David and Goliath
17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
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.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 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.”
19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 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. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Footnotes
[1] 17:4
Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four
[2] 17:4A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
[3] 17:5A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
[4] 17:12Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men
[5] 17:17An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
[6] 17:52Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV)
Category: Scripture
David Anointed King
16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 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?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest,1 but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
David in Saul’s Service
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
Footnotes
[1] 16:11
Or smallest (ESV)
Categories
Going Deeper
Saul 3.23.24
In 1 Samuel 8:7-18, the people demanded a king.
Why was this a bad thing?
- Because God was Israel’s King, and who could be a better King than God? So, their desire to have a human king was to fulfill selfish, fleshly longings they believed would bring them to a better place in the land. But, in the end, this desire was a rejection of God as King. This was a total offense to God and all that He deserves.
- The other problem with the people’s demand for a human king was the negative things that would happen to them under the rule of a man. Samuel warned them of all of this, but they still wanted what they asked for.
Illustrating the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it,” the Lord responds to the pleas of the Israelites to give them a king like the other nations. As we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9, we see Samuel obey God’s command to give the people what they ask for and to raise up Saul as the first king of Israel.
Saul is the people’s idea of a king as he is attractive, large in stature, impressive, and noble. But as we have read, he lacks the key quality God wants to see in a king, which is “faithfulness of the heart that leads to covenant obedience.” Without this attribute, Saul is a failure in God’s sight, no matter how successful he may appear to the human eye.
Let’s dig into Saul’s story and worship God who is at work in all these things, even in the failed leadership of Israel’s first king.
In 1 Samuel 9:1-2, we read that there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was a Benjaminite and a man of wealth. “And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”
Oh, how we love to judge each other based on our looks and outward appearance or performance. As we will study next lesson, God looks beyond the outer appearance and performance and looks into the heart and character of a man. Again and again, God’s word leads us to look for the fruit: not just the fruit of words or actions, but the fruit that reveals the heart and character of a person. We would do well to focus on the inside and let that produce what is on the outside.
In 1 Samuel 9:3-14 we read that Saul is sent by his father to look for some lost donkeys, and it becomes quite the adventure until he runs into Samuel. By God’s sovereign appointment, Samuel has instructions for Saul that will change his life and alter the course of all of Israel.
1 Samuel 9:15-16 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince 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.”
In 1 Samuel 9:17-27, Samuel blesses Saul with food and provisions and a place to sleep. In 1 Samuel 10:1-8, Samuel tells Saul that he will be the prince of the people of God and gives him very specific instructions to follow until Samuel would come meet him again and there provide a burnt offering for the Lord.
1 Samuel 10:9-13 shows us how God was with Saul, working in and through him. Saul was given a new heart, and the things Samuel said would happen came to pass. This was especially highlighted in the fact that Saul was prophesying, which took the people by surprise, as it was out of place for Saul to do this. The Holy Spirit was at work in these things, and God’s hand was setting the table for Saul’s rise to power. But it is super interesting how it is noted that the people were so shocked, as these spiritual things were not who Saul was and weren’t in line with his character. This is yet another sign that what we see on the outside is not always a right indication of who that person is on the inside. We must take our time to really know who a person is.
In 1 Samuel 10:17-24, Samuel reveals that Saul is the one who will be their king, and the people celebrate and shouted, “Long live the king!”
Read 1 Samuel 13:1-23.
Saul goes from conquest and victory to being pinned in a corner and ultimately out of patience. In verse 12, we read that Saul usurped the authority and role of the priest and offered sacrifices to the Lord on his own authority. This is a blatant act of disobedience. Now, this doesn’t seem that big of a deal to you and me, but we must understand it is a transgression, and willful disobedience, against God’s command; and even though Saul might have intended to honor the Lord in his actions of sacrifice and burnt offering, he dishonored God by doing it his way.
Can you think of a time when you did what you thought was the right thing, but in the end was still an act of disobedience to your parents, the law, or God? We must be oh-so-careful not to ever decide that our way is better than God’s way, even when it seems to be a good idea in our minds.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
Samuel makes it clear to Saul that he has broken God’s command, and therefore his reign as king will not continue. Instead, God will command another man who lives to honor God. In verse 14, we read the phrase that will become most famous in describing King David: “a man after his own heart.” While David will be far from perfect and will, himself, have many moments of disobedience and sin, he will have a heart, a character, a core desire to honor God and not himself. This is just like the hearts of the saved and redeemed that live to honor God, even though we struggle with sin. We no longer live as slaves to our sin but live to honor and worship the one true God.
