Studies in I Samuel

A Study in Failure

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, January 21, 2012

INTRODUCTION:
As 1 Samuel comes to a close, the life of Saul comes to a miserable end. As we will see, the manner of his death was a fitting picture of the way he had lived his life throughout the course of his reign. His reign was a long pattern of self-destruction, and in the end, Saul took his own life—the final act of self-destruction. He died the way he had lived, destroying himself.

THE TEXT:
“Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. . .” (1 Sam. 31:1-13).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
The chapter begins with the Philistines attacking, and they routed the men of Israel. As they fled from the Philistines, the carnage took place on the mountain Gilboa (v. 1). The Philistines were in hard pursuit of Saul and his three sons, and they successfully killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua (v. 2).
In the next verse, the battle was going hard against Saul, and he was badly wounded by the Philistine archers (v. 3). The language here indicates an ongoing battle, which means it was not an utter rout. His wounds apparently made it impossible for him to continue the fight. Saul then told his armor-bearer to kill him, to keep the Philistines from abusing him. The armor-bearer refused, and so Saul fell on a sword, taking his own life (v. 4). When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he followed him, doing the same thing (v. 5). And so Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and a number of other men with him, all died on the same day (v. 6). The men on the other side of the Jordan (not very many miles away), when they saw that the battle had gone badly for them, evacuated their cities, which the Philistines then occupied (v. 7). The Philistines came around the next day to strip the dead, and it was then that they identified Saul and his three sons (v. 8). They decapitated Saul, stripped his armor, and sent the armor to their homeland in triumph (v. 9). They displayed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth—similar to how the Israelites kept Goliath’s sword at the house of the Lord. Saul’s body was then hung on the wall of Beth-shan (v. 10). When the men of Jabesh-gilead heard what had happened, their valiant men went there and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons, brought them back and burned them (vv. 11-12). After that, they took the remaining bones, buried them under a tamarisk tree, and fasted for seven days (v. 13).

We should say a quick word here about the story of the Amalekite at the beginning of 2 Samuel who tried to ingratiate himself with David by falsely claiming to have killed Saul. The story was false (conflicting with this narrative), and David convicted him on his own terms. We should rather trust the author of 1 Samuel than a self-aggrandizing (and not very smart) Amalekite.

BURIAL AND CREMATION:
The customary biblical approach to the dead is that of burial. The customary pagan approach is that of burning the body in cremation. The difference has to do with making a good testimony about the hope of resurrection, and not because it is somehow harder for God to raise someone who has been burned than one who has been buried. The resurrection is not threatened by any degree of decomposition, however it happens.

For example, Joseph gave instructions about his bones, and he did this because he wanted to make a declaration of his faith (Heb. 11:22). In this passage, the heroic men of Jabesh-gilead burned the bodies of Saul and his sons because wanted to prevent any further dishonor to the bodies. This was the whole point of their mission. Jonathan is not going to be short-changed on the day of resurrection. Later in the story, David has the bones of Saul and Jonathan (and presumably the others) moved from this place to the family tomb (2 Sam. 21:12-14). Among the Israelites, there is one other mention of burning bodies (apart from unique penal or sacrificial situations), and it is found in Amos 6:10, where the concern is apparently to stop the spread of contagious disease. Under ordinary circumstances, though, the biblical pattern for dealing with the bodies of the faithful is through burial—in sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

A STUDY IN FAILURE:
The trajectory of Saul’s life had certainly been one of spiraling failure. He was characterized by his stiff-necked and close-fisted jealousies, and it was by this that he destroyed himself. By the end of his life, it could not be said that the Philistines had killed him—he had done it himself. It could not be said that David had removed him from the throne—he had done it himself. It could not be said that anyone other than Saul was responsible for the disaster of his final days. Saul did all of this by his own hand or, more specifically, by his own devouring envy. His end was decisive—he was struck with arrows, pierced in his belly, had his head cut off, and then he was burned.

He was buried under a tamarisk tree. The last time we saw him there, he was holding a tyrant’s spear in his hand, and lying about David (1 Sam. 22:6).

