1 Kings

• Chapters 1-4 – Solomon’s anointing & request for wisdom answered
• Chapters 5-8 – Solomon’s Temple plans, construction and dedication
• Chapters 9-11 – Solomon’s rise and fall

 
1 Chronicles

• Chapters 1-21 – David & Saul’s genealogy, the Ark of the Covenant and God’s Covenant w/ David
• Chapters 22-26 -  God’s plans for the Temple
• Chapters 27-29 – David passes Temple plans to Solomon and then dies

 
2 Chronicles

• Chapters 1-7 – Solomon’s Temple constructed & dedicated

 
1 Chronicles 17 (2 Samuel 7:1-17)
1 When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.”
2 So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But that night the word of God came to Nathan: 4 “Go to David My servant and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in. 5 From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have moved from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle. 6 In all My travels throughout Israel, have I ever spoken a word to even one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, asking: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’
7 “Now this is what you will say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land. 9 I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they formerly have 10 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.
“‘Furthermore, I declare to you that the Lord Himself will build a house for you. 11 When your time comes to be with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My faithful love from him as I took it from the one who was before you. 14 I will appoint him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.’”
15 Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.[1]
 
1 Chronicles 22
1 Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
 
2 So David gave orders to gather the foreigners that were in the land of Israel, and he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God’s house. 3 David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze, 4 and innumerable cedar logs because the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David. 5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands. Therefore, I must make provision for it.” So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.
6 Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 “My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, 8 but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me. 9 But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for My name. He will be My son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you. 12 Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.
14 “Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord—3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver, rand bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them. 15 You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work 16 in gold, silver, bronze, and iron—beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.”
17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon: 18 “The Lord your God is with you, isn’t He? And hasn’t He given you rest on every side? For He has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people. 19 Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”[2]
 
2 Chronicles 3
1 Then Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s foundations for building God’s temple: the length was 90 feet, and the width 30 feet. (Slide: Solomon’s Temple – Football) (Slide: Solomon’s Temple – Comparison) (Slide: Solomon’s Temple – Outside) 4 The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet wide; its height was 30 feet; he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. 5 The larger room he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
 
8 Then he made the most holy place; (Slide: Solomon’s Temple – Inside) its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet. He overlaid it with 45,000 pounds of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was 20 ounces of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10 He made two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.
14 He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.
 
15 In front of the temple he made two pillars, each 27 feet high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars. He made 100 pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
 
4 He made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
2 Then he made the cast metal reservoir, 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet high and 45 feet in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen was below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard, completely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast. 4 It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 The reservoir was three inches thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons.
6 He made 10 basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the reservoir was used by the priests for washing.
 
(Slide: Solomon’s Temple – Furnishings) 7 He made the 10 gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. 8 He made 10 tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. He also made 100 gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the reservoir on the right side, toward the southeast. 11 Then Huram jmade the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
 
So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: 12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars). 14 He also made the water carts nand the basins on the water carts. 15 The one reservoir and the 12 oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi pmade them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
 
19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the bread of the Presence; 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications; 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles, and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
5 So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple. [3]
 
1 Corinthians 3
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are. [4]

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Ch 17:1–27). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Ch 22–23:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (2 Ch 3:1–5:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Co 3:16–17). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

1 Samuel 20
1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”
2 Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”
3 But David said, “Your father certainly knows that you have come to look favorably on me. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
5 So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king. Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the field until the third night. 6 If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to quickly go to his town Bethlehem for an annual sacrifice there involving the whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions. 8 Deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I have done anything wrong, then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”
9 “No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”
10 So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field. 12 “By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? 13 If my father intends to bring evil on you, may God punish Jonathan and do so severely if I do not tell you and send you away so you may go in peace. May the Lord be with you, just as He was with my father. 14 If I continue to live, treat me with the Lord’s faithful love, but if I die, 15 don’t ever withdraw your faithful love from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” 16 Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies accountable.” g17 Jonathan once again swore to David in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty. 19 The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target. 21 Then I will send the young man and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’ then come, because as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem. 22 But if I say this to the youth: ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you!’ then go, for the Lord is sending you away. 23 As for the matter you and I have spoken about, the Lord will be a witness between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid in the field.
At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal. 25 He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.