God is surely at work to show the people of Israel the difference between the kind of king they desire and pick based on outward appearance and the kind of king that God has for His people, ultimately: a King that will be totally righteous forever and ever—Jesus Christ.
Later in chapter 15, we see the next step of selfish disobedience of Saul against God. Long before the time of Saul, in the days of the wilderness wandering, Israel had been savagely attacked from the rear by the Amalekites, a deed the Lord had promised to avenge someday (Exodus 17:8-16). The time had now come, so Samuel commands Saul to destroy the Amalekites totally; that is, to place them “under the ban.” This was a wartime practice of total destruction of a people and their property. This kind of ban was only able to be decreed by God, but Saul fails to obey the command and keeps some of the spoils of the land and even the king himself to benefit by personally and to show off to his people upon his return. Once again, Saul is a perfect representative of his people, who only want what they want. He doesn’t hold in high regard the instruction of the Lord and does his own self-benefitting thing. For this, he would be punished.
Read 1 Samuel 15:10-35.
Saul is filled with excuses and doesn’t own up to his sinful actions. Samuel is patient with him and makes it clear that God desires our obedience before our sacrifice or offerings. If we obey Him from the get-go, we show Him that we honor Him above our sinful longings. To ignore His commands and be disobedient and think we will just bring an offering of atonement is to manipulate our Lord. May we fight sin and our desire to do it our way. May we love to honor God and obey His commands.
May we be men and women after His own heart, in that we truly want to live for Him in all we do, despite the fact that we struggle with sin.
In 1 Samuel 8:7-18, the people demanded a king.
Why was this a bad thing?
- Because God was Israel’s King, and who could be a better King than God? So, their desire to have a human king was to fulfill selfish, fleshly longings they believed would bring them to a better place in the land. But, in the end, this desire was a rejection of God as King. This was a total offense to God and all that He deserves.
- The other problem with the people’s demand for a human king was the negative things that would happen to them under the rule of a man. Samuel warned them of all of this, but they still wanted what they asked for.
Illustrating the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it,” the Lord responds to the pleas of the Israelites to give them a king like the other nations. As we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9, we see Samuel obey God’s command to give the people what they ask for and to raise up Saul as the first king of Israel.
Saul is the people’s idea of a king as he is attractive, large in stature, impressive, and noble. But as we have read, he lacks the key quality God wants to see in a king, which is “faithfulness of the heart that leads to covenant obedience.” Without this attribute, Saul is a failure in God’s sight, no matter how successful he may appear to the human eye.
Let’s dig into Saul’s story and worship God who is at work in all these things, even in the failed leadership of Israel’s first king.
In 1 Samuel 9:1-2, we read that there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was a Benjaminite and a man of wealth. “And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”
Oh, how we love to judge each other based on our looks and outward appearance or performance. As we will study next lesson, God looks beyond the outer appearance and performance and looks into the heart and character of a man. Again and again, God’s word leads us to look for the fruit: not just the fruit of words or actions, but the fruit that reveals the heart and character of a person. We would do well to focus on the inside and let that produce what is on the outside.
In 1 Samuel 9:3-14 we read that Saul is sent by his father to look for some lost donkeys, and it becomes quite the adventure until he runs into Samuel. By God’s sovereign appointment, Samuel has instructions for Saul that will change his life and alter the course of all of Israel.
1 Samuel 9:15-16 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince 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.”
In 1 Samuel 9:17-27, Samuel blesses Saul with food and provisions and a place to sleep. In 1 Samuel 10:1-8, Samuel tells Saul that he will be the prince of the people of God and gives him very specific instructions to follow until Samuel would come meet him again and there provide a burnt offering for the Lord.
1 Samuel 10:9-13 shows us how God was with Saul, working in and through him. Saul was given a new heart, and the things Samuel said would happen came to pass. This was especially highlighted in the fact that Saul was prophesying, which took the people by surprise, as it was out of place for Saul to do this. The Holy Spirit was at work in these things, and God’s hand was setting the table for Saul’s rise to power. But it is super interesting how it is noted that the people were so shocked, as these spiritual things were not who Saul was and weren’t in line with his character. This is yet another sign that what we see on the outside is not always a right indication of who that person is on the inside. We must take our time to really know who a person is.
