Chapter 1
Elkanah has two wives.  One, Hannah, has no children.  Elkanah goes to worship once a year in Shiloh where Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas were priests.  So this is set near the end of the time of the judges, but still not all that long after Joshua dies.
((MSB says it is set from 1105 to 971 BC, from the birth of Samuel to the last words of David.  135 years.  The book was written much later, likely before the Babylonian exile, but after the the dividing of the kingdom.  The author is unknown.  Much more info on this in the MSB intro to the chapter.))
2022 - How extraordinarily often do we see this theme repeated?  A woman who has no children gets blessed by God.  And it is not just that her prayer for a child is answered, but the child is a child with some special service to God.  What a good study to see how many times this was the case.

Elkanah's other wife provokes Hannah every year at the tabernacle.  Elkanah loves Hannah.  This may explain a lot of the provocation.  The other wife is jealous, but has children, and rubs this in Hannah's face.  
Hannah prays that if God will give her a son, she will dedicate him to God all his life, and a razor will never touch his head.  
2022 - I had never noticed that no razor would touch his head.  What must he have looked like as he neared death?
Eli thinks she's drunk, but on learning otherwise, he asks God to grant her prayer.  Hannah is then at peace.  
Hannah has a son, and once he is weaned, she takes him to Eli and leaves him to serve God in the tabernacle all his life.

Chapter 2
Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving and victory to the Lord.

Eli's sons were "worthless men" (ESV).  though they were priests:
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. [1Sa 2:12 ESV]
No matter what service you are performing, no matter how much of your life is spent in service, it is not service that saves.  It is a personal relationship that saves.  Though holding the office of priests, they were stealing the meat sacrificed to God.  My bet is they were reselling it for profit.  The Bible says they treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

Hannah has three sons and two daughters besides Samuel.  

Eli hears the stories about the abuses of his sons.  He confronts them, they ignore him.  But Samuel grows in the Lord.
God sends a man to tell Eli what will happen.  God is fed up with Eli's family though they are descended from Aaron, and his descendants will no longer serve as priests.  Worse, there will never again be an old man in the family.  All will die young, all will die poor, all will die hungry.  Because he did nothing to stop Hophni and Phinehas, but let them continue though he knew they were ignoring his warning, Eli is included in God's anger.  (MSB says that it was Eli and his sons that forfeited the Aaronic priesthood.  It was not that the Aaronic line stopped completely.  It was just removed from this one family.

Chapter 3
God speaks to Samuel for the first time.  He tells him that the time has come for the punishment of Eli's house, and that no sacrifice or offering will EVER atone for all the evil that Eli's sons have done.  Unforgivable sin?  Blasphemy against the Spirit?  It would seem that Hophni and Phinehas have crossed a line and can never go back.  They have brought this curse on all their descendants forever.

21 And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. [1Sa 3:21 ESV]
God had been silent for a long time.  It says earlier that His word was infrequent in those days.  But God establishes Samuel as a true prophet, and none doubt it in all the land.

Chapter 4
Israel goes to battle against the Philistines.  They lose and 4000 men are killed.  They decide to bring the Ark of the Covenant there, and then they'll win.  They didn't pray, they brought the ark.  They fight again, with the ark, expecting "magic".  Instead, they are defeated a second time and lose 30,000 men.  Hophni and Phinehas are both killed.
2021 - There is nothing here that says God sent them out against the Philistines in the first place.  There is no account of them consulting with Samuel.  We don't know who led this attack, and it seems as though Israel started it.  Given these things, it all seems very ill-advised.  The Ark at this time was in Shiloh, which is pretty much straight east of where the battle was going on, all the way across the land of Ephraim.  
2021 - When they sent for the Ark, Hophni and Phinehas came with it to the battleground.  That is why they were there.  God had promised to do away with them the same day.  It is interesting that Chapter 3 ends with Samuel being established as a prophet there at Shiloh also, right where these two corrupt priests were. In hindsight, we can see that this ill-advised battle, and the ill-advised strategy of bring the Ark to the battle, in fact intertwine to fulfill God's justice, and God's prophecy through Samuel, further confirming his place.

The Philistines are afraid when they hear the Ark has come, but they apparently get a pep talk and pull themselves together and fight anyway - perhaps desperately and with extra effort because they fear what will happen if they lose.  After the second battle, a runner returns to Shiloh with the news.  When he tells Eli that his sons are both dead and the ark has been taken by the Philistines, Eli falls off his seat.  His neck breaks because he is 98 years old, and very heavy.  He had judged Israel for 40 years.  His death would seem to pass the responsibility to judge on to Samuel.  God had spent time establishing Samuel for this very moment.  Yet he allowed his sons to corrupt it all.  Likely, at this time, he too was eating the parts of the sacrifices meant only for God.  

Phinehas' wife is pregnant.  When she hears the news that the ark is taken and Phinehas and Eli are dead, she goes into labor.  She has a son, named Ichabod, then she dies.  Ichabod means "The glory has departed".

Chapter 5
The Philistines put the Ark in the same temple with their god Dagon.  Each morning, Dagon is laying down face forward.  They set him up, he's down again the next morning.  Then they find his head and hands "cut off".  
Tumors afflict the men who don't die outright in Ashdod.  So they send the ark to first one city, then another.  In each place the people panic, many die, and the rest get tumors on them.  They finally decide to send the ark home.
2021 - It is interesting that God openly demonstrates His power and superiority over Dagon, and over all the area around Ashdod while the Ark is in that place, but we don't see anyone turn from their false worship and change over to worshiping God.  This is a pretty good example of the necessity of God's intention for salvation being required.  The evidence was convincing to anyone who cared to look.  Yet we hear of none being saved and turning to the God of the Hebrews.  They do eventually cry out for the Ark to be sent back.  Their "prize" has become a terrible thing to them.  Even knowing its power, they prefer to have the Hebrews take it back than to try and keep such power away from them.

Chapter 6
The captured ark is in the land of the Philistines for seven months.  Wherever it goes, the people there panic.  This panic is not described in detail, but I imagine a general dread and foreboding as you would fear the appearance of the black plague.  People are just panicked about what is coming.  The Philistines get their diviners to tell them how to get rid of the ark.  This verse:
6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? [1Sa 6:6 ESV]
They all knew the story of the departure of Israel from Egypt.  Surely they also wondered how they occasionally were able to defeat Israel in battle.  They must have speculated, maybe decided that their gods were more powerful than Israel's?  Or that at least their own gods had the upper hand temporarily now and then?
These diviners say to send it home in a new cart with two milk cows deprived of their calves, that have never pulled a cart, in the harness.  They are to send guilt offerings too - five golden tumors and five golden mice.

The ark gets to Israel, and they use the cart wood to burn the cows as a sacrifice.  But God strikes 70 men dead for looking at the ark when they shouldn't.  So the men of Beth-Shemesh tell the men of Kiriath-jearim to come and get the ark.  Here is Kiriath-jearim again.  This town just keeps showing up.  The history of this town would make a good study...

Chapter 7
So they do.  The men of Kiriath-jearim consecrate Eleazar, the son of Abinadab, on whose land the ark resides,  to have charge of the ark.  They don't send for the Levites or the high priest.  They just appoint someone to look after it.  The ark stays in this place for 20 years!  As I read it, the people continue to worship the Baals and the Ashtaroth for 20 years, and then "all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord".

Samuel urges Israel to put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth and serve God only.  They do so.  They gather at Mizpah for Samuel to judge them.  The Philistines hear of it, and gather to make war on them.  Samuel offers a prayer and a sacrifice.  The Lord thunders "a mighty sound", the Philistines are confused and run away, and Israel pursues them.  

2022 - Mizpah comes up quite often as a gathering place.  Here is a map.  Just off the map at the bottom is where the Jordan river - to the west of Mizpah, runs into the Dead Sea.  Mizpah is mentioned in these chapters:  


It was from here that Laban and Jacob parted.  Jephthah, one of the judges, lived here, and when he got home from battle, his daughter came out the door and ended up tragically sacrificed because of Jephthah's rash vow.  It was here that Israel went to fight against the Benjamites for their heinous crime in Judges.  It is the place to which the few remaining armed men of Israel along with those who had fled the Babylonian invasion returned when Gedeliah was made governor.  It is the place where Gedeliah was murdered. But, in this chapter, the Philistines are defeated here because Israel has returned to the Lord.  Mizpah is really not a wonderful place with great memories.  It is more of a reminder of tragedy and loss.  Many think the word itself means "watchtower".


From then on, while Samuel is judge, the Philistines leave Israel alone, as do the Amorites.  Samuel does a circuit, and judges in each city, then goes home to Ramah, then starts again.

Chapter 8
As Samuel gets old he sets his sons up as judges.  But they take bribes and pervert justice.  It seems that sons very often revolt against the ways of their fathers.  It is almost like it's a natural law.

Because of the evil of Samuel's sons, the leaders of Israel ask Samuel to appoint them a king.  Samuel is angered by it, but God tells him to do as they ask, after warning them of the consequences of having a king.  Maybe Samuel was seeing his sons as succeeding him in power in Israel?  Where is the high priest at this time, what has happened to the Aaronic and Levitical lines during this 400 years or so?  

2022 - This struck me as a bigger deal this year than it had before.  The people asked for a King because they were sick and tired of being taken advantage of by Samuel's own sons.  No wonder Samuel was angered by this development.  At the same time, how did Samuel not remember what had happened to Hophni and Phineas just a generation before.  Is the lesson that fathers have to treat their sons as strangers if that is what it takes to ensure the integrity of the office/family?  Surely that is at least one lesson out of this.  This verse confirms:
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. [1Sa 8:6-7 ESV].  Clearly, Samuel felt that this was an affront to his own service as judge for so many years.  But God says he needs to get over himself.  It is after all God who is being rejected here, and Samuel's problems are a small matter...and perhaps one of his own making.

Basically, he tells them the king will take a tenth of everything, and all the best things, and they will more or less become the king's slaves.  He says they will get tired of this and try to undo what they've done, but God is not going to answer them when that happens.

2022 - This verse:
17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. [1Sa 8:17 ESV].  Does this really say that the one to whom you pay taxes is the one who's slave you are?  Are Americans slaves to the US and State governments?  I don't see how you can read this any other way.

God has told Samuel that this action is a revolt against God, not against Samuel.  They are saying they don't want God as king, but a man as king.

Despite Samuel's warning, the people insist on a king.  So Samuel sends them away after God says to give them what they ask.

Chapter 9
Some genealogy of Saul's father, Kish, is given.  We know that Kish is a wealthy man, so Saul grew up with plenty.  
Saul, the most handsome of all Israel, and the tallest by his head and shoulders.  A very tall, good looking man.  Doesn't say how tall exactly, but head shoulders has to be at least 8", more likely 12" taller than any person in the land.  
Saul's father sends him and a servant to look for some lost donkeys.  They travel a long long way looking.  I'm thinking these donkeys are stolen, but I still don't know how they knew in what direction to go looking for them?  They get to the end of their rations, and Saul wants to turn back but the servant wants to inquire of a local seer in Zuph.  They have a long talk about what to give the Seer in return for his services.  Somehow, this servant - this "young man" with Saul - has a quarter of a shekel of silver.  Seems rather odd.  And if that is all they have, how will they provision themselves for the trip home?

There is also this little parentheses:
9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, "Come, let us go to the seer," for today's "prophet" was formerly called a seer.) [1Sa 9:9 ESV]
It seems to have been inserted at some later time to explain to readers what a seer was.  Kind of implies that when this book was written, the seers had disappeared and there were only prophets.  I need to go back and review the MSB book notes for this book - and also for Ruth, since I took no notes that day.

