There are some important truths put forth in this passage. After Samuel told Saul to “destroy the Amalekite nation – men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys,” Saul went to battle with a huge force and killed all of the Amalekites except their king, Agag and kept the best of the livestock.
(Did you notice the army was described as 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 men from Judah? I think this is the first mention of a division between Israel and Judah.)
The Lord tells Samuel about Saul’s disobedience. Samuel is heartbroken; I think he must have really liked Saul. When faced with Saul’s excuse for keeping the livestock alive (“to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal”), Samuel says some words that should give us all pause: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or you obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
After Samuel cuts up Agag, he leaves for home and never sees Saul again.
We don’t know how long after this that Samuel was sent to anoint David as King of Israel. When Samuel is sure David’s older brother Eliab is the chosen one, the Lord disabuses him of this, saying “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
David is anointed and the Spirit of the Lord comes powerfully upon him from then on.
As the Spirit of the Lord had come on David, so it left Saul and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit. Saul was depressed and fearful. You can imagine why. He had failed miserably and he knew God had anointed another king.
David is brought to Saul’s house to play the harp and stop the torment. And Saul loved David very much, so much he was made his armor bearer.
While Saul had defeated the Amalekites, the Philistines were still making trouble. The two armies gathered against each other. The Philistines had a secret – well, may not so secret -- weapon: Goliath. He was over nine feet tall and wore some mighty heavy bronze armor.
In what I am sure was an attempt to psych out the enemy, Goliath challenged the Israelites to send out a champion and whoever won, the other side would be slaves. This went on for forty days, until David visited his brothers and saw what was happening. Upon hearing that Saul had offered his daughter to the man who would kill Goliath and would exempt the family from paying taxes, he told Saul he would fight Goliath, saying, “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
David told Goliath that he came in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and once Goliath was dead, the whole world would know that there is a God in Israel. So, David hits Goliath with a stone in the one unarmored place there was. He killed him and used Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head. David knew the battle was not his, but the Lord’s.
Tomorrow, it’s I Samuel 18 – 20; Psalm 11; Psalm 59.
Until next time…
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