Introduction to 1 Samuel

First Samuel records the transition from the period of the judges who ruled over Israel to a monarchy.  It’s a book that describes the lives of several different leaders and illustrates the benefits of good leadership as well as the dangers of poor leadership.  We can also see the impact of being negligent with our families on a nation as well as our reputation.  When leaders trust the Lord and live in obedience to Him; the nation is blessed and there is great growth in the land.  By the same token, when leaders become proud, neglect or manipulate their children and rebel against the Lord; the nation is thrown into chaos and the leader suffers greatly as well.  I find it ironic that the worst leader in this book was Saul and yet his children are the most admirable.  Jonathan had the character to have been a great king, but lost that opportunity because of Saul’s disobedience and poor leadership.  Samuel and David were great leaders but neglected their children and both they and the nation suffered because of this failure on their part.  Another truth that jumps from the pages of this book is that the Lord can use anyone to do His work, despite their age, physical appearance or popularity.  God is looking for courageous men of character who will trust and obey Him.  God prefers to use humble men who depend upon Him as opposed to using proud men who are constantly promoting themselves.

SAMUEL’S RULE AND DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL: Right from the start we see that Samuel was set apart be the Lord and for the Lord.  His mother desperately wanted a child and promised to give him to the Lord should she be blessed with a son.  Samuel was the result of that prayer and went to live with Eli the priest.  God had rejected Eli and his sons because the sons were abusive of their power, irreverent to the Lord and immoral in their actions and Eli did little or nothing to stop them.  God speaks to Samuel and revels that Eli and his sons would soon be removed and that God would use him to lead the nation.  Samuel walked in humility and obedience to the Lord and God used him to deliver the nation of Israel from the Philistines as well as to remove idolatry from the Land and restore the nation’s relationship with the Lord.  He was a great leader but unfortunately he, like Eli, neglected his children and they were rebellious because of it so the people insisted on having a king instead of allowing Samuel to judge the nation and then potentially pass the role on to his disobedient sons.  Israel’s insistence on a king felt like a rejection of his leadership to Samuel, but in reality it was a rejection of God.  They wanted to be just like all the other nations when God wanted them to be a nation set apart unto Him.  God calls us to be different, but our desire for conformity to this world will often get us into a lot of trouble.

SAUL’S REIGN AND DISOBEDIENCE AGAINST GOD: Saul starts out as an admirable character in Scripture.  He faithfully looks for a lost animal of his father’s, seeks for direction from the Lord in that quest and when he is informed by Samuel that he will be the first king of Israel; he demonstrates great humility.  Faithfulness, diligence, fear of the Lord and humility are all characteristics that every leader should display.  Unfortunately, Saul is an example of how power can easily corrupt character.  At the beginning of his reign he has several victories and is looks to Samuel as his mentor.  All seems to be going well until Saul’s heart seems to change.  His early successes as king begin to change his heart from humility to pride.  His fear of the Lord turns into fear of man and his faithfulness and diligence are replaced by impatience and out right rebellion.  His first act of disobedience was in making a sacrifice prior to going to war with the Philistines.  This was a task that only Samuel the priest was authorized by God to perform.  However, when Saul saw the army of the Philistines gathering for battle and Samuel was late in arrival; Saul took matters into his own hands.  This is an abuse of power, act of irreverence and demonstrates pride, impatience as well as a greater fear of man than fear of God.  This shift in character is shocking but, unfortunately is all too often repeated in the hearts of many who find themselves in a position of authority.  Power seems to change people and not for the better.  The next act of rebellion is when Saul fails to kill all the people and animals of the Amalekites as instructed by God.  He keeps the king alive and the best of the animals.  When confronted by Samuel he tries to pass the buck by saying that the people had decided to preserve the animals and then tries to justify his actions by pretending that they had preserved them for the purpose of making sacrifices.  Samuel makes it very clear that God is not interested in sacrifices of disobedience.  All of us will fail and make poor decisions in our lives, but it is very important for us to remember that when this happens we must recognize our sin, repent of our sin and seek for forgiveness from God.  Saul made excuses, pointed fingers and tried to justify his sin and ended up losing his kingdom because of it.     

SAUL’S REJECTION AND DELUSION ABOUT DAVID: Once things started to go downhill for Saul is seems like the momentum he gained in sin just multiplied and things when from bad to worse very quickly.  When God rejected Saul as king; Samuel is directed by God to anoint a new king from the family of Jesse.  Samuel is impressed by the height and outward appearance of Jesse’s first born son.  However, God was impressed by the heart of David the youngest son.  It is of utmost importance that we always remember God’s insistence of looking on our hearts and not our outward appearance.  The narrative seems very strange in that David is anointed as the next king of Israel and then simply goes back to tending sheep and his brothers continue to treat him as just their younger brother who is incapable.  God gives David the opportunity to play music for Saul and likely uses this to begin David’s preparation for being king.  Things in David’s life begin to change dramatically when God uses him to kill Goliath.  David demonstrates an unwavering confidence in the power of God and a courageousness that becomes contagious to the entire nation.  David’s prominence and popularity with the people brings out another terrible character flaw in the life of Saul: jealousy.  Saul begins to see that Samuel’s prediction of losing the kingdom is truly taking place.  When Saul begins to feel the power slipping through his fingers and it becomes obvious that he will not have a legacy to pass on to his son Jonathan; he becomes enraged, troubled and delusional.  Saul’s focus turns from fighting off the Philistines to trying to hunt down and kill David.  Ironically, David’s greatest ally besides the Lord is Saul’s own son Jonathan.  The person who had the most to gain from David’s death loves David and loves God more than he lusts for power.  Jonathan would have likely made a great king, but he is accepting of God’s judgment on his father and longs to cooperate with God’s will as opposed to promoting his own agenda.  Saul, on the other hand, is fighting God’s judgment tooth and nail and somehow believes he can retain his power by eliminating God’s chosen leader.  It is a futile thing to fight the determined will of God.  It only leads to embarrassment and disgrace.  God gives David several opportunities to kill Saul but he refuses to take matters into his own hands.  David ends up running for his own life from cave to cave and even has to fake insanity to live amongst the Philistines who he had fought so many times in the past.  In the end, both Saul and Jonathan are killed by the Philistines and David’s life is spared so that he can assume his place as king.  It is an exercise in futility and of insanity to try to fight against God’s will.  When we fall under God’s judgment due to sin our only hope is to fall before God in repentance and plead for His mercy and grace.  God loves to be gracious to those who humble themselves before Him.  Unfortunately, Saul never learned that truth.