And yet, despite the fact that Saul fell to his death in this great catastrophe, we see even in this tragic conclusion, the height from which he fell. The men of Jabesh-gilead who retrieved his body were the first Israelites whom Saul had delivered from their enemies (1 Sam. 11:5-11). They were still grateful for what Saul had done in his better days. This is true also of David, who delivers one of the noblest eulogies ever (2 Sam. 1:17ff).

40 YEARS FOR NOTHING:
This book begins with a leader of Israel dying, along with his sons, as the result of a disastrous battle. The book ends the same way. The book begins with the Philistines in the ascendancy, and the book ends in the same way. The book begins with a great Philistine victory in battle, and it ends the same way. And yet, Saul’s appointed mission had been to deliver Israel from the Philistines (1 Sam. 9:16).

Saul did not do what he was commissioned to do. We are devoted to good works that God has commissioned us to do (Eph. 2:8-10), but our lives will go exactly as Saul’s did—unless we trust in the greater David, the Lord Jesus. He is the only one who perfectly fulfilled the mission that was entrusted to Him. Therefore God has highly exalted Him—as He did with David in a type—and this is why we can walk in the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to do.

Studies in I Samuel

The Grave of Exile

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, November 12, 2011

INTRODUCTION:

Under continued pressure from Saul, David is forced to leave Judah and take refuge with Achish, who was the king of Gath. He had complained in the previous chapter that certain men were trying to force him to serve other gods (1 Sam. 26:19) which he was unwilling to do. He was willing, however, to look like he was changing sides. During this time, David was playing a high-stakes double game.

THE TEXT:
“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand . . .” (1 Sam. 27:1-12).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
David said that if the situation continued unchanged, he would eventually be killed by Saul.
This was not unbelief, but rather a knowledge of contingencies. If this, then that—knowing the final end result does not change the intermediate contingencies. As a result, David decided to take refuge with the Philistines (v. 1). When he sought refuge in Gath, it is likely that he negotiated this with Achish beforehand. Given that a couple thousand people were likely involved (the wives and families of 600 men), he probably didn’t just show up one day (vv. 2-3). The plan worked; Saul stopped hunting for him (v. 4). After a bit, David asked Achish to give him a town to live in (v. 5), and the king responded by granting him Ziklag. This is how Ziklag came to be a town in Judah (v. 6). This exile of David’s lasted for sixteen months (v. 7).

David began to raid three groups, enemies common to the Israelites and Philistines both (v. 8). One of the groups was the Amalekites, against whom God had required Saul to wage total war. But this was not “holy war,” or the ban, because David would bring back livestock. But he would kill all the adults, lest someone talk (v. 9). The other two groups were Geshurites and the Gezrites. The first group was mentioned in Josh. 13:2 as one still needing to be displaced, but we know nothing about the latter group. David would tell Achish that he had raided Israelites or their allies (v. 10), and he would leave no grown survivors (v. 11). Achish concluded that David had made himself utterly obnoxious to Israel, and that he would therefore remain the servant of Achish forever (v. 12). Achish thought that David had burned all his boats.

SOME BACKGROUND:
Ziklag was a town that had been given to the tribe of Simeon (Josh. 19:5; 1 Chron. 4:30), and in Joshua 15:31, it is numbered among the towns of Judah. The town was about 25 miles southeast of Gath, which gave David the liberty of movement he needed.

Achish would of course have known about Saul’s pursuit of David, but would have had no reason whatever for suspecting David’s dogged loyalty to Saul. And David saw no reason why he should correct this assumption that Achish had naturally come to. Achish may have been a throne name and, if so, this may not have been the same king that David fooled with his pretended madness in chapter 21. After this exile of David’s, Israel had a curious relationship with Gath, which of course had been Goliath’s home town. After David became king, he was allied with Gath. When certain prophetic passages condemn the Philistines, the city of Gath is not mentioned in them (Amos 1:6-8; Zechariah 9; 2 Sam. 6:10). David was the kind of man who inspired loyalty everywhere he went, and a number of men followed him from Gath (2 Sam. 15:18). And Achish at one point takes an oath in the name of YHWH, which means that it is at least possible that he became a convert (2 Sam. 29:6,9).