In 1 Samuel 10:17-24, Samuel reveals that Saul is the one who will be their king, and the people celebrate and shouted, “Long live the king!”
Read 1 Samuel 13:1-23.
Saul goes from conquest and victory to being pinned in a corner and ultimately out of patience. In verse 12, we read that Saul usurped the authority and role of the priest and offered sacrifices to the Lord on his own authority. This is a blatant act of disobedience. Now, this doesn’t seem that big of a deal to you and me, but we must understand it is a transgression, and willful disobedience, against God’s command; and even though Saul might have intended to honor the Lord in his actions of sacrifice and burnt offering, he dishonored God by doing it his way.
Can you think of a time when you did what you thought was the right thing, but in the end was still an act of disobedience to your parents, the law, or God? We must be oh-so-careful not to ever decide that our way is better than God’s way, even when it seems to be a good idea in our minds.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
Samuel makes it clear to Saul that he has broken God’s command, and therefore his reign as king will not continue. Instead, God will command another man who lives to honor God. In verse 14, we read the phrase that will become most famous in describing King David: “a man after his own heart.” While David will be far from perfect and will, himself, have many moments of disobedience and sin, he will have a heart, a character, a core desire to honor God and not himself. This is just like the hearts of the saved and redeemed that live to honor God, even though we struggle with sin. We no longer live as slaves to our sin but live to honor and worship the one true God.
God is surely at work to show the people of Israel the difference between the kind of king they desire and pick based on outward appearance and the kind of king that God has for His people, ultimately: a King that will be totally righteous forever and ever—Jesus Christ.
Later in chapter 15, we see the next step of selfish disobedience of Saul against God. Long before the time of Saul, in the days of the wilderness wandering, Israel had been savagely attacked from the rear by the Amalekites, a deed the Lord had promised to avenge someday (Exodus 17:8-16). The time had now come, so Samuel commands Saul to destroy the Amalekites totally; that is, to place them “under the ban.” This was a wartime practice of total destruction of a people and their property. This kind of ban was only able to be decreed by God, but Saul fails to obey the command and keeps some of the spoils of the land and even the king himself to benefit by personally and to show off to his people upon his return. Once again, Saul is a perfect representative of his people, who only want what they want. He doesn’t hold in high regard the instruction of the Lord and does his own self-benefitting thing. For this, he would be punished.
Read 1 Samuel 15:10-35.
Saul is filled with excuses and doesn’t own up to his sinful actions. Samuel is patient with him and makes it clear that God desires our obedience before our sacrifice or offerings. If we obey Him from the get-go, we show Him that we honor Him above our sinful longings. To ignore His commands and be disobedient and think we will just bring an offering of atonement is to manipulate our Lord. May we fight sin and our desire to do it our way. May we love to honor God and obey His commands.
May we be men and women after His own heart, in that we truly want to live for Him in all we do, despite the fact that we struggle with sin.
By His grace and for His glory
Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine
Soldiers For Jesus MC
Chaplain Council
SFJbible.com
The Lord Rejects Saul
15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction1 all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves2 and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 “I regret3 that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. 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.” 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.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
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.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” 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. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has also rejected you from being king.”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. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 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. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.4 Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
Footnotes
[1] 15:3
That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21
[2] 15:9The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain
[3] 15:11See also verses 29, 35
[4] 15:32Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain (ESV)
Saul Fights the Philistines
13:1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,1 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince2 over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal3 to Gibeah of Benjamin.
And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
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.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,4 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel5 for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel6 for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.7 22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
Footnotes
[1] 13:1
Hebrew Saul was one year old when he became king, and he reigned two years over Israel; some Greek manuscripts give Saul’s age when he began to reign as thirty years
[2] 13:14Or leader
[3] 13:15Septuagint; Hebrew lacks The rest of the people . . . from Gilgal
[4] 13:20Septuagint; Hebrew plowshare
[5] 13:21Hebrew was a pim
[6] 13:21A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
[7] 13:21The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain (ESV)