The second half of the book of 1 Samuel focuses on David and his tumultuous relationship with King Saul. After God left Saul, He chose David through the prophet Samuel to become king. This is unknown to Saul. Afflicted by an evil spirit, Saul invites David to play his lyre for him. Saul is impressed with the boy and makes David his armor-bearer. During a battle with the Philistines, David bravely trusts God and defeats the giant Goliath with a sling and stone. Saul makes David a commander in his army and David becomes good friends with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Yet the people begin to praise David more than Saul, making Saul jealous of David. From this point forward, Saul tries to kill David several times. He sends David on a mission to kill Philistines for the honor of marrying Michal, Saul’s daughter, in hopes that David would die, but David is successful. Saul gives Michal to David as his wife and she loves David. She later helps David escape from her father. Her brother Jonathan also helps him escape from Saul. As David flees, he retrieves the sword of Goliath from the temple in Nob and is blessed by the priests. Therefore, Saul has the priests murdered. Twice David has an opportunity to kill Saul but refuses to kill the Lord’s anointed.
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| David had an opportunity to kill King Saul while he was sleeping. Instead he took his spear and jar of water to prove that he could have killed him, but refused to do so. Saul would declare David as more righteous. |
David also gains two wives, Abigail the widow of Nabal and Ahinoam of Jezreel. As David is fighting against the Amalekites, Saul leads a battle against the Philistines. David is victorious over the Amalekites, but Saul and his three sons die in the battle with the Philistines. The men of Jabesh-gilead retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons to give them a proper memorial. Throughout this narrative, God is shown to be with David while absent from Saul. David is shown to be more righteous than Saul and therefore more worthy to be king than Saul.
Saul’s sin against God caused God to leave him. Instead, He chose David. David was a young shepherd boy. Through his faith and God’s power, David gains favor with Saul and becomes close with Saul and his family. When Saul hears the people praising David, he becomes jealous of him and tries to kill him several times. Saul’s own children realize that Saul is wrong and help David escape from Saul several times before David is forced to flee permanently. Even then, Saul chases him across the country. Twice, David has an opportunity to kill Saul and refuses to do so. Saul proclaims David’s righteousness. During this time, God blesses David with supporters and wives. As David is fighting a battle against the Amalekites, Saul was fighting in a separate battle with the Philistines. While David is successful, Saul is defeated. He and his three sons die in the battle. David is shown to follow God and be blessed by God. Saul does not follow God and is continually defeated.
David was being persecuted by the leader of the nation of Israel, a nation that is God’s people. They are supposed to be a holy nation of priests. David was chosen by God to lead these people, but his own people rejected him, following their human leader. Unfortunately, the religious people today often follow their human leaders rather than listening to the person God has chosen to lead them. Pastors are often asked to leave their churches because they are listening to a human leader rather than God. People in the church are jealous or afraid of losing power and lead persecution against God’s messenger and leader. We can have courage that God is fighting our battles. If we continue to walk in righteousness, their sin will be revealed and God will exalt us.
Joel McReynolds 
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