THE GRAVE OF EXILE:
David, the future king of Israel, has to leave Israel first. Saul wants to kill him, but God intends to kill him a different way—a way that leads back to life. This is God’s way of doing things. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but had to go down to Egypt first—out of Egypt God called His Son (Hos. 11:1). The fact that Jesus was the antitype of this kind of “exile and return” sheds light on all the types found in the Old Testament. Jacob had to leave the land he was to inherit, and then come back with his family. Joseph was sold into exile in Egypt, and was so invested in this pattern of promise that he saw to it that his bones were returned from exile (Heb. 11:22). All of Israel was taken into exile in Babylon, and Nehemiah and Ezra led the return. And in the first part of 1 Samuel, we saw that the ark of the covenant went into exile among the Philistines, just like David here, and was then brought back. As a true king over Israel, how could David not have to spend time in exile?

THE DAY OF ODD BEGINNINGS:
We are taught in Scripture not to despise the day of small beginnings (Zech. 4:10). But if we are close readers of the scriptural narrative, we must also master the art of not despising the day of odd beginnings.

David was strong enough as a leader to be able to handle grumbling in the camp. But do you think that any of the men who had urged David to kill Saul in the cave had occasion to say privately that “if the king had only listened to us . . .” Do you think Abishai thought that the move to Ziklag vindicated David’s refusal to take Saul’s life when the two of them had the clear opportunity? I have urged you many times to “read the story you are in,” but part of this task is understanding the role of contrary readings. Other people are trying to get you to read differently. They point to the very things that you think are lining up with Scripture, and buttressing your faith, and they point to those very same things as refutations. Running around the countryside in mortal danger, declining God’s opportunities offered up on a silver platter, having to go into exile in Gath, and then taking up residence in Ziklag. I mean, Ziklag? Really?

But the center of the new Israel, the center of Israel’s glorious period of monarchy, was right there in Ziklag. Do not despise the day of odd beginnings . . . but only if it is a God beginning.

Studies in I Samuel

The Divided Robe

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, October 08, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
God has made it plain in many diverse ways that Saul has lost it, and what Saul has lost, David has been given. But all Saul does is double down in his disobedience. The irony is that, even after the Spirit had departed from him, and come upon David, the Spirit was still there at Saul’s court—until Saul drove him away with a spear.

THE TEXT:
“And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi . . .” (1 Sam. 24:1-22).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
When Saul returned from chasing (not fighting) the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness of Engedi (v. 1)
So Saul took three thousand men to hunt for David (v. 2). They came to a cave, which Saul needed to use for a bathroom. But David and his men were in the cave (v. 3). David’s men said that it was an invitation from God to kill Saul, but David only cut off a part of his robe (v. 4). His conscience then smote him that he had done even that much (v. 5), and he told his men this (v. 6).

David kept his men from killing Saul, and Saul departed (v. 7). David called out after Saul, and bowed down to him (v. 8). David has as great a heart as Jonathan did. He asks why Saul listens to the slanders of men (v. 9). He recounts how some had wanted him to kill the king (v. 10). He proves his words by producing the piece of the robe he had cut off (v. 11). He calls Saul his father. May the Lord judge, but David will not judge (v. 12). David then cites an ancient proverb against the king (v. 13). Who are you chasing? David asks (v. 14). He again invites the Lord to judge between them (v. 15). Saul temporarily softened, calls David his son and weeps (v. 16). He acknowledges that David is in the right (vv. 17-19), and asks the Lord to reward David.

Saul tells David openly that he knows that David will have the throne (v. 20). He seeks and obtains from David a promise that he will not cut off his seed (v. 21), which is much the same thing that David has promised Jonathan. David swears this oath, and they part company (v. 22).