This also:
12 They answered, "He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. [1Sa 9:12 ESV]
So they are offering sacrifices at other than Shiloh.  If I am reading this right, at this time, the Ark of the Covenant is in Kiriath-jearim.  But the altar and the tabernacle and presumably the priests are still in Shiloh.  Maybe God has not yet put his name on a place...no...He's told them they can only sacrifice at the tabernacle.  So what is this all about?  
The MSB note on this verse says the high place was essentially Canaanite in background.  He says the high place was used for sacrifices until the temple was built.  So It may be, after all, that God has not yet set his name on a place that is to be exclusively used for sacrifices to God.  Next, it says that this seer is to bless the sacrifice.  

The seer turns out to be Samuel.  God has told Samuel, and now confirms, that Saul is to be king.

Note this verse:
16 "Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince (hmm...prince and king interchangeable?) over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me." [1Sa 9:16 ESV]
The last sentence is similar to the kind of thing that preceded the judges previously appointed by God.  They were raised up in response to a cry of the people, when they turned back to God, put away the false gods of Baal and the Ashtaroth, and promised to be faithful to God if He would deliver them.  Now these same words are used of Saul.  I have read other places that Samuel is the last of the judges.  So that office is to be replaced by a king.  The role previously occupied by a judge will now be performed by a King.  But God didn't want Israel to have a king.  We have that long section where Samuel warns the people of all the drawbacks and problems and taxation and such that a king will bring that a judge will not.  Perhaps God is against the a man being enriched by the people he is supposed to serve!  Eventually this will lead to an undercurrent of resistance and antagonism that is not helpful for this role.  Wow...this rings true to me.  The judges were not supported by the people, but were revered by them.  There was no tax due to the judges, no palace to maintain, no fields to plow...judges were just  guys, and based on the above, they made enough to support themselves from those who sought their "judgements".  A king is a very different thing.

Saul is from the humblest clan of the humblest tribe (Benjamin) of Israel.  Recall that this whole tribe was nearly wiped out in the last few chapters of Judges, and only survived by dubious strategies and means.  This tribe, descended from the second son of Rachel, and arguably Jacob's favorite, has become the least of all his brothers. Here is what Moses said about Benjamin just before he died:
12 Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The  High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders."

Samuel gives Saul the choice piece of meat at the banquet, then lets him sleep on his roof for the evening.  Samuel wakes him up and walks with him out of town early the next morning.

Chapter 10
Samuel anoints Saul Prince of Israel, the first King.  Then, so Saul will believe him, Samuel tells him of three things that will occur on the way home that day.  He'll be given bread by strangers, told that the donkeys are found and his father is worried about him, and then this third one:

6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. [1Sa 10:6 ESV]
I wonder if this change was permanent?  Looking forward to all that will occur to Saul and then to Saul and David, one has to wonder why God would turn him into a man that does those things.  So maybe this change is temporary, so he can prophesy for a bit.  (MSB says that like Gideon, Saul was equipped at this time to be a military leader).
Second time - it does not say that this change is permanent.  It says that Saul will be another man while he is in the company of these prophets.  This is one of the three signs, rather than a "mantle" that will fall to Saul.  However, given the idea in chapter 9 that the office of king is going to replace the inspired role of the judges, perhaps it is at least in some sense a permanent thing.  Definitely something to keep in mind as we go forward.  If Saul did indeed receive such a gift permanently, how much more guilty is he of the things he will do in the future that prevent his descendants from remaining on the throne.  This would mean his sins are not mistakes, and not even poor understanding, but since he had this gift, he knew each time just how wrong he was, yet he proceeded anyway.
Interestingly, Saul meets these other prophets in Gibeah.  The very same city where the last three chapters of Judges center.  This horrible town that led to so much unrest.  

In vs 8, Samuel tells Saul to go to Gilgal, when Samuel is heading, and to wait for him there.  To wait until Samuel can tell comes to "show him what you shall do".

Then a few verses later:
9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. [1Sa 10:9 ESV].  MSB says of this verse that he was changed so he could perform the duties of kingship.  
Don't like to argue with MacArthur, but recall that God had Samuel try to talk Israel out of having a king because of the kind of man the king would be.  This implies to me that God turned Saul into the man he warned them about.  As of today (second time) I believe he was given the ability to perform the duties of a judge.

Samuel calls the people to Mizpah (2022 - Mizpah again...Samuel tells the people that they have rejected their God - so this is not really a happy time.  Nevertheless, if they want a King, one will be appointed by God.  So Mizpah is again a negative place.) to tell them what God says.  God says that despite his bringing them out of Egypt and delivering them from their enemies, they have rejected God and asked for a King to be over them.  (They don't want any more of this "every man did what was right in his own eyes" stuff.)  
2021 - 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, 'Set a king over us.' Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands." [1Sa 10:19 ESV]
It bothers me that even though things had gotten as low as they had those last three chapters of Judges, that God considers the people's desire for a king as a rejection of Him.  They had seers and prophets, yet they strayed further and further.  They were having long periods where they were slaves to nearby kingdoms, followed by wars of independence, and then when the leader passed, they'd go right back to the old ways.  It seems that God was ok with doing things this way.  In fact, God preferred that to setting up a king to rule over them.  This seems like the wrong plan as we look at it today, but I don't see any doubt that in God's eyes, having a King was a worse state than what was going on in Judges.  Perhaps Samuel had turned a lot of the nation back to God, they were on the right path, and then despite how much things had improved under Samuel, they still asked for a king.  Maybe that is the insult, that is the sin.  They spurned the good path they were on, even when it was going the right direction, and preferred to choose their own way.
Possible FB post.

Each tribe comes near, and Samuel casts lots.  Benjamin is chosen by lot.  The Matrites are chosen by lot.  Then Saul, son of Kish is chosen by lot.  Saul is hiding though.  He really doesn't want any part of being King.  Maybe because he had been given the ability to prophesy.  Maybe he had some insight into where this would lead.  

The people find him, and Samuel points out that because of his height, there is no one like him in all Israel.  The people shout "Long live the king".

I hadn't noticed this verse before:
25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. [1Sa 10:25 ESV]
So no excuses for getting it wrong.  God sent instructions, in writing, through Samuel to Saul.

As Saul returns home, some "valiant" men go with him, apparently led by God to protect him.  But the chapter ends like this:
27 But some worthless fellows said, "How can this man save us?" And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. [1Sa 10:27 ESV]
So Saul is not fully supported, from the very first day he is king.  He has no "honeymoon" with this people.
2021 - Saul returned to Gibeah, the place in those last three chapters of Judges.  He was from that same town, which makes him a descendant of the homosexuals who filled that town at one time, who ran to the hills to escape annihilation, and who stole their wives to preserve their tribe.  Surely there is not a worse place from which a King of Israel could have been chosen.  This is God's prescription for dealing with arrogance.  This is very likely also the reason that not all support Saul as King.  Some are disturbed by his heritage from the very beginning.  Added to that is the fact that Saul knew the lot was going to land on him that day.  Samuel had told him and anointed him, and he'd seen signs.  So he hid among the baggage.  Not exactly the sign of a great leader.  This was not going anywhere good.

Chapter 11
Nahash the Ammonite brings his army against Jabesh Gilead.  The men of Jabesh Gilead, Israelites all offer to make a treaty with him.  His terms are that he will make the treaty if they let him gouge out all their right eyes, so that all Israel will be shamed by it.  They ask for 7 days to send messengers out and see if anyone will come and help them.  If not, they will let Jabesh gouge out their eyes and so shame all of Israel.  One of the messengers gets to Gibeah and Saul learns of it.  This verse:
6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. [1Sa 11:6 ESV]
This is now the third time that Saul has been "changed".  (1 Sam 10:6, and 9).  MSB says 10:6 made him a military leader, 9 made him a king, so what does this one do?  MSB says this filled Saul with divine indignation and empowered him to deliver the people of Jabesh-Gilead.  
Well...not going to argue with MSB...but seems to me that this way of interpreting the three doesn't really ring true.  Would be worth a deeper study, and a comparison back with the other judges, to see if similar things happened to them.  Gideon was given signs, as Saul was...Hmm.  There could be a lot of these similarities.  A good study could be made.  Also, many of the men raised up as judges were shot through and through with character flaws.  So is Saul.

Saul hears of this,and sends messengers with cut up pieces of oxen all over Israel (in less than seven days, remember).  
2021 - Isn't it interesting that here in Gibeah, where events had previously led to a concubine being cut up in pieces and sent all over Israel, Saul now cuts up a yoke of oxen and mails them off to the corners of the kingdom.  Was this some traditional way of stating a serious grievance or intent that was specific to Gibeah, or maybe to the people of that day and age?    What a "foreign" thing that is for us today.  MSB notes the similarity but does not speculate further on what it might mean.
2022 - Saul was reminding the people that in the face of great injustice and evil, all Israel ought to unite as one and avenge the injustice, even to the wiping out of a whole tribe of Israel.  Remember too that Saul was FROM Gibeah, where the previous injustice had occurred.  He is shaming them into helping turn back the Ammonites, where otherwise they might just say "how sad that they all had their eyes gouged out".  This was NOT something that ought to be passively allowed to happen to their nation.

The fear of God is put into the men of Israel and for once, they all muster out and show up to fight with Saul as their leader.  They are united under a leader that they did not all support initially.  In time of crisis, all questions about Saul...no...this wasn't the people that decided Saul would do ok, it took a special act of God to instill loyalty to Saul in these people.  So this would be the way to pray for our country right now.  That God would change the people, not the President.

2022 - How in the world did all this happen in 7 days.  Those guys only had a week.  Saul sent out cut up oxen with a message, and all these people hurry to Bezek with their weapons, AND go and attack the Ammonites, inside a week.

The gathered army is 300,000 strong, and they go to attack the Ammonites, defeating their army and scattering his men such that "no two are left together".  Saul thereby cements his position as King of all Israel.  This verse:
12 Then the people said to Samuel, "Who is it that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring the men, that we may put them to death." [1Sa 11:12 ESV]
The people are now ready to kill the "Not my King" group, and it is Saul who shows them mercy.  

2022 - Saul's success in averting this evil unites all the tribes and squashes the previous dissent we saw at the end of Chapter 10.  This verse:
15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. [1Sa 11:15 ESV]
Israel united under one man.  No more judges.  The transition to a King as head of state is now complete.

Chapter 12
Samuel addresses the nation.  He asks if he has defrauded anyone, that he might make it right.  None come forward.
Samuel reminds them of how they cried out in Egypt and God delivered them, and how each time they rebelled, and were taken captive, they cried out again and promised to serve God and not Baal and the Ashtaroths, and each time he delivered them.  He, God, delivered them by raising up a judge appropriate to the task, and they lived in peace.  Then Nahash, King of the Ammorites came up, and they didn't want God to deliver them, they asked instead for a king.  This verse:
12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. [1Sa 12:12 ESV]
Here is the reason God doesn't like Kings over His people.  It is because He is King, and having a king of our own is a direct rejection of the kingship of God.

14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. [1Sa 12:14-15 ESV]

This appears to be a new conditional covenant between God, Israel and her King.  Not only do the people have to follow God, but the King does also.  If either one or both disobey, God will be against both.  So even though they have rejected God's way, he has relented and given them a king - a new relationship has formed - God will still take care of them, as long as they remain faithful to him.

To double stitch this, Samuel calls down thunder and rain in the middle of wheat harvest, so that Israel will know how displeased God is with what the people have insisted on.  Rain during harvest was a bad thing.
Here is how Samuel precedes the sign of the rain:
17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king." [1Sa 12:17 ESV]
God is giving them what they want, but what they want is wickedness, and offensive to God, and the consequences of their wickedness start now, with rain during wheat harvest.  This is only the beginning of where their rejection of God as King will take them.

The people, perhaps finally realizing how wrong they are, are afraid.  They ask Samuel to pray for them.  Samuel says this:
20 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. [1Sa 12:20 ESV]
Here is the formula for repentance when we sin.  We keep serving the Lord, we rededicate and recommit.  Good FB post.

2022 - So...Israel has been united under Saul as King.  Clearly, from Chapter 11, the Lord has had a hand in this, turning hearts to Saul so the people would follow him and then giving him a great victory over Nahash, King of Ammon.  All these things would be perceived as confirmation of Saul as King, as endorsement if you will of Saul as King.  So do we celebrate the new King, the victory, and a united nation?  No!  We get rain on the wheat harvest!  So what is the lesson?  God forgives, but there may be severe consequences?  No matter how badly we mess up, if we turn back to God...we get vs 22 below?  God forgives for his own sake, to maintain his own greatness, to make sure that promises he has made come to pass, no matter how big a mess we make of His plans?  This seems pretty complex.  I suspect there is a lot more here than I am seeing.

Samuel also tells them that they are God's people, despite their evil ways.  But they must be faithful to him.
22 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. [1Sa 12:22 ESV]

Oh my!  Look at this verse!!!!
23 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. [1Sa 12:23 ESV]
It is a sin to stop praying for sinners!  It is a sin to stop praying for those we disagree with!  It is a sin to stop praying for those who support the other political party, the other form of government, and so on!  It is sin to do otherwise!  Great FB post!!!!

God knows what the best form of government is, and it doesn't involve kings, but as long as His people are faithful, they can have any government they want.  It'll be less than optimum, but God will let them have it if it is what they want.  After all, they are His children.

2022 - And this one last verse:
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." [1Sa 12:25 ESV]
God has no get out of jail free card.  He has forgiven you of a very great transgression - asking for a King, who will oppress you as all Kings oppress their people.  He forgave because He has prior promises to fulfill.  But forgiveness this time does not mean that He will always forgive.  If you go completely wicked, God will be justified in wiping you out and starting over.  
We must always strive to do what is right if we want to continue to be forgiven.  If the people are wicked, both the people and their King will be swept away.  If the King is wicked, both the King and the people will be swept away.  We see both these principles in the OT.

Chapter 13
(Where is Saul from, and didn't it have a checkered past?  He is from Gibeah, and yes it most certainly does have a checkered past!  See Judges, those last few chapters!)

Chapter 13 opens with this verse:
1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, [1Sa 13:1 ESV]
12 ended with Samuel telling them that God would still be with them, despite their rejection of Him, so long as they keep the covenant.  The last time we saw Saul was in Chapter 11, after the battle against the Ammonites.  The kingdom was renewed, and Saul has decided not to put to death those who had opposed him.  And apparently, for a year after that day, Saul just goes home to Gibeah and hangs out.  But after a year, he somehow begins to take on the duties and responsibilities and the trappings maybe, of a real king.

Two years after this, Saul attacks a Philistine garrison and defeats it, provoking a full muster of the Philistine army.
2022 - NO, Saul did not attack this garrison.  Vs 3 clearly says that it was Jonathan that attacked and took the garrison with his 1,000 men.  Saul had 2000 men with him, he'd sent everyone else home.  But once Jonathan takes the garrison, THEN, Saul sounded the trumpet to announce the victory.  As this reads, though, Saul took credit for the victory (vs 4) and "the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal".  But it does not say how many came.

They bring 30,000 chariots, and 6,000 horsemen and troops like the sand of the sea.  They come and camp at Michmash.  A lot of Hebrews hide in the holes in the rocks, caves, tombs and so on.  Those that follow Saul do so trembling.  They are all sure they're going to die.

2022 - So here is a map of Michmash, where everyone gathers to Saul, and the Philistines also gather there to fight.  You can see Geba, just to the south, which is where the garrison of the Philistines was located, adn then further south is Gibeah, where Jonathan was with 1000 men.  The border with Philistia was far to the west.  So this gigantic Philistine army had come all the way across Israel unopposed to restore that garrision.  They basically cut the country in half as they came.  You can bet they grabbed everything and everyone that came to as the marched to battle.  The point is that Israel was pretty much undefended at this time.  It is no wonder they were afraid, seeing an army like this coming against them...but remember, they were already under the thumb of the Philistines, or there would not have been a garrison in Geba, so far into Israel's territory.  
In vs 11 Saul seems to indicate that he and what little bit of army Israel has are at Gilgal, well to the north of Michmash.  So the Philistines and come back and restored their garrison, and issued a challenge for Israel to come and fight them.  After seven days, Saul's army, as they hear the rumors of the size of the Philistine army, is deserting in droves.  Who knows what originally mustered behind him, but they are leaving.  He is a terrible leader.  

Saul is apparently afraid also.  Desertion is getting to be a problem, and Samuel has not arrived at the appointed time to offer sacrifices.  He is late, so Saul takes it upon himself to offer sacrifices to God, though he is not a priest, and he has not waited as God commanded him to wait.  He's grown impatient with God and taken matters into his own hands.  Saul offers the burnt offering, but does not get to the peace offering before...

Samuel arrives.  Saul says that he had to "force himself" to offer the sacrifices to preserve his army.  

Samuel is quick to tell him that just because of this, the Lord has taken away what would have been his and his descendant's kingdom forever and given it to another.  Saul's lineage will not continue.  He is just too faithless and arrogant.  Saul finds this out only two years after becoming King.  He will be a "lame duck" king for a very long time.  This has to weigh on him.  We have already seen that he is not the strongest of character in the land anyway, just the tallest and best looking.  He won't hold up very well to his situation.

In vs 15, Saul and his "army" relocate from Gilgal to Gibeah.  Basically, Saul goes home, apparently skirting around the Philistine army at Michmash.  Note on the map that there is a second location for Gilgal, all the way to the east, and then yet a third east of Jericho across the Jordan.  So we really don't know exactly where Saul was.  The one far to the east makes the most sense, from the standpoint of him moving from Gilgal to Gibeah, and then in vs 16, the move from Gibeah to Geba.  He has 600 men.  Against a huge army.  

Since there is really no assembled Hebrew army, the Philistines send out three raiding parties to wreak havoc in various places.  Each goes toward a different city.  One goes west to Beth-horon, one north to Ophrah, and the third to the valley of Zeboiim to the east and shown as the Valley of Achor on teh map above.  Imagine the tactical problems this caused Saul.  There is this huge force at Michmash, and now three other forces have been sent out, and he cannot possibly keep up with their locations.  He could find himself surrounded, or ambushed at any time, especially if the main Philistine force marches south to engage the 600.  Technically, Saul should have been wiped out completely here.  The Philistines, for their part, may not have realized just how weak the Hebrew army was, and so did this to try and divide the forces of Israel.  It doesn't really work since Israel's army is in disarray.  Makes you feel bad for the three cities they raided.  These were all left defenseless.  

This verse:
19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears." [1Sa 13:19 ESV]
The Philistines had removed all the blacksmiths from Israel so that no swords or spears could be produced anywhere in the land.  Then the Philistine blacksmiths charged them a fee to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes and so on.  (First example of "gun control".) So in the Hebrew army, such as it was, only Saul and Jonathan had real weapons.

2022 - This is how it reads.  Israel was so oppressed by the Philistines that they couldn't even sharpen their own axes.  One wonders how they took the Philistine garrison in the first place?  What happened to the weapons that were stored in that garrison?  Surely there would have been lots of them given that they were in enemy territory and too far from Philistia for reinforcement.  They should have been loaded for bear.  Where did all those weapons go?
So you have a nation disarmed, completely, so much so that they can't so much as sharpen an axe, much less make a spear.  Why were they this way?  Because the Philistines knew that to keep a sure grip on an enemy, they have to be disarmed.  And that is what our own government wants to do to us.  What were the Philistines afraid of?  That the people of Israel would fight back against their oppression.  What do Americans want guns?  So our own government cannot oppress us!

Chapter 14
It seems to me that this "crisis" sort of passes.  The garrison of the Philistines go out to Michmash also, maybe joining those assembled there.  The chapter opens with "One day Jonathan..." as if this is a completely different time.  Hard to get a handle on how prolonged these events might have been.  In 13:15 there were 600 men with Saul.  Now, in 14, there are also 600.  So we haven't moved too awfully far ahead in time.  

2022 - I read this wrong...I think Saul is still moving around regularly to keep from getting taken.  He has no army, and the Philistines are likely terrorizing the whole area.  Saul is shown to be a weak, useless leader of men, and pretty much everyone, all but 600, have deserted him and gone home to hide themselves, their goods, and likely their wives and children from the Philistines, because it is obvious at this point that the King is not going to protect them.  What a sorry situation.

In any case, Saul is at one place, apparently hiding in a cave, with only 600 men.  It seems that everyone is thinking it was a supremely bad idea for Saul to attack that Philistine garrison.  And how he defeated it with no weapons is an interesting speculation also.  But when the Philistines show up with thousands of armed men ready for war, the Hebrews mostly just run and hide.  Like you do, when you have nothing to defend yourselves.  Except the God of the whole universe.  

Presumably, the Philistines are still showing Israel who is boss.  Jonathan decides to go over to the Philistine garrison and talk to them.  No one knows he's gone there.  Jonathan tells his armor bearer that God can do wonders.  Jonathan says God will give them a sign as to whether he is with them or not.  Turns out God is.  Jonathan and his bearer kill 20 Philistines in the garrison, and that strikes fear into the whole Philistine army.  There is also an earthquake, and the Philistines are in a panic.

2022 - The garrison is not named.  Is does not appear to be the same one Jonathan had previously captured but it could be.  It seems to be somewhere between Geba and Michmash, and the first garrison was at Geba...or maybe close by Geba, and this is the same garrison again.  
This verse:  11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves." [1Sa 14:11 ESV].
This tells us that the Philistines are well aware that there is no Isreali army for them to fight.  They know Israel has no weapons, and they know the men are hiding.  So this makes it seem like the large Philistine army is just sitting around, stealing and rattling their sabers as a show that they are still very much in charge and that there is nothing Israel can do about it.  

2022 - It is difficult for me to make out just what happened next.  Jonathan and his armor bearer are invited to come over so the Philistines can "show them a thing".  There seems to have been a difficult climb, perhaps the garrison was atop a steep hill, so Jonathan had to go up on hands and feet.  Then this strange verse:  13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. [1Sa 14:13 ESV].  As it reads, Jonathan knocked them down, and then his armor bearer, behind him, dispatched them.  It appears that maybe because of the steepness of the hill, with no room to "assemble", that Jonathan was able to take them on one at a time.  Rather than try to kill each one, perhaps he knocked them off their feet, and they rolled down the hill into the sword of the armor bearer.  It says together they killed 20 men over a distance of "half a furrow in an acre".  This surely seems to mean the Philistines were single file and could not gang up on Jonathan.  Perhaps Jonathan saw this tactical advantage.  To truly understand it, you'd  have to see the place.  But we don't even have the name of the garrison...
The news that one Isreali has killed 20 Philistines sets off a huge panic among the Philistines.  This has to be God at work, because it seems very irrational in light of the forces each side had.  20 men was no great loss to the Philistine army.  A footnote in TCR says the line "became a very great panic" could also be translated "became a panic from God".  

Saul's watchmen note that the Philistine army is dispersing for some reason and Saul is informed of the panic and orders that the forces with him be counted, so they can see who's left them and possibly caused this.  The assumption is that something has happened, and Saul knows he had nothing to do with it.  They learn that Jonathan and his armor bearer are gone.  Apparently the rest of the 600 are still there.  Saul has the Ark of the Covenant brought up. I thought it was still in Kiriath-jearim at this time?  But here's the verse:
18 So Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. [1Sa 14:18 ESV]
So maybe the Ark resides in Kiriath-jearim, but travels with the king?

Saul and his men (600 men?) go into battle against them.  The Philistines fight among themselves, killing each other.  Also, the Hebrews in the Philistine camp - likely cowards who had "joined" the Philistines to save their own lives, now turn against the Philistines and they fight too.  The Philistines flee, and those hiding in caves and holes and such come out of hiding, and they chase them also.  Presumably, none have weapons as yet, except maybe what they find laying around.  The Philistines are defeated.

Saul has ordered that no one eat until sundown.  So as they chase the Philistines and get really tired, they stop chasing.  They are hungry.  But Jonathan has not heard the order and he eats.  Some see this, and tell Jonathan that he has broken his father's orders.  Jonathan points out how invigorated he is by eating this honey - apparently dropped by the Philistines as they flee - and says it would have been better if everyone had eaten, because with everyone worn out, famished, and unable to replenish their energy, their victory is less than it might have been.  
2021 - This verse:
29 Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. [1Sa 14:29 ESV]  Any way you read this, Jonathan is being critical of Saul's order.   Things get still worse in vs 32, where the people are so famished that they start to butcher the livestock they have taken as spoil, but they eat it with the blood.  They are too hungry to wait until the blood is drained apparently, and eating blood violates the Mosaic Law.  So because of Saul's foolish order - prideful order - his men are too weak to properly pursue and dispatch the Philistines, and now they are violating the law in their ravenous hunger.  The physical is here contrasted with the spiritual.  The physical can overwhelm spiritual commitment, as it does here.  To be sure, their hunger was extreme and possibly their spiritual commitment was not that strong in the first place.  So they break the law.  It starts with a foolish, self-important command from the leader, and this results in a poorly finished victory, and sin all around.
It goes on.  Saul sends out a sort of countermanding order telling everyone to come and properly butcher their food on the altar he's built, and stop eating the food with the blood.  They do so.  Now, in yet another stroke of foolishness, Saul proposes to raid the Philistine came in the dark and loot and pillage till the sun comes up.  Tired, needlessly starving men are now to go and fight all night.  A priest says no, don't do that.  Saul finally prays and asks God if his idea is a good one.  God does not answer.  In this case that means don't go.  Saul perceives that God is saying no because someone has messed up, and Saul wants to punish someone else for the consequences of his foolish order, believing that if no one had disobeyed him, they'd have routed the Philistines.  So Saul's order not to eat weakened the entire army.  Despite this, the Philistines are defeated, and the troops are "released" to go ahead and eat.  They are so hungry that they violate the Law in doing so.  Saul says whoops, that was a pretty lousy order too, so have them all come eat here.  They come.  Third order is to go fight all night now, after sinning in their eating.  At least a priest steps in to halt that.  Now, after three stupid orders, Saul wants to blame someone else for the failure.  It turns out Jonathan his son is to blame.  But even here, after swearing in vs 44 to to implement his fourth stupid order of the day, Saul lets the people talk him out of it.  Truly a selfish, fickle, foolish excuse for a leader.

When sundown does arrive, the people begin slaughtering and eating animals where they find them.  They eat the blood too, which is sin.  So Saul orders them to bring their oxen to where he is and slaughter and eat them properly, and he builds an altar.

God won't let Israel continue the rout of the Philistines.  Saul prays about it and says that no matter who's sin it is that has caused this, that person will die.  So they use Urim and Thummin, and then cast lots, and it turns out Jonathan, because of the honey he ate, is the problem.  So Saul says Jonathan, his own son, must die.  What a stupid king.  The people won't let him do it though since it was Jonathan that started the battle in the first place.

Saul, as king, continues to fight against Israel's enemies on every side.  He is successful where ever he turns.  There is war for the entire time Saul is king, and Saul always recruits the strong or valiant.

Chapter 15
Samuel tells Saul that it is time for Amalek to be punished for not helping Israel when they came up from Egypt.  Saul and his army are to kill everything Amalek has - man, woman, infant, and animals.  Everything is to die by the sword.  Everything and every one.  Here it is, harsh as it sounds:
3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" [1Sa 15:3 ESV]
2021 - This is one of those verses often used to judge a culture we don't understand, that lived under rules and requirements we are unaware of, as being inferior to us in their cruelty and callousness.  We do that while allowing the murder of unborn children in their mother's wombs - the only "safe place" that they will ever know.  Who do we think we are???????
Now here is one for FB.
2023 - What we tend to forget, what we surely know but don't think about, is that a God who would command this kind of retribution against a whole nation because they dishonored God's people is the same God that will judge those who reject his Son.  Don't  think there's any such place as hell?  Don't think a loving God would send you there?  Better think again.  The God you are depending on for mercy has already shown that He is also about justice.  Note also that the Amalekites did not get to vote on whether the loving God of the Israelites would wipe out a whole nation for their actions.  God is not running a democracy.

MSB says the Amalekites were a wandering desert people descended from Esau.  They became a "marked people" when they attacked Israel as they left Egypt.  They lived in the Negev, which Israel has to pass through.  They attacked Israel as they left, and later were used by God to punish Israel - but their fate was sealed.  David had to fight against them also.  The final descendants of the Amalekites were destroyed in Hezekiah's day.  The final descendants of Agag, who was King in Saul's day, are finally dispatched during the time of Esther and Mordecai (473 BC, Est 2:5, 8-10) in Persia.

Saul conquers the Amalekites, but spares their King, Agag, and the best of all their livestock.  He kills the people and the children and the babies, but not the best animals.  He isn't sparing the animals out of compassion, but out of greed.  All they held to be worthless they destroyed.  This directly violated what God had commanded.  This is disobedience in its purest form.

That night, God tells Samuel that he regrets making Saul king, because Saul does not obey.  Samuel is angry about this (NASB translates this "distressed" instead of angry.  MSB note says it was because Samuel as priest was worried that the king was not following God.)  

Here is another aspect of Saul's character that I had not noticed before:
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal." [1Sa 15:12 ESV]
Saul set up a monument to himself, not to God.  He is self-promoting, arrogant, full of pride.  And because he sees himself as the "one", he feels no obligation to be meticulous in following God's commands.  He blatantly disobeys - because he is king..

Next day, Samuel confronts Saul:
13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 14 And Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?" 15 Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction." [1Sa 15:13-15 ESV]
Look closely at this.  Saul says he has done what God commanded, though Saul can hear live animals in the background proving that Saul did NOT do what God commanded.  I have seen people do this, and never understood it.  It is a lie.  It is wrong.  Yet someone, people like Saul see their actions as compliant.  In Saul's mind, he isn't lying.  He did do as God wanted him to do.  There is this disconnect between reality and perception in such people.  It is so profound that even when it is pointed out to them, they just still don't see themselves as in the wrong.  That's the key...these people NEVER judge themselves.  
We today do the same.  We claim to be obeying God's word, but the evidence makes it obvious that we are not.  Obvious!  This was not a judgement call by Samuel.  So Samuel calls him on it, and Saul says it is the people who spared, not him.  And the sacrifice will be to Samuel's God, to "your God", rather than "our God".  There are real problems here.
Here is another strategy - When Saul is confronted, he does not see himself in the wrong, but shifts the blame for what has happened to others.  He didn't round up the sheep and oxen to save them, it was others who did that.  He is the king.  He wants the credit for the good, but not the responsibility of obedience.  He wants to be popular with man, not with God
Possible FB Post.  There is so much here.  Would need to "untangle" it all before posting something.

17 And Samuel said, "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?  The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, 'Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' [1Sa 15:17-18 ESV]
So here is a reason.  Saul is head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel, yet sees himself as a small man.  Saul just does not see himself as King, though that is where God put him.  As King, he could have insisted that the people destroy the animals, but he doesn't do so, because he has not, and refuses to, assume his role as leader, as King of all Israel.  And in his view:
20 And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. [1Sa 15:20 ESV]  For the second time, Saul insists that he has obeyed God.  With Samuel right in front of him telling him otherwise.

Because he is filtering God's commands through his self-imposed limitations, through his human abilities, he believes he has done all that he could have done.  He has done as much of what God commanded as it was in his power to do, as he was comfortable doing, and he believes that should count.  That should be enough.  He obeyed.  But he didn't feel qualified to require obedience of others to those commandments.  He did not depend on God to supply what he lacked.  No faith.
The lesson is that when God puts us into a role, whether we feel we can do it or not, we must depend on God to get us through it.  This is why God puts so many "unqualified" people in places of authority.  It is so they depend on Him to perform their role, not on themselves.  Noah was not a ship-builder.  Moses was a loner and a shepherd.  But they did it anyway!  Saul won't go beyond his human abilities.  So remember that if you feel fully qualified in the role that God has assigned to you, it is almost certain that you are mistaken about what God wants you to do, and are instead doing what you yourself want to do.
Good FB Post - but search.  It may have already been there.  I'm sure there was one very much like it.  And again, there is so much here.  This one would require some work.

Then comes one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible:
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. [1Sa 15:22 ESV]
Possible FB post, if phrased correctly.  In doing it to discharge an obligation so we can move on, we did it wrong.  If we attend church on Sunday and our Monday friends would be shocked to hear that we did, we're doing it wrong.  This one seems familiar too.  Have I already done this?
ALSO, vs 23 also needs to be considered because it is this verse that gives us the real reasons for God's rejection of Saul, that gives us the flaws in Saul that lead to his downfall.  They are rebellion - as bad as divination! - and presumption, as bad as idolatry in that we use our own views in place of God's, we make ourselves God.  These two together are rejection of God, and God in turn, in this case, rejects Saul right back.

2022 - This verse:
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." [1Sa 15:23 ESV]
I haven't really noticed this one before.  How are rebellion and divination so alike?  And presumption like idolatry?  We know the last in each set are hated by God.  MSB says it doesn't mean these sins are "the same", but that the sins of rebellion and, in the NASB, insubordination, are just as bad as divination and idolatry.  They are as hated by God as these other two sins.  Even if that is all that is implied here, it is quite interesting, given Dt 18:9-14.

And next, at least for a moment - or perhaps just because he knows it is what he should say - Saul repents:
24 Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. [1Sa 15:24 ESV]
In 25, Saul says "ok, now that I've repented come along with me".  He wants to appear "pious" to the people and Samuel's attendance will send that message.  Vs 24 is a lie.  There is no repentance.  We know this from Samuel's reaction.  He refuses to accompany Saul.

2021 -
27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. [1Sa 15:27-28 ESV]
Is this where that whole "tearing of clothes" originates?  Have we ever seen that before?   Yes we have, and here are the first three of 7 times before this that people tore their clothes:
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes ... 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. [Gen 37:29, 34 ESV]
13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. [Gen 44:13 ESV]

This verse, that I have never noticed before:
29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret." [1Sa 15:29 ESV]
God is not a man.  The Mormon's are wrong.  No man can be a god.

Samuel finishes the job that Saul wouldn't:
33 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. [1Sa 15:33 ESV]
From the text and the footnotes, it is possible that Agag thought he was in the clear.  As a captured enemy, he would have expected to be put to death, but apparently Saul's treatment of him had mitigated his fear.  Then Samuel hacks him to pieces.  Not a good day for Agag at all.  Once this is all over, this verse:
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. [1Sa 15:35 ESV]
Both Samuel and God grieve about Saul's failings.  There is something here that says God appoints, but men must comply.  Something here that says part of God's perfect will requires the cooperation of his appointees.  Or maybe...what is being said is that though God's will is perfect, many times his appointees are there as examples of how frivolous and small and incapable of sinless living, of pride-free living, any man with power is.  Men just aren't capable of making the right decisions most of the time, just as the angels were not able to do so before man was created.

(((Saul is from Gibeah.  This is the town that got the Benjamites almost wiped completely out of Israel.  This is where the story much like the one about Sodom and Gomorrah takes place.  The woman is sent out, ends up dead, and is cut into twelve pieces and sent all over Israel.  All Israel makes war on the Benjamites.  This is in Judges 19-21.  Not sure why this note is here...maybe I thought Gibeah and Gilgal were the same place.  Looked it up and I don't think they are after all.  Nothing wrong with this note...just not sure why I thought it relevant at this spot.)))

(Looks like I really get "involved" in chapter 15 each time, run out of time, and push hurriedly through 16 and 17.  Next time, I need to temper that a bit.)

How are we to understand this contrast:
29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret." [1Sa 15:29 ESV]  H5162.  
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. [1Sa 15:35 ESV]  H5162, translated "repented" in KJV.
Six verses apart in the same chapter.  They say the opposite.  God does not regret.  The Lord regretted.  Same word in Strong's reference in both.  

Chapter 16
God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint David King.  Samuel is afraid Saul will kill him if he hears of it, but he goes anyway.  There is an MSB note that says until the temple was built, it was acceptable to perform a sacrifice anywhere.  It also says that to get from where he was to Bethlehem, Samuel would have to go through Gibeah, which is where Saul was.  God tells him to take a heifer with him to sacrifice, to alleviate Saul's suspicions.

4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, "Do you come peaceably?" [1Sa 16:4 ESV]
It seems strange that the elders would fear Samuel.  MSB says they had likely heard about Samuel hacking Agag to pieces, and that they still looked at Samuel as one of the judges - who's actions were often very direct.

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. [1Sa 16:13 ESV]
Here also, when Samuel anoints the king, it says the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.  I had never seen that before.  Both Saul and David received God's Spirit, enabling them to do as God commanded them.

14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. [1Sa 16:14 ESV].  Once God makes David King, Saul loses the Spirit.  Only one King.
Is this connected to that NT verse that says if a spirit leaves, seven worse ones will take its place?  Probably not, since this is the Spirit of the Lord leaving, and a bad spirit filling the spot.  See what MSB says about this.  There is a lot in MSB about this:
First, in MSB, there is an explanation saying that "the spirit rushed upon" is a common OT term for God's empowerment of someone to carry out His will.  In this case, David was empowered to carry out his role as King - much as the same thing had occurred with Saul when he was anointed.  This "rushing" was not the Spirit of regeneration, but of empowerment.
In the opposite sense, when David was empowered as King, Saul was removed - by having the Spirit of God removed from him.
MSB says that God allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul.  It says this spirit was a messenger from Satan, an entity, not a tormented emotional state brought on by unrepentant sin, nor the consequence of the sinful acts of others, but a tormenting from without.  Nothing says this demon "possessed" Saul.  The MSB note continues:  Saul, whose inward constitution was already prone to questionable judgment and the fear of men, began to experience God's judgment in the form of severe bouts of depression, anger, and delusion, initiated and aggravated by the evil spirit assigned to him.  There are several NT examples of similar things: Acts 5:1-3, 1Co 5:1-7, 1Ti 1:18-20.  

Saul's servants, recognizing that Saul was being tormented by an external demon, recommend David as a good musician, who's playing can soothe Saul when the harmful spirit is on him.  So David comes into Saul's direct service as his armor bearer and musician.  David will see how Saul rules the kingdom from his position next to the king.

Chapter 17
The Philistines show up to fight Israel.  They come all the way into Judah.  Saul musters an army also, and the two armies face off against each other in the Valley of Elah.  The valley is between the two armies, with the armies themselves each occupying high ground.  The Philistine city of Gath is to the west of this valley.  
Goliath of Gath is the champion of the Philistines.  His coat of mail weights over 100 lbs.  He has a lot of big armor and big weapons.  He challenges the army of Saul, and all are too afraid to go out and face Goliath.  MSB says 6 cubits and a span is about 9' 9" tall.

2023 - This verse:
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [1Sa 17:4 ESV].  So there's a footnote in ESV about the word "six".  It says six in Hebrew.  However, the Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus all say Goliath was FOUR cubits and a span.  In the stories, he's ALWAYS 9' tall.  But four cubits is only 6'.  This would have been tall for the day, but nothing like 9'.  Is it reasonable that the entire army of Saul would have been afraid to go up against a guy 6' tall?  Further, don't we know that some of the giants of the day were in the 9' range, or at least their beds were that big?  The story is much more dramatic at 9'.  So...why is it only 6' in all the translations, and 9' in the original Hebrew?  Maybe none of the translators believed Goliath could really have been 9' tall?

This verse:
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. [1Sa 17:12 ESV]
Interesting that we are being re-introduced to David.  Almost as if the first anointing of David by Samuel was added to this book later.  Either that, or we have jumped backwards in time, to before David was anointed at all.  MSB does not comment on this.  Almost has to be a flashback though, because Saul doesn't know who David is when he meets him.  Previously, David was Saul's armor bearer.  So this seems to have been written before Chapter 16, and possibly even by a different author.  (That reminds me, I haven't done the chapter intro's to Ruth or this book.  That's probably why I'm in the dark here.)

Vs 23 repeats the information we were given earlier in the chapter, almost for David's benefit as this is the first time David has seen Goliath.  Vss 24-27 also seem redundant.  A different style of writing than we have seen previously in this book.  MSB note earlier said that chapters 16-31 are the third section of this book, from Saul's rejection by God to Saul's death.  So perhaps it really is written by a different man...except that David was anointed in 16.

Here is one you never hear emphasized:
51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. [1Sa 17:51 ESV]
Goliath was not killed by the rock.  It knocked him unconscious, and may eventually have killed him, but his "cause of death" was a sword.

At the end of the chapter, David is brought before Saul, and tells him his name, and his father's name.  So later, when Saul's servants suggest David as lyre player and armor bearer, one would think that Saul would recognize the name.  Why didn't the servants tell Saul that David was the one who had earlier killed Goliath?  Again...no MSB note on this.  There is an MSB note that says since Saul had promised his daughter to the one who killed Goliath, and Saul now knows that David will be part of his own family, he is very curious as to David's lineage.  Again - how do you explain why Saul didn't recognize the name earlier - if the lyre playing came first?  How does Saul not know who David is already, either over the lyre, or when David volunteers to kill Goliath?  When could this have taken place?  This is pretty difficult to resolve in my book.  This needs to be explained.  MSB completely disregarding it makes me think I am missing something basic here, that I should already understand the timeline.
Several possible explanations in this article:
https://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=807

The family of the man who killed Goliath would be free of taxes forever.  So Saul needed pretty detailed info on David's family.  It could be that David was just some kid playing the lyre in the background, and his face may not have been known to Saul at this time.  Maybe David had not yet become armor bearer to the king.  Saul would have wanted to know a lot more about David's family since David was now his future son-in-law.  And last but not least, Saul was subject to all kinds of mental instability, and that may well have affected his memory to some extent.  Put all these together and, while many questions are left, and there can be no certainty of the chronology or the motivations of King Saul, there are reasonable explanations for why events might have unfolded this way.  There was this verse that seemed strange to me when I read it the first time:
15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. [1Sa 17:15 ESV]
This almost seems like David was already Saul's lyre player, but was only sent for when he was needed, and in between, David tended his father's sheep.  Possible corroboration comes from these verses:
17 And Jesse said to David his son, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them." [1Sa 17:17-18 ESV]
This seems to be the first (only?) time David had been sent to the army camp to take food to his brothers.  Jesse wants him to give gifts to the commander of their thousand, not to the King himself.  If David was well known to Saul, wouldn't Jesse have sent the gifts to the King directly?  So the menial job of occasionally when summoned playing the lyre for the king - they may not even have met face to face, ever.  There was no reason for Saul to remember the details of the family of a kid that played lyre for him, nor even to remember the kid's name.  I think it is all right here, right in the Bible, as to how these events can be explained.

Chapter 18
1 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. [1Sa 18:1 ESV]
David had just finished speaking, after killing Goliath.  He was holding Goliath's head at the time.  Jonathan must also have been in the room.
Jonathan also makes a covenant with David because he loves him so much.  It does not say that God knit the souls together, it says it was between them.  There are MSB notes referring to this as covenantal love for each other, as God has toward all Israel at this time.
MSB further says that Saul had promised David a wife and riches, and wants him in the palace so that he can keep a close eye on him.  David is promoted rapidly because God gives him success where ever he goes.  He is soon in charge of the men of war, and all approve of these events.  One has to wonder what Abner, Saul's general thinks about it all.  

Saul becomes jealous of David when some women sing about him.  These two verses:
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. [1Sa 18:8-9 ESV]
The "saying" came from the women who were singing Saul's and David's victory praises.  Saul's character flaws rise quickly and because of a song that was meant as inclusive celebration, Saul grows suspicious of David as a rival, never trusts David's ambitions again, and in everything David does, Saul sees an ulterior motive.

The very next day, a harmful spirit from God rushes upon Saul, and Saul "raved within his house".  This spirit sort of makes Saul crazy jealous.  Saul throws a spear at David twice, but somehow David is able to dodge it.  Saul has David removed from his presence and made commander over a thousand soldiers.  David is then very successful at that, and his approval rating among the people continues to grow.
2022 - This is like the next day after David killed Goliath.  So wouldn't this mean that Saul was already having some issues before this whole thing with Goliath, and that David was already playing the lyre for him before this?  Yet David seems to be back home, tending the sheep again.  Maybe David was summoned when needed, rather than residing in the palace of Saul.  How far is it from Bethlehem to Gibeah?  It's a ways I think.  There is much right through here in 1 Samuel that needs to be unraveled.  Is this a second harmful spirit that rushes upon Saul?
2023 - I think David had played the lyre before Goliath, but only when he was summoned.  Back when Saul's servants suggest that someone play to calm Saul, they don't mention a name do they?  Later...they do, in 16:19.  Saul sends to Jesse and asks that David be sent.  He asks by name.  I guess it could be that the servant who knew about David actually sent the letter in the King's name.  More likely though, Saul had forgotten David's name, and so far as we know had never really seen David up close.  Remember that when David would have been summoned to play, it was because Saul was "not himself", but troubled by the evil spirit.  The first time Saul meets David when Saul is in his right mind it when David kill Goliath.
2023 - Look at the next verse though...I Sam 18:10:  10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. [1Sa 18:10 ESV].  I think this makes it clear that the lyre playing started BEFORE Goliath, and that at the battle, Saul did not recognize that David had spent time in Saul's presence before.  Further, even AFTER Goliath, David continues to show up with his lyre to sooth the king, and the King does not notice that it is David doing the playing.  So in vs 10, David is there again, playing lyre, right after the killing of Goliath, and Saul is so beset by the evil spirit that he doesn't recognize David, though he is already very jealous of David.  It is all a jumble, and I think the key to it all is the harmful spirit...No...that won't fly either, because Saul plans to pin David to the wall with his spear.  He KNEW now, by this time, that his lyre player was also the giant slayer.  Saul misses two murder attempts in his own palace.  This scares Saul - I guess that God protected David from the spear - and he removes David from the palace - no more lyre-playing - and makes him captain of a thousand.  

Saul offers David his oldest daughter, Merab.  But David says he and his family are unworthy of the daughter of a king.  Something happens, and Merab is given instead to another.  MSB notes says Merab has five sons that David later executes as punishment for Saul's disregard of Joshua's covenant with the Gibeonites, (2Sa 21:8).  
2023 - This verse:  19 But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. [1Sa 18:19 ESV].  How is it that a King's daughter "should have been", but was not?  What kind of weirdness led to all this?  And yet, since she should have been David's wife and was not, is that why David later agrees to have her sons killed?  Was there some kind of snub involved in Merab marrying another?  Perhaps she disdained David because he was of low birth, and manipulated events to marry another.  Maybe she slept with that other guy to make herself "have to" marry him, and not David?

21 Saul thought, "Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Therefore Saul said to David a second time, "You shall now be my son-in-law." [1Sa 18:21 ESV]
What a way to start a marriage.  The father-in-law wants your wife to be a snare, something to slow you, to hinder you, to cause you problems.
David marries her, though the bride price is gruesome.  David is successful in all his battles, and Michal, Saul's daughter, loves him.  This makes Saul even more afraid of David and he considers David an enemy from then on.

Chapter 19
Saul tells Jonathan and all the servants to kill David.  Saul is far beyond jealousy at this time and is into hatred and fear of David.  He must surely envision some kind of coup from David, unseating him as King.  Jonathan talks Saul out of it, and David returns to Saul's presence.
But another harmful spirit "comes upon" Saul, and he once again tries to pin David to the wall with a spear.  David escapes.  
2021 - Is this a biblical example of where unreasoning irrational unprovoked evil in the world is from?  
9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. [1Sa 19:9 ESV]
I really want to say no, it can't be, because it says this spirit is from the Lord.  Something harmful from the Lord?  This can only be resolved by saying the harmful spirit is justice where Saul is concerned because of his repeated disobedience.  If we believe Saul was sincere in vs 6, then this spirit is making Saul do things against Saul's own will.  And we see that David always escapes, is not harmed, and David's trust in God for protection can only grow in these circumstances.  I think this is the way we have to look at this, but I find it a very unsatisfying analysis.  MSB declines to address the phrase "from the Lord".  

One of the definitions of H7307, the word translated "spirit" in this verse, is "seat of emotion", desire, sorrow, trouble.  Another is the seat of mental acts, seat of moral character.  The only time this word means spirit as in a separate entity is when it means Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, which it certainly does not mean in this verse.  So I am wrong that Saul was "possessed" by an evil spirit/demon sent there by God.  This is absolutely not what it means.  A good way to think of it is that Saul's own flawed character reasserts itself after a brief time of lucidity regarding David.  Yehovah is also included specifically in the verse.  God in some manner allowed this flawed character to reassert itself and dominate Saul's actions.  We might think of it as the manic part of his character asserting itself again over the depressive.  In the depressed state, Saul was more rational, saw his own faults clearly and precisely, and perhaps had a very low opinion of himself.  But then the manic, and the hyperactivity, and the need for self-preservation, self-justification, ruled over his character.  God perhaps let this side of Saul's mind rule, because it was this side that had rebelled against God to start with.  I find this a much more acceptable way to see this.  

2023 - This is the way to look at this spirit.  Saul was full of character flaws and full on character problems.  What happens here is that those are "allowed" to prevail in his thinking, perhaps in the way that schizophrenics hear voices telling them to do evil things, things they'd rather not do.  Over time though, the urging becomes irresistible or the person decides to do what they say just to get them out of his head.  We are seeing something like that here.  Severe depression because Saul knows, understands, that his sons will not be kings.  That he is the only king in his line.  He likely has come to believe that David will wipe out his remaining family when he becomes King in Saul's place.  Saul may see this as imminent.  These evil thoughts God allows to run rampant and  unchecked in Saul's mind.  Perhaps to show the world that Saul lacks the "tools" required to be a king.

So Saul sends men to keep an eye on David's house all night, planning to kill David the next day.  Michal is aware of the threat, somehow, and warns David, then helps him escape by lowering him down through a window.  So those watching don't know he has gone.  The King's own daughter helps David escape.

2021 - This verse:
17 Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?" And Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'" [1Sa 19:17 ESV]  Michal tells Saul that the reason she helped David escape is because David threatened to kill her if she didn't.  This certainly would have kept Saul from killing her for aiding and abetting his enemy, which surely would have been a capital crime in those days.  Yet it gives Saul another reason to hate David.  Saul now can say that he wants David executed for threatening to kill his own wife, Saul's daughter, in order to escape the justice of the king.  This lends at least a bit of legitimacy to Saul's pursuit of David, even though it is based on a self-serving lie.

David flees to Samuel, and they go to Naioth.  There are many prophets there.  Saul sends messengers to retrieve David three times.  All three times the messengers end up prophesying, and not retrieving David.  It is unclear, but possibly all the messengers sent end up staying in Ramah, as prophets, and don't even return to Saul.  Fed up, Saul goes himself, and he too prophesies before Samuel all day and all night, naked.  God repeatedly thwarts the intentions of Saul, up to and including having Saul prophesy, and yet Saul persists in trying to kill David.  
2021 - God's sovereignty shown in that those sent to do evil instead prophecy as to the will of God.   
Surely the whole of the country knows by this time that Saul wants David dead.  Yet none seem willing to be the "hero" and kill David.  At the same time, none are willing to take up arms against Saul in a coup attempt to put David in power.  So Saul's jealousy is unwarranted.  There is no real threat from David.  Saul has been told that his son's won't be kings, but there was no mention of Saul dying early or anything like that.  All of these suspicions are "planted" in Saul's head by the evil spirit, making use of Saul's own character flaws - arrogance, low self-image, desire to please others above pleasing God.

Chapter 20
Much talk and conspiracy between David and Jonathan.  David fears that either Saul is keeping secrets from Jonathan now, or that Jonathan has switched loyalty to Saul.  Jonathan does not believe that his father wants David killed.  He says that Saul tells him everything on his mind.  But David says the facts indicate otherwise.  That Saul is indeed plotting to kill David.  How can Jonathan not know Saul's plans?  David is right to be suspicious of Jonathan in this case.  David reminds Jonathan of the covenant they have with each other.  David even asks Jonathan to be the one to kill him if he has wronged Saul in a way deserving of death.  Jonathan says there is no such wrong.  
They make a plan with arrows.

2023 -This verse:
12 And Jonathan said to David, "The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? [1Sa 20:12 ESV], which comes a little later in the chapter from this verse:  5 David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. [1Sa 20:5 ESV].
Here is the point.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.  Jonathan makes it clear that "the third day" is not today or tomorrow but the day after.  Three days, two nights.  He rose on the third day.

At the feast, Saul misses David and Jonathan says he gave David permission to be away.  Saul is angry.  He calls Jonathan names.  He tells Jonathan that Jonathan will never be king so long as David is alive, and he tells Jonathan straight out that he wants David killed.  He accuses Jonathan of choosing David over his own father.  In his anger, Saul throws a spear at his own son.  Jonathan is now angry also, and gets up without eating and leaves.  Likely this is a serious affront to a king.

Psalm 11
This psalm pictures the Lord in judgement upon men.  It talks about God testing men, and hating those who are not found righteous.  The psalm prays - or predicts? - that the wicked have coals rained down on them.  It is a plea for justice - for good to the righteous, and for desolation to the wicked.  This is not a live and let live psalm.  It is ok to pray "harm" to the wicked because it is just, and it is in parallel with God's justice.  He punishes the wicked.  In His own time to be sure, but the wicked are to be punished, so it is ok to pray that towards them.
But how does this fit with Samuel saying  he will pray for Israel even though their desire for a king is "wicked".  
This is always a difficult thing.  Is it about OT vs NT?  Ok to request destruction for our enemies in the OT, but in the NT we are to pray for them?
I note also that David often prays for God to destroy his enemies.   Hmm...maybe the key to all this lies in specifying who the enemy is?

2022 - I wonder if these first few Psalms are here to calm everyone back down after reading Job?  Job pretty much says that sometimes, the righteous also suffer, and that sometimes the wicked go a whole lifetime without punishment.  Then we get to these Psalms, and they all say that God looks after the righteous, and His wrath goes out against the wicked.

Psalm 59 NDP
2021-Like 58, the intro to this Psalm says "according to "Do Not Destroy"?  One of David's favorites?  One he wanted them to be sure and retain instead of just sing on a special occasion and then throw away?  No way to know.  This is about the night Michal convinces David to flee from Saul and she helps him to escape.  David would otherwise have died that night.  He was within hours of death when he wrote this Psalm, yet he escaped.
A prayer for deliverance.  Written when Saul's men were watching David's house.
2021 - The first two verses are a very direct prayer for protection from evil men and their designs.  David realized he couldn't "outsmart" the conspiracy against him on his own.  Either God would help him, or he would die.  He had no chance on his own.  Prepping is like that.  No matter what we do, we won't make it without God.  God should be the primary "prep".  Hmm... It is also true that David sneaked out of that house and ran for the hills.  He prayed, and then he acted.  It seems that David is always like this.  He prays because he knows he cannot outsmart so many, and then he does his level best to outsmart them, depending on God to fill the gaps.  This we've seen many times from David.

This verse is near the end of the Psalm:
16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. [Psa 59:16 ESV]
How often are we like this?  We pray earnestly for protection or release from some problem, and God answers, and takes care of us.  But we don't pray this last part.  We don't praise and thank him for the answer.  We just go on as if it was nothing.  Thanking God afterward is a big deal too.

Chapter 21
David goes to Nob with some men.  Nob?  Is that another name for the place where the Ark is now?  Or another name for Shiloh?  And is Ahimelech, the priest David finds there, the high priest, a descendant of Aaron?  It calls this bread the bread of the presence that is replaced regularly.  This is sort of an important thing, because Jesus reminds the Pharisee's of this incident when they accuse him of gathering corn to eat with his disciples on the Sabbath.  

MSB note says that Nob was "The city of the priests" and references 1Sa 22:19.  Continuing the MSB note, "The priests dwelt on Mt. Scopus, about one mile NE of Jerusalem.  David went there for necessary supplies and for counsel. (Remember, in Chapter 20 he had just learned that Saul truly wants him dead, and he had departed from Jonathan).  Ahimelech.  A great grandson of Eli (per 1:9), who is possibly the brother of Ahijah (14:3; 22:11), or Ahimelech may be another name for Ahijah.  Not only is there a rejected king on the throne (15:26-29) but also a disqualified priest (2:30-36)..."  

So this is not the tabernacle.  It is still in Shiloh, and remains there until David brings it to Jerusalem I think...though not certain of that.  This priest may have been the high priest visiting from Shiloh and using a different name, or it may have been his brother, who would likely have had quite a bit of prestige as the relation of the high priest.  However, the verses in chapter 2 referenced above are where God rejects Eli because his sons are so corrupt, and precludes Eli's descendants from being priests of God.  So...whomever Ahimelech is, he is a descendant of Eli, and not recognized as a priest by God.

This same MSB note also references Jesus' telling of this story in these verses:
26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" [Mar 2:26 ESV]
The MSB note here says that Abiathar was Ahimelech's son, who later was High Priest during David's reign.  (But still a descendant of Eli?)  

I wonder if Jesus' point was that David ate bread maintained by a disqualified priest, just as the High Priest in Jesus' time was so corrupt and so far from understanding that he too was rejected.  I think Jesus' words often carry far more implication than just the words themselves.  He wasn't just telling the Pharisees that they were wrong about the incident with the corn, but that they were completely rejected by God.

In any case, David gets the priest at Nob to give him five loaves of the bread of the presence.  We are also introduced to Doeg, a servant of Saul, who was there at Nob the day all this happened.  He is chief of Saul's herdsmen. Interesting that in vs 7, MSB says this in relation to Doeg:
Doeg had embraced the Hebrew religion (Doeg was an Edomite) and was at the tabernacle, perhaps detained because it was the Sabbath and he could not travel.  So in this note at least, the true tabernacle built in the wilderness is now at Nob.  That would mean this was the "official" bread of presence, and Ahimelech, whether another name for Ahijah the high priest, or just serving in Ahijah's place at that particular moment, is the priest in charge of the tabernacle at that moment.  But a descendant of Eli in either case.  Things are pretty messed up in Israel at this time.

2023 - Note that this priest does not know that David is on the run from the King.  David lies to the priest and says that he is on a secret mission FROM the king, and needs food for himself and the men he is to meet on behalf of the King.  These words perhaps convince this questionable priest to render aid to David.  And then later, Saul kills this priest for his actions.

After he's eaten, David asks the priest if there are any weapons there he can have.  The priest gives him Goliath's sword.  David must be pretty strong at this point if he is going to swing that particular sword.  

From there, David goes to King Achish in Gath.  David is recognized there as King of Israel.  So Saul's rejection by God, and apparently the fact that David has been anointed to replace him, is widely known.  David realizes that they may see him as a future threat - or a current threat!  .  He is afraid, so he behaves as if he is insane.  

2023 - Here is an interesting detail that I had not noticed.  The priest at Nob gives David Goliath's sword.  Goliath was from Gath.  That is where David goes next, after he receives the sword.  All in that place would have recognized that David was carrying Goliath's sword, because they had all known Goliath.  They would have given David plenty of room when he walked into town with Goliath's sword.  Like you'd give Billy the Kid room.  Even so, David is afraid when it turns out that they know he is the anointed King of Israel.  He worries that his calling card will not be enough to keep him safe since they know who he will be.

Chapter 22
David escapes from Gath, apparently deciding that he cannot stay there with his identity so well known.  He goes to the cave of Adullam.  This verse:
1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. [1Sa 22:1 ESV]
So David is "in hiding" but he's not doing a very good job of it.  His family back in Bethlehem learns where he is, and they go to see him.  If they were being watched, they'd have led spies straight to David's location.  Further, another four hundred distressed people go to David there, and he becomes commander over them.  So now his location is known, and there is indication that he is building an army, and in his state of mind, Saul will see this as the start of a rebellion intent on his demise.  Even a rational king might well think that's what this was.

David moves on from there, apparently pretty quickly, and goes to Mizpeh in Moab and talks to the king of Moab.  David entrusts his parents to the keeping of the King of Moab.  He moves on to some stronghold, not well specified.  The MSB note says that Gad, a prophet, advised David to leave this stronghold.  Gad will be "David's seer" later.  David now moves to the forest of Hereth.  MSB note says we don't know where that really is.  

The scene shifts to Gibeah, where Saul is wallowing in self pity with all his servants around him.  He accuses them of disloyalty as if they are being bribed with positions of authority by David.  He is angry they didn't tell him that Jonathan had made a covenant with David.  Angry that Jonathan is closer to David than to him. Then this Doeg, who was at Nob when David came there, speaks up.  He refers to Ahimelech as the son of Ahitub.  Doeg rats out Ahimelech big time, even mentioning that Ahimelech gave David Goliath's sword.

Saul calls all the priests of Nob, along with Ahimilech and his family, to Gibeah.  Saul accuses Ahimelech of conspiring with David, and says that David lays in wait to kill him (Saul), and that Ahimelech had inquired of God on David's behalf.  Ahimelech reminds the King that David is his son-in-law, the captain of the King's guard, and so on - arguing that David is NOT trying to unseat Saul at all but is loyal to him.  
2023 - And remember, David didn't tell Ahimilech that he was on the run from Saul, but that he was on a secret mission from Saul.  And as captain of the King's guard, it would have been Ahimilech's duty to assist David in any way that David requested.  There should have been no guilt here.

Saul does not take this well.  This priest has chastened the King, and told Saul that he is mistaken about David.  Saul is angry and orders Ahimelech and all his family killed.  Saul's men will not kill them when ordered to do so, but Doeg will and he kills 85 priests, then kills man woman and child in Nob, the city of priests.  He also kills the animals.  This is a terrible thing.  Saul has reached a new low.  Ahimelech's son Abiathar escapes though.  He's the only one, and he goes to David.

2021 - 18 Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and strike the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. [1Sa 22:18-19 ESV]
This is a case that seems very unfair.  For one thing, Ahimelech had helped David far in the past, before things had come to such an adversarial situation.  Even so, for Saul to not only kill the one he was mad at but all his family, from his father down, and then all the residents of Nob, the city of priests...why would God let this happen?  And it is done by Doeg, a nobody, a sheep herder at best, and God allows it.  This is another of those "different culture" things, where what Saul ordered was probably commonly ordered for traitors and enemies of the King.  We've already seen that David feared for his own parents.  David is powerless to do anything about this, and God doesn't do anything.  Saul is saturated with sin by this time, with hate, and resentment.  Saul is an example for us all of the depravity that man has inside him.  Perhaps this is why God allowed it.  So that future generations would see, and fear, the results of unbridled sin in a person of power.  It is the same with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot, with Idi Amin, and so on.  Sinners in power show us the true depths, the still unplumbed depths of fallen man.  Saul, Doeg, and all these others should urge us to our knees to plead for salvation, lest such evil also be unleashed in us.  We should pray that we have no power save that God bestows, and have none that man would bestow.  Perhaps this is the whole key to God choosing the humble, the simple, the peons, because only these are uncorrupted by power and the deeper sins that come with being able to do evil with impunity.  Hmm...It seems like I am onto something here.  But not a FB post.  This is a website lesson.
2022 - Even more, after listening to John MacArthur's sermons on 1 Tim 2, we ought to be praying for our  leaders, because they are consumed with power, and surely the temptation to use it as Saul does here is always there.  We need to pray for unsaved leaders that they will not fall into such a state as this, and we need to pray for the saved that they not succumb to the constant temptation.  
This really might be a FB post after all...especially after the post on 6/8/23, with the point being that there is a good reason for God saying "vengeance is mine".

Chapter 23
David goes to kill the Philistines who are raiding Keilah, after first consulting the Lord.  Saul decides that since David is now holed up in Keilah, he can kill him there by surrounding and besieging that city.  It has walls and gates and David cannot escape.  Saul mobilizes an army to this end.

David learns of this, and God reveals to David that if he stays where he is, he will fall into Saul's hands.  So David leaves, before Saul's army even gets there.  Saul gives up, and apparently demobilizes.  David moves around, staying in hiding in the wilderness of Ziph, on the run all the time, and Saul's soldiers continue to look for him.  I wonder what other evils were taking place while the king - the source of justice in the land - is so preoccupied with capturing David?  Surely like the US today, worrying about Covid-19 and now BLM and riots and such, there was a lot of crime that wasn't even being investigated.

Jonathan goes to see David in hiding.  Jonathan is able to find him.  These verses, speaking of yet another covenant between them.  And Jonathan even says he will help David to rule in Saul's place.  Jonathan says this though he is next in line to succeed Saul.  Jonathan will be king if David is killed.  Jonathan eschews all this.  Here is the verse:
17 And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this." [1Sa 23:17 ESV]

The Ziphites tell Saul that David is hiding among them and that they will turn him over if Saul will come down to get him.  Saul sends them back to make double sure they know exactly where David is - not just the area where he is - before he comes down.

Much cat and mouse as Saul tries to kill David.  At one point, Saul is closing in, but he receives a message that the Philistines are attacking.  Saul breaks off the pursuit of David and goes to fight the Philistines, so David escapes.  David now goes into hiding in the strongholds of Engedi.

Chapter 24
After fighting the Philistines, Saul learns that David is now in Engedi, and pursues him there with 3000 hand picked men.

2021 - 6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed." [1Sa 24:6 ESV]  Saul, a demonstrably evil and mentally  unstable monarch, is intent on the murder of David.  He has murdered others in pursuit of this goal.  Yet David refuses to kill Saul because God set Saul on the throne.  I don't think we are meant to confine leaders to only those on whom a prophet has poured some oil.  If they are in power, God put them there.  If God put them there, it is not for us to remove them.  But we can argue from this whole episode that David is also not "turning himself in" to this evil King.  David has gone into hiding and is evading the anointed King's intentions and lawful orders.  David has his own "defense force", and has used it to sort of play Robin Hood toward people oppressed from foreign enemies.  I would liken this to the underground church in Rome during the time of persecution.  I think this lesson is important because I believe true persecution is coming.  Christians will be hated, as Saul hated David, without reason or logic, and the hatred will be so intense that the haters very minds will be polluted to the point where their thinking is irrational.  We see our best defense here.  It is NOT armed rebellion against authority.  It is hiding in God's own protection.  It is NOT walking into the hands of the haters and trusting in God to protect us, it is waiting for God to release us - or for martyrdom.  Here is the rule, in so many words:  12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. [1Sa 24:12 ESV]
Possible FB post.

2022 - These verses:
6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed." ... 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, 'I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.' [1Sa 24:6, 10 ESV]
Here is an interesting thing.  Each place where the English word "anointed" is used, it is the translation of the Hebrew word "masiah".  Try reading these verses that way...try thinking of Saul as "the LORD's masiah", "for he (Saul) is the LORD's masiah.  As nearly as I can tell, the title masiah is used of Saul in the OT far more than it is used of the coming one.  I cringe to read it as Saul, the LORD's masiah.  But when I do read it this way, I get a much better sense of why David hesitated to kill him.  That finally makes sense.  What if we apply this title to our leaders?  Will we be so quick to speak against them, to criticize them, the call for their removal?  Joe Biden, the LORD's masiah.  Try that one on for size.
Here is the proper attitude toward leaders who seek our harm:  12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. [1Sa 24:12 ESV].  And if they don't seek our harm?  We are back to praying for their salvation, and praying for the LORD's masiah!
A possible, but questionable, FB post.

David has a perfect chance to kill Saul, but does not. David informs Saul directly that he could have killed him.  But David says he will not.  That he will leave this in God's hands, and let God judge between the two of them, as to who should live and who should die.

Saul repents, in perhaps one of his last lucid moments, recognizing that he is in the wrong.  At least for a while.  Saul says he understands that David will be King next.  He asks for David's promise that Saul's offspring will not all be killed once David is King.  David assents.

Chapter 25
Samuel dies.  Interesting to note that we haven't finished the book, and all of 2 Samuel is yet to come when he dies.  So it is a pretty sure bet that Samuel did not write all of 1 and 2 Samuel.  Also interesting how little is made of his death in this chapter.  He gets one verse, saying he died and was buried in his house at Ramah.  The last of the judges, and this is all the mention his death gets.

The story- the history - shifts back to David and his men.  There is a very rich man, who is not a good guy, and his wife Abigail, who is a very special lady in spite of it.   Nabal is shearing his sheep, so David sends 10 young men, on a feast day, to ask for food for themselves and for David.  David has them point out that they have done Nabal no harm, and have in fact guarded his shepherds and his flocks for him so that he has lost nothing while they were around.
2021 - David and his men were powerful enough to have eaten freely of Nabal's livestock when they were in hiding.  In fact, they still can.  But they have not done so.  Nabal has more than enough for his own, and then some.  Perhaps David is also pointing out that he and his men will continue to respect Nabal's goods, and they are asking for respect in return.  But to me, this also has the look of "protection money".  Hey Nabal, we won't let anything happen to your stuff - no fires, no raids, no slaughter - all for free...unless you'd like to give us a donation to make sure nothing happens.  Ahhhh!  Here is the difference.  David was not asking for payment for promised "guard duty".  David was saying they had indeed behaved and stayed away from Nabal's stuff, and their presence had deterred bad people - including foreign raiders - from coming into that area.  Nabal had profited already from the presence of an armed force in his area.  David asks for acknowledgement of the indirect benefit of his presence.

Nabal says he doesn't know who David is, and for all he does know, David is an escaped slave.  He gives them no food at all.
2021 -This might not be such a harsh answer, had we not been informed already about Nabal's character in vs. 3.  Nabal is not a good man, and this answer is from his bad character, not from and wise and thoughtful process.  Vss 14-17 expand on the situation, and again emphasize that Nabal was so bad you couldn't even talk to him.  He would not listen to anyone.

David has 400 men strap on their swords, he straps on his, and they head for Nabal to do him harm.
One of Nabal's servants warns Abigail of what is about to happen.  She loads up a ton of food, and sends it ahead of her, but doesn't tell Nabal that she is doing it.  David's intent is to kill everyone that works for Nabal, but on the way, he intercepts the food from Abigail.  And Abigail is close behind.

This verse, which explains David's attitude:
21 Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. [1Sa 25:21 ESV]
David didn't want it all.  He wanted good for good.  But now that Nabal has acted according to his bad character, look at where David himself goes:
22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him." [1Sa 25:22 ESV]
David's plan is now to wipe out Nabal's whole family and all the families that work for him.  A huge, escalated, nuclear response.

She points out to David that if he continues and avenges Nabal's wickedness, then he will be guilty of blood for doing so.  I believe the point is that David is going too far in his anger about this treatment by Nabal.  She says that Nabal is a bad guy and that it will eventually catch up to him without David's help.  She tells David that it would be better when he becomes King if he did not have this blood-guilt on his conscience.  She begs him to take the gifts she's brought, and turn back.  It is a very fine speech she makes.  David takes the gifts and turns back.
Shortly after, Nabal dies.  It starts, apparently, with too much partying, perhaps some bad wine, but in the end, God strikes Nabal, and he dies.

2023 - Here is another thing, probably the most important thing.  There is not one word here about David asking God whether or not he ought to go up and take care of business with Nabal.  This one time, David just decides what to do and sets out to avenge this insult on his own.  He does not pray, he seeks no guidance, nothing.  THIS is why there would have been blood guilt on him over killing Nabal.  Somehow, Abigail senses this  - or she seizes on it as her only chance - and her words remind David that he has been remiss in not talking to God about this and also rash in seeking to serve vengeance on Nabal.  This is the whole point.  And what a good lesson for David to learn before he becomes King.  

David hears of Nabal's death.  He sends messengers and asks Abigail to come to him as his wife.  She is quick to agree.  He also marries Ahinoam of Jezreel.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head." Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. [1Sa 25:39 ESV]
David acknowledges here that his reaction was wrong.  David was not a King at this point, and meting out justice was not his job.  He would have been wrong to kill Nabal, and because of Abigail, he was kept from doing so.  Nabal certainly did not deserve Abigail, and did not appreciate her.  David recognized how special she was.

Here's something I'd never seen before:
44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim. [1Sa 25:44 ESV]
David's first wife had been given to another in his absence.  Yet she shows back up later when David dances into town before the ark of the covenant, and criticizes his behavior.  She has a lot of room for that!

Chapter 26
Saul hears from the Ziphites again (they seem to be quite a bunch of tattle tales) that David is in Hachilah, and takes 3000 men to get him.  David has 600 men.  Saul likes to win big I guess.

David and Abishai sneak into Saul's camp and get close enough to kill him.  Abishai offers to do the deed.  David's reply:
10 And David said, "As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. [1Sa 26:10 ESV]
David won't kill God's anointed, but leaves it for God to take care of as He sees fit.  David is content for Saul to live out his life to an old age if God wills it.  Or David is fine if God strikes Saul dead in the next five minutes.  But David will not be the instrument of Saul's death.

Instead, he steals Saul's spear and a water jar.  Next morning, David pokes fun at Abner, the King's commander, because he let David get so close.  He impugns Abner's skills.  Likely David makes an enemy for life shaming the commander in front of his troops.  David asks Saul why he chases a flea in the desert, who's done nothing to harm him.
Saul says he has sinned.

Chapter 27
David despairs of things getting better, and decides he should go to the Philistines.  At least there he can have some kind of life, free of always running and hiding from Saul.  
2021 - 1 Then David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand." [1Sa 27:1 ESV]
You might think that after Saul turns away and goes home, David would be optimistic.  But it doesn't go this way.  David has more than a little experience with Saul's "promises", and does not for one moment believe what Saul says.  A good lesson in "forgive but never forget".  The past matters.  Plans should reflect reality.  Expectations should be rational.  
Possible FB post.

He goes to Achish, in Gath.  He and his men and all their families live in Gath for a while.  

2022 - It turns out that this strategy goes as David anticipated.  Vs 4 says that once Saul learns that David has fled to Gath, he stops looking for him.  No diplomatic attempts to have David extradited.  Sure seems like Saul would have tried that, rather than risk David raising a full army right across the border and then invading in force.
 
David requests a different place to live, and Achish gives Ziklag to him.  It is still there, not too far East of Gaza, almost straight south of Ashkelon  Far SW of Jerusalem.  David lives with the Philistines a year and four months.
During that time, David raids the surrounding towns - which are in the land of promise but were never cleared out.  He kills every man, woman, and child on these raids, but takes the spoil for himself and his men.  He lies to Achish and tells him he is raiding into Judah, against his own people.  Achish is impressed.

I sure have a hard time justifying what David was doing.  But apparently God did not, so I will keep my mouth shut.

2022 - After the recent post I made on how horrible Saul was, it seems there should also be one on this story.  David is also killing men, women and babies, and then stealing all that they have.  This rather than raise is own livestock and crops in Ziklag.  For 16 months, David survives by murder and theft.  By killing those who are in the land promised Israel, but who were never evicted.  Yet...they'd done nothing to either David OR Saul.  They were just there, minding their own business, and David thought it acceptable to kill them all.  There are some pretty terrible stories in the Bible, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the good guys from the bad...unless it tells you which is which.

Chapter 28
The Philistines go to war against Israel while David is living in Gaza.  Achish, King of the Philistine's in that area, who's land David and his people are staying in, tells David he expects him to fight with the Philistines against Israel.  David says he will.  Achish makes David his bodyguard for life.

Saul sees the army of Achish and is afraid.  He seeks counsel of God, prophets, and the Urim.  God is silent.  So Saul has his men go and find a medium he can consult and they find one in Endor.  She summons up Samuel, and recognizes Saul in the process.  Samuel is upset at Saul for bringing him up.  
2021 - Saul had put all the mediums and necromancers out of Israel.  God abhors such things.  Saul surely knew this.  Rather than wait on the Lord, since he was not being answered right away, Saul once again takes matters into his own  hands.  This has always been a fault with Saul.  He has no patience whatsoever with God.  He considers God one of many possibilities, not his only help in time of trouble.  When God doesn't answer right away, Saul sends for a witch of Endor.  Surely this is where the term comes from.  

18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines." [1Sa 28:18-19 ESV]

Many interesting things here.  First, Saul is about to receive the consequences of not killing all the livestock in that first big battle.  The one where he was smaller than he thought he was.  Second, it won't be just Saul who suffers, but all Israel.  The nation will pay for the disobedience of their leader.  Third, Samuel tells Saul that he and his sons will be with Samuel tomorrow.  That means they'll be dead, so Saul has 24 hours to live.  His children likewise will be dead tomorrow.  But where, exactly, will they be together?  Samuel should be in the Bosom of Abraham.  Saul should be in hell.  In those days, there was Sheol, with a place for the evil to burn and the good to wait for the resurrection.  Probably Sheol is where they'll all be.

2022 - MSB does have a note on this, but it is trivial, and does not speculate in any way.  Says this may mean they will all be in "the abode of the righteous".  I don't know where that even is.  Also, that term is not used in either the ESV or the KJV, so I wonder where MSB got that?  What we do know for certain is that Samuel meant that Saul and his boys were going to die "tomorrow".  

2022 - Saul is so frightened by this prospect that he falls full length on the ground.  He is incapacitated.  He seems to be an abject coward.  But then again, this is how the lost ought to feel all day every day.  Saul understands that he is NOT in God's favor today, and that he will surely be in God's presence tomorrow.  That is and should be a frightening prospect.

Chapter 29
As the battle nears, the Philistine lords see that David and his men are with Achish.  They insist that Achish send him away, lest David turn on them during the battle.  Achish still believes that David has been true to him, though from earlier reading we know that David has been raiding in the towns surrounding where he's been assigned to live.  David acts offended that he is not to be allowed to fight.  This too seems "wrong", as David knows full well he's been killing Philistines, men, women, and children.  But David goes home.

Chapter 30
When they get back to where they were living - Ziklag - they find the Amalekites have raided the place and taken all their wives and children captive into slavery.  David's men consider stoning him because this has happened.  They too have lost wives and children.  David checks with God to see whether he should pursue and try to rescue the wives and kids.  He checked before doing what we would consider obvious.  
2021 - This would be a situation where it would be difficult to see anything "good" coming from events.  This seems more like punishment, more like God actively opposing and punishing, rather than like chastising or correcting.  How difficult it would be to overcome one's own emotional reaction to such a thing and consider even for a moment what God's purpose might be?  And yet, that is what David does in vs 6.  He "strengthens himself in the Lord his God".  How does one do what David does here????
By inquiring of God what should be done - whether or not to pursue - David sets an example to those who follow him that it is God, and NOT David, who is in charge.  Why stone David, when it is God who leads the way and manages events.  Possibly these Amalekites had gotten wind of David and his men raiding and killing everyone in town and for that reason had raided Ziklag specifically.  And let's not forget that David was not only killing en masse and taking the spoil, but was then lying about it to the Philistine King who was protecting him.  And maybe David had a clue to some higher purpose in it all from the fact that no one at all was killed.  They took Ziklag and took everyone captive, without killing anyone at all.

2022 - When bad things happened, the people considered killing the leader, because a good leader would not have let such a thing happen.  We could adopt that as a principle, but in fact, David points out that this is not the right way to look at it.  They ought not blame their leader since it was God who allowed this situation.  Neither David nor any other leader could have stopped it.  
Further, it specifically said earlier that the Amalekite cities were among those David targeted to raid, and he did some pretty heinous things.  While the Philistine King didn't really comprehend where David was raiding, but took his word that he was raiding Israel, the Amalekites may have had better information.  They may have know that Ziklag was the source of the raids, and they may have shown up in force for their revenge.  But finding the city undefended, and only women and children there, their greed for spoil may have overcome their desire for vengeance and death.  It really is no surprise that this happened.  Hmm...shouldn't David have left at least a garrison there to defend the town?  It says that NO ONE DIED at all.  So...we don't know but what the garrison David left chose to surrender rather than risk civilians dying?
Another possibility...Did God make the other Philistine Lords send David home...SO HE COULD recover these women?  Had he stayed to fight, perhaps assisting Israel from inside the battle lines or something like that, the women would have been back in the Amalekite city.  There would have been no opportunity to overtake them.  

David recaptures all that was taken from Ziklag.  BUT, he ALSO recovers all the spoil from Philistine and Negeb and Judah that the raiders had taken.  Very much spoil.  Enriching spoils.  David divides the spoil with his men - all 600, not just 400, and sends presents into Judah also of the spoil.  This likely magnified his reputation as a generous man, a protector, one who sets things right.  So what at first seemed an occasion for stoning turns 180 into a demonstration of David's obedience to God, his abilities as a leader, and his success that accrues from his obedience, even in the most trying of circumstances.

They find an Egyptian about dead from lack of food and water.  They gather intelligence from him, then attack the Amalekites, recovering absolutely everything that was taken.  David sends the spoil from other cities that the Amalekites raided in Judah back to them.  These were cities where David and his men had roamed and survived while Saul tried to kill David.

Chapter 31
The Philistines win the battle against Saul and his army.  Saul's sons are killed.  Saul is wounded badly by archers, and asks his armor bearer to kill him so the Philistines won't mistreat him.  The armor bearer will not do it.  So Saul falls on his own sword.  He commits suicide....or at least hurries his death along.  When the nearby cities of Judah see that Saul and his three sons are dead, they abandon their cities, and the Philistines move into the cities and live there.
2021 - This seems to be concurrent to David's victory over the raiders and  his sending presents to many cities.  As David rises, Saul falls, with his entire family, and territory is lost also.

When the Philistines find Saul's body, and his sons, they cut off Saul's head, and send it home as a display.  They put his armor on display in Ashtaroth, and fasten his body to the wall of Beth-shan.  They are a pretty nasty bunch.  But some brave men from Jabesh-Gilead hear of it, and retrieve the bodies, and burn them and then bury the bones in Jabesh.