• Most of the time during the next two days he was to be merely a passive observer of his father.[1]

26 Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean—yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”
27 However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if you are pleased with me, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother? 31 Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me—he deserves to die.”
32 Jonathan answered his father back: “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”
33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David. 34 He got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointed meeting with David. A small young man was with him. 36 He said to the young man, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.” As the young man ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?” 38 Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s young man picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the young man who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
41 When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.
42 Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the Lord when we said: The Lord will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city. [2]
 

• Chapter 21 – David flees
• Chapter 23 – David is persecuted
• Chapter 24 & 26 – David spares Saul
• Chapter 28-31 – David battles Philistines, destroys Amalekites and Saul dies.

 
2 Samuel

• Chapter 1-5 – David becomes King over Judah then all Israel. Israel is united.
• Chapter 6-10 – David brings the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and continues to win battles. Chapter 9 – Mephibosheth

 
Chapter 11
1 In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 3 So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he reported, “This is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4 David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to inform David: “I am pregnant.”
6 David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.
10 When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”
12 “Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
 
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote:
Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.
16 When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. 17 Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. 19 He commanded the messenger, “When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle— 20 if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? 21 At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 22 Then the messenger left.
When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate. 24 However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.[3]

[1] Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, p. 214). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Sa 18:1–20:42). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (2 Sa 11:1–27). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

1 Samuel 18
1 When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan committed himself to David, and loved him as much as he loved himself.

• Demonstrates that the men were like-minded

2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself.

• Covenant included oath (statement), blood sacrifice (sealed) and a meal (celebrated).

4 Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

• Jonathan was “OK” with passing on the monarchy to his friend, David.

5 David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the soldiers, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.
6 As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. 7 As they celebrated, the women sang:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.
8 Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

• Kings in antiquity received credit for victories in battle—not soldiers.[1]
• Dr. Bob Cook often reminded us that everybody wears a sign that reads, “Please make me feel important.”[2]

 
10 The next day an evil spirit sent from God took control of Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace.

• Could the evil one be defined as one sent from God's presence?
• He was banished from heaven.
• The only way for evil to exist is in the absence of God (good).
• 1 Kings 22 - 21 “Then a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will entice him.’
• “The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

“He said, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’
“Then He said, ‘You will certainly entice him and prevail. Go and do that.’ [3]

• Throughout the O.C. the Lord used the enemy to bring judgment on people or to prove His faithfulness to the believer.
• Once Saul was identified as a false prophet, he lost credibility.

 
David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, 11 and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul. 13 Therefore, Saul reassigned David and made him commander over 1,000 men. David led the troops 14 and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops.

• Love for David grew and fear grew within Saul.

17 Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “My hand doesn’t need to be against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18 Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19 When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
 
20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 21 “I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”
22 Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”
23 Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor man who is common.”
24 The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”
25 Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except 100 Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
26 When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, 27 David and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife. 28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, 29 and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.
30 Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.
 
1 Samuel 19
1 Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much,

• When Jonathan heard his father’s words, an internal collision occurred between the young man’s love for David and his desire to please his father.[4]

2 so he told him: “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there. 3 I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. He said to him: “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you. 5 He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.” 7 So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.
8 When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such a great force that they fled from him.
9 Now an evil spirit sent from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear. David was playing the lyre, 10 and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!” 12 So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.

• Michal’s action creates a strong contrast with those of her husband; whereas Michal trusted in a teraphim to save David, David trusted in the Lord[5]

14 When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”
15 Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.” 16 When the messengers arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.
17 Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”
She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
18 So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah (3 miles away) and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.
19 When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent agents to seize David. However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying. 21 When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying. So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying.

• A battle between the flesh and the Spirit with the Spirit winning each time.

22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu, looked around, and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.
23 So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him,

• The triple employment of the Hebrew phrase gam hûʾ (lit., “even he”; not fully noted in the NIV) in vv. 23–24 emphasizes the fact that Israel’s most powerful citizen was subjugated by the power of God.

and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah. 24 Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

• Saul’s loss of royal attire in the presence of God’s Spirit presented a powerful image confirming the prophetic judgments Samuel made earlier.
• God had rejected Saul as king, so in God’s presence Saul would not be permitted to wear the clothing of royalty.
• Saul remained “naked”; a grave shame in the ancient Near East) and in a prophetic trance “all that day and night.”[6]

[1] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 18:8). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (2001). Be successful (pp. 101–102). Colorado Springs, CO: Victor/Cook Communications.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Ki 22:21–22). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, p. 206). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[5] Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, p. 208). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, pp. 210–211). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

1 Samuel

• Chapters 1-3 - Eli > Samuel
• Chapters 4-7 – The capture & return of the Ark
• Chapters 8-10 – Samuel to Saul
• Chapters 11-15 – Saul’s Reign
• Chapter 16 – David annointed

 
1 Samuel 17
1 The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. 4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall

• (six cubits and a span)
• This would make him about half a foot taller than the world’s tallest man in medical history (8 feet, 11 inches)[1]

5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds. 6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze sword was slung between his shoulders. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 15 pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
8 He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations: “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9 If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

• Saul always fears the wrong things:

1. his calling as king (see v. 22),
2. the Philistine hordes (see 13:7; 28:5),
3. his own army (see 15:24),
4. Goliath (see 17:11, 24),
5. David (see 18:12, 15, 29),
6. a coup (see 22:7–8, etc.),
7. Samuel’s prophecy about his death and defeat by the Philistines (see 28:20, 21; compare Josh 1:6, 7, 9).[2]

12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third, 14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul, 15 but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
16 Every morning and evening for 40 days the Philistine came forward and took his stand. 17 One day Jesse had told his son David: “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these 10 loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Also take these 10 portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him.
He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. 22 David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. 23 While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. 24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the household of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”
26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 The people told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!”
29 “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.” 30 Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him. 32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”
33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
34 David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor. 39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. 40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy kand handsome. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
45 David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies—you have defied Him. 46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
48 When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. Even though David had no sword, he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran. 52 The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
53 When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54 David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55 When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?”
“My king, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”
57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered. [3]
 

• What giants are in front of you today?
  • Watching your 401k crash?
  • An ailment that wants to destroy you?
  • A relationship that seems finished?
  • A situation you can’t escape?
  • An addiction that is lying in wait?
  • Overwhelmed with your personal finances?
  • Thoughts of grief, anxiety or depression?
• Meeting with the Mayor on mental health.

I have great confidence in my God.

[1] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 17:4). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[2] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 10:22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Sa 17:1–58). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Andrew Peterson’s – “Matthew’s Begats” video/song
 
Moab Map – Israel Pictures from Massada (5)
 
Ruth 1
1During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem ein Judah with his wife and two sons to live in the land of Moab for a while. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi (pleasant or lovely). The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the land of Moab and settled there. 3 Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about 10 years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two children and without her husband.
 
6 She and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to His people’s need by providing them food. 7 She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah.
8 She said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord show faithful love to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. 9 May the Lord enable each of you to find security in the house of your new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly.
10 “No,” they said to her. “We will go with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, 13 would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.” 14 Again they wept loudly, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god (Chemosh). Follow your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth replied:
Do not persuade me to leave you
or go back and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go,
and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May Yahweh punish me, v
and do so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara (bitter),” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has pronounced judgment on me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi came back from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
 
Ruth 2
1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side named Boaz. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family.
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone who allows me to?”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”
“The Lord bless you,” they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has remained from early morning until now, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 She bowed with her face to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so kind to notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings (kenaphai) you have come for refuge.”
13 “My lord,” she said, “you have been so kind to me, for you have comforted and encouraged your slave, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. 16 Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.” 17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about 26 quarts (30 lbs./several weeks) of barley. 18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.
19 Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law about the men she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’”
22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
 
Ruth 3
1Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find security for you, so that you will be taken care of? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his female servants? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”
5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.” 6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her. 7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley. Then she went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! 9 So he asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Ruth, your slave,” she replied. “Spread your cloak over me, for you are a family redeemer.”
10 Then he said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the Lord lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”
14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town.
16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?”
Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”
18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”
 
Ruth 4
1Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz called him by name and said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took 10 men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down. 3 He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling a piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”
“I want to redeem it,” he answered.
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”
6 The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”
7 At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.
8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
11 The elders and all the people who were at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
13 Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he was intimate with her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and took care of him. 17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
 
18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez:
Perez fathered Hezron.
19 Hezron fathered Ram,
who fathered Amminadab.
20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon,
who fathered Salmon.
21 Salmon fathered Boaz,
who fathered Obed.
22 And Obed fathered Jesse,
who fathered David. [1]

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ru 1:1–4:22). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.