, the Lord instructs Samuel to ‘obey their voice,’ giving them up to their desires (cf. Rom 1:24, 26, 28). He warns the Isrealites that even though they want a king to “judge” them, the kings who rule over them will actually be a ‘judgment’ upon them.
The “ways” of the kings who will reign over them will be overwhelmingly marked by one reality: they will “take” (6x) from the people until they have nothing left. These kings will take:
Sons to be used as soldiers and in military preparation (8:11-12)
Daughters as perfumers, cooks, and bakers in their service (8:13)
Land and the best of their fields for himself and his servants (8:14)
1/10 of their grain, vineyards, and flocks as a tithe and tax (8:15, 17a)
Servants for their own needs (8:16)
At the end of all this “taking,” the people will end up as slaves, essentially back in Egypt. But this time as they ‘cry out,’ God will not answer, and he will allow them to go into exile. This is a haunting projection of the rest of the OT in a single verse.
III. The True King
Even after this horrible threat of what is to come, the people still demand an earthly king from Samuel (8:19-20), sealing their rejection of the Lord. However, in God’s mercy, he will use their sinful and twisted desires to ultimately bring about a redemptive good through his anointed one to come (cf. 2:10).
Jesus comes to fulfill the “tension of the king” that runs throughout the Scriptures:
His Kingdom is not like the nations: “My Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36)
Though he is the true King (cf. Isa. 9:6-7), he is not the king that the people want: “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15)
He comes not to take and take, but to “give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45)
The Crucified One is the true king, the kingliest king of all; because it is He who is stretched on the cross. He turns an obscene instrument of torture into a throne of glory and reigns from the tree.
~ F.F. Bruce
Jesus is glorified and coronated as the King of all kings on the cross, where he bears the sins of God’s people in their place; rather than enslaving his citizens like earthly kings, he sets free all those who trust in his finished work by faith, and graciously invites them into a Kingdom that has no end (Luke 1:32).
Colossians 1:13-14: He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.