A DIVIDED ROBE:
Back in 1 Samuel 15, the tearing of Samuel’s robe was interpreted by the prophet as meaning that the kingdom was taken from Saul. How much more was it significant that Saul’s robe was “cut off” by David? The robe was a symbol of royal authority, and to cut the robe was to symbolically attack the throne. This is why David’s conscience smites him for having done even this much. At the same time, he uses the piece of the robe he cut off to prove that he had no intention against the king’s person.

David’s rebuke of his men was fierce (v. 7). The verb for rebuke is actually a very strong one, meaning “to tear apart.” David lit into his men—self-appointed assassins—because he would not light into the king. When Saul tore Samuel’s robe, the result was that he lost the kingdom. He did not repent, but was rather trying to save face. When David cut Saul’s robe, he would have faced the same ignominious fate if he had not repented. But he did repent, and God still used that small piece of cloth.

A HIGH HUMILITY:
When David comes out of the cave, he calls Saul his father. When David calls out to Saul, he bows himself to the ground—for Saul is his king. This is true humility. But humility is not craven. David respects Saul’s office (far more than Saul does, actually), but is more than willing to deliver a much needed rebuke. Twice he invites the Lord to judge between the two them, indicating that it will not go well for Saul if the Lord does so. Saul himself in this encounter acknowledges it. David receives this, but knows that Saul is still unreliable.

This situation is one that we should use to help us understand the apostle Paul’s teaching in Romans 13. Remember that he teaches us there that all authorities are established by God, and that the one who resists that authority is resisting God (Rom. 13: 2). Now let us ask this question. Did David respect the authority that God had established in Israel? The biblical answer would have to be absolutely, yes. He respected the Lord’s anointed in ways that stagger us whenever we think carefully about it. Now here is another question. Did David do whatever Saul wanted him to do? Did he stop running? Stop hiding? Did he turn himself in? Put those two answers together and you will see that respecting the authorities that God has established does not mean accepting their narrative of what is going on.

So David has to stand against two kinds of bloodthirstiness. He stands against Saul’s, obviously, by his singular lack of cooperation. And he also stands against his men, those who want to fight Saul with Saul-like tactics. They could read the story (perhaps with a degree of plausibility) as a story right out of Judges. Did not Ehud kill the king of Moab, a man named Eglon, and did not his servants think he was covering his feet? Why can’t we do the same? David knows—he sees the tyranny of Saul and he sees the wrong-headedness of some in the Adullam Militia. And, at the same time, he is identified with Saul (father), and he is identified with his men. He is not criticizing everybody from some very spiritual balcony seat.

THE GLORY GRAB:
Do not grab if God has not promised it—this was Saul’s problem. He was trying to grab what was not his to hold. When there is no promise, grabbing is futile. Do not grab if God has promised it—this was David’s great temptation. When there is a promise, grabbing is unnecessary—and counterproductive. When you grab tyranny away from tyrants, the result is just a name change, and not a category change. We get the red tyrant instead of the blue tyrant. Great. But what we want is for the throne to be established in righteousness (Prov. 16:12).

Studies in I Samuel

Encouragement in God

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, October 01, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
Harry Truman once said that if you want to find loyalty in Washington, then you should get a dog. In this chapter we see the reasons for thinking this way—the thin loyalty of Keilah and Ziph. But there is also an exception to this way of the world, and it is the staggering loyalty, the against-all-odds loyalty, of Jonathan.

THE TEXT:
“Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors . . .” (1 Sam. 23:1-29).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
David heard that the Israelite city of Keilah was afflicted by the Philistines (v. 1). David inquired of the Lord, and was told to save Keilah (v. 2). David’s men said, “are you serious?” (v. 3).
So David inquired again and received a positive answer again (v. 4). So they went and defeated the Philistines decisively (v. 5). It was at this point that Abiathar joined David, bringing the ephod with him (v. 6). Saul heard where David was, and assumed wrongly that God was being kind to him (v. 7). Saul gathered his troops to besiege Keilah (v. 8). David knew what was up and called for Abiathar (v. 9). David asks the Lord two questions—will Saul come down, and will Keilah give David up? The Lord answers yes to both questions (vv. 10-12). So David abandoned Keilah (v. 13).

David took refuge in the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul hunted him (vv. 14-15). Jonathan hunted David down in a way quite different from what his father was doing (v. 16). Jonathan encouraged David greatly, telling David what he and Saul both knew (v. 17). The two men made another covenant (v. 18). It was after this that the Ziphites betrayed David (vv. 19-20). Saul is glad that someone has finally identified the true object of compassion around here (v. 21). Saul tells them that David is really sneaky (v. 22), and to spy out his movements (v. 23).

They went ahead of Saul, but David had moved (v. 24). Saul came down with his men (v. 25), and got really close (v. 26). Just then Saul heard of a Philistine invasion (v. 27), and had to pull away from his pursuit (v. 28). And so David went to Engedi (v. 29).

A STARK CONTRAST:
The contrasts between the kingly David and the tyrant Saul just continue to grow. The fact that Abiathar reaches David after the defeat of the Philistines (v. 6) means that the fall of Keilah and the destruction of Nob are happening at around the same time. David is attacking Philistines, as a Israelite king ought to, while the Israelite king is using an Edomite to wipe out an Israelite city. On top of that, Saul didn’t mobilize against Keilah when Philistines were there—but he did when he heard that David was there.

SAUL THE SELF-ABSORBED:
When Saul is told that David was in Keilah, his conclusion was that God is favoring him (v. 7). But he is reading the story through the lens of his own desires, instead of reading his desires through the lens of the story. When the Ziphites come to him with their betrayal of David, what Saul says is unbelievable—“Blessed be ye of the Lord.” He honors them for having compassion on poor Saul (v. 21). Saul’s world is by this point a photo-negative of the world as God made it.

READING LOYALTIES:
When evaluating the characters in stories (and you are a character in a story, are you not?), those characters can be divided into two categories. The Lord is with them, or the Lord is not with them. Those are the options. But both kinds of characters believe “the Lord” is with them. Both kinds of characters think what they think. Psalm 54 records David’s assessment of the Ziphites—“they have not set God before them” (Ps. 54:3). But would they be utterly without arguments? Could they not say, “Hey, we are just being loyal to the anointed king.”

No, there were two kings anointed with oil, and only one king anointed with the Spirit.

Jonathan had far greater external reasons to act like the Ziphites. He was heir to the throne. He had filial duties toward his father. But he is loyal in just the way he ought to have been loyal. The fact that his father regarded him as a treacherous idiot did not overthrow his glorious loyalty. He died alongside his father in battle—which is loyalty enough—but he owed no loyalty whatever to the evil spirit from the Lord that afflicted his father. He was loyal to the work of the Spirit of God, and loyal to the covenants he had made with David.

ENCOURAGEMENT IN GOD:
Saul was pursuing David while he was in the wood (v. 15). At that very moment of crisis, Jonathan also pursued David in the wood, but did so in order to bring encouragement to him (v. 16). It says that he “strengthened his hand in God.” God brings encouragement through actions like this one. God didn’t send spiritual happy vibes into the wood, He sent Jonathan.

Jonathan encouraged David with his convictions of faith (v. 17). He said first that Saul would not find David. Secondly, he said that David was going to be the next king of Israel. In the third place, he said that he (Jonathan) would be second to David, a prince honored. And last, he said that this was something that Saul knew as well as Jonathan did. But Saul responded to this knowledge of his by rebelling against it.

The fact that Jonathan encouraged David means that David was (not surprisingly) in great need of it. In Psalm 54, we can see that the trouble was very real. David was a man of faith, but men of faith can have their faith assailed. We can see that David does not fight Keilah, but leaves to keep peace. He does not fight Saul, but flees to keep peace. At some point, might this not get old? In the next chapter, we will see that David has a clean opportunity to take Saul’s life, which he does not use.

At the very least we can say that Jonathan encouraged David in all his good deeds—and the very next good deed in David’s hand was the sparing of Saul’s life. We should not be surprised if Jