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What I Noticed Today (1 Samuel 15-17)
1 Samuel 15
In 1 Samuel 15, the Lord rejected Saul as king of the Israelites.
In verses 1-9, Samuel instructed Saul to go into battle against the Amalekites and not to spare anyone or anything.
- Saul struck down the Amalekites but captured Agag their king alive, and took plunder of many animals and the best of everything else.
- This angered God because Saul had not obeyed him completely. This angered Samuel, and he cried out to God all night.
In verses 10-35, Samuel rebukes Saul, and God rejects Saul as king.
- Early the next morning, Samuel went to confront Saul and was told Saul had left and gone to Carmel, where he set a monument to himself.
- When Samuel finally confronted Saul, Saul tried to blame the soldiers. He told Samuel the soldiers had taken the animals to sacrifice them to the Lord, but God had told Samuel what was in Saul’s heart.
- Saul admitted his sin and said he was afraid of the people, so he had obeyed them instead of the Lord.
- God rejected Saul as king because Saul had rejected God’s instructions.
- Samuel had Agag, the king of the Amalekites brought to him, and he executed him before the Lord at Gilgal.
- Samuel left Saul and went to his home in Ramah while Saul returned home to Gibeah.
- Samuel mourned for Saul and never visited him again
Note: Saul remained king in the eyes of the people for another 15 years, but in the eyes of the Lord, he was no longer king.
1 Samuel 16
Samuel anoints David as king.
In verses 1-13, God sent Samuel off to anoint a new king from the tribe of Jesse.
- Samuel went to Bethlehem and told the people to consecrate themselves and join him in a sacrifice to the Lord.
- Jesse’s sons were brought out, but none of them were chosen.
- Finally, David was brought in from tending the sheep.
- God indicated that David was to be anointed as the new king.
- As Samuel anointed David, the spirit of God came upon David.
In verses 14-23, the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit tormented him.
- Saul’s servants realized that music calmed him, so they sent for David, the son of Jesse, to play the lyre for Saul.
- David comforted Saul, stricken with an evil spirit that tormented him, as David played the lyre.
- Their relationship grew closer.
- David became Saul’s armor-bearer, and Saul said that “he cared for him greatly” (1 Samuel 16:21).
- Whenever the spirit of God troubled Saul, David would play for him, and Saul would be relieved.
Note: The evil spirit that troubled Saul could only be relieved by David, who now had the spirit of God in him. In a very real way, the spirit of the Lord was still comforting and bringing relief to Saul even after the Lord had rejected him as king.
God gave Saul specific instructions, but Saul was prideful and neglected God’s instructions. Saul reflected poor leadership when he made the rash order for the army not to eat during the battle. He reflected poor character when he lied to Samuel and tried to blame the men in the army for taking plunder. As a result, he lost his friendship with Samuel, who had anointed him and mentored him. And ultimately, he lost his position as king because he had rejected God’s instructions.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- Such a simple thing to listen to God and follow him completely, but as Saul demonstrated, our human will and pridefulness often get in the way of our desire to serve God as we intend.
1 Samuel 17
In verses 1-11, the Philistines and Israelites lined up on opposite sides of the Valley of Elah. Goliath came out from the Philistines every day for 40 days taunting the Israelites. Saul and the army of the Israelites were dismayed and afraid (1 Samuel 17:11).
In verses 12-38, David’s father, Jesse, told him to take some provisions to his brothers who were in Saul’s army. The trip was about 15 miles from Bethlehem, where David lived to where the armies were in the Valley of Elah. When David arrived, and he heard the taunts from Goliath, he responded with courage volunteering to face Goliath himself. All the time that David had spent tending his father’s sheep fighting off wild animals had prepared him to do battle with Goliath.
In verses 38-51, David refused Saul’s armor, preferring instead to enter the battle with his own weapons, knowing that he was going in the power of the Lord. He even told Goliath that the battle was the Lord’s. David killed Goliath with a single stone from his sling and cut off his head with Goliath’s own sword.
In verses 52-54, David’s victory over Goliath encouraged the army of Israel, and they chased the Philistines in battle. They plundered the Philistine camp. David brought Goliath’s head to Jerusalem but kept Goliath’s sword for himself.
In verses 55-58, Saul asked Abner, his military commander, who was this young man who killed Goliath. Abner didn’t know, so David was brought before Saul. David explained that he was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem.
Note: It seems odd that Saul did not recognize David since David had been a musician serving Saul. Scholars advance three theories. 1) Saul may have been so tormented by the evil spirit that he did not recognize David. 2) Saul may have recognized David but not known who his father was. 3) David was only 12 years old when he entered Saul’s service as a musician, and he had only played for Saul for about a year. Several years had passed, and David was now 17-18 years old. Saul may not have recognized David as the boy who used to play the lyre for him.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
