1 Samuel

The book of 1 Samuel.

13. Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

1 Sam 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. 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.”

Here we learn an important principle: the ruler who keeps God’s commands perfectly will win an eternal kingdom.

We should sympathize with Saul here. God, too, has called us to be kings and rulers in some sense. And yet we’ve broken his commandments anyway. Thankfully, our hope doesn’t rest on our own ability to keep those commandments. God has given an eternal kingdom to Christ — he is the ruler who keeps God’s commands perfectly. And he shares that kingdom with us by our faith.

Saul decided that he didn’t want to obey when God commanded him to destroy the good things of the Amalekites. He wanted to keep some things for himself, and figured he could make it up to God with a token sacrifice. That’s uncomfortably close to the sort of deals we try to make up all the time. We think “I can disobey God a little bit here but I’ll make it up to him by doing something else good.” That’s the sort of sin you lose your kingdom over.

15. Saul's Disobedience

1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

    as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

    and to listen than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

    and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

    he has also rejected you from being king.”

Don’t presume that you can come up with your own way to please God when you are rebelling against the things he has plainly stated in the scriptures. It’s not wrong to desire some power and authority, since that’s part of what we’re called to as men, but obeying God is the only way we can hope to hold onto it. God has taken away entire kingdoms before from disobedient men—why should you be surprised if he takes something small away from you?

Discussion Questions

Is there anything we see out in the world that unbelievers have that we’re tempted to envy?

When we fail to follow God’s commands, does he always take away our authority like he did with Saul?

(Sin has consequences. A business owner still remains a business owner when he sins; a father still remains a father when he sins… usually. But at a certain point enough unconfessed sin can accumulate that the business is lost, or a family gets broken apart.)

What does it mean for us to be men after God’s own heart?

16. Samuel Anoints David

We want good leadership from strong, wise men because we want to be part of the winning team. However, sometimes God picks for us the kind of person that we didn’t expect. We have to serve under them with humility regardless.

After God issued the judgment that Saul was no longer worthy to rule his people, he sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to choose one of his sons to be the new king.

1 Samuel 16

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 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.” … 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

As in other passages of scripture, here we see that God does not necessarily follow the typical order of the world. Yes, there is a special blessing that goes to the firstborn. But it pleases God sometimes to choose those who are last in the line-up, as with Joseph and his brothers.

It’s fascinating that just after the passage says that God looks on the heart rather than the outward appearance, it still mentions how handsome and lively David was. That can be a valuable part of leadership, and we shouldn’t underestimate it even though it doesn’t always work that way.

David was now chosen by God to rule over all the people. But he was not given the kingship right away. He still had to prove himself through many tests and to constantly humble himself before the persecution of Saul.

We should bear this in mind when we think about God’s promises towards us. God has promised that Christ will reign forever and his saints will reign with him. But, in the process of us of receiving a kingly inheritance, just like David and Jesus, we may still have to face a life full of oppression, humiliation, fugitive wandering, and betrayal all the way there.

We may have to work under people that we don’t respect or who are even malicious towards us. God may have rulers and authorities in place who do things that we don’t like. We still need to serve humbly in these scenarios even if we think deep down, “I could do better.” You can’t be any better of a man or more chosen than David was. But he was still humble towards Saul.

18. Saul's Jealousy

1 Samuel 18:6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine [Goliath], 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. 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

    and David his ten thousands.”

8 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?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.

If we receive God’s favor and have victories in life, that will excite the envy of those whose hearts are far from God. David was forced to live as an outlaw until Saul was finally slain by the Amalekites. Even though David repeatedly showed mercy to him when he had opportunities to strike him down, Saul refused to give up the kingship to the one chosen by God. Only after Saul’s death did David finally take the crown that had been promised to him from his youth.

As the chosen one, David was a heroic king and a man after God’s own heart. Although the people had demanded a king for sinful reasons, God gave them a great one in David. His reign was glorious. What made him so great besides slaying Goliath? He conquered Jerusalem and brought the Ark of the Covenant into it. Thus it is known as David’s City. He led the people of Israel against many hostile surrounding tribes and either destroyed them or made them subservient, bringing peace. He was not just talented in war but also in music, leading the people in worship and composing many songs that are still sung by Christians to this day.

Finally, God made a covenant with David promising that David’s lineage would be given the eternal throne. David’s descendant would build a house for God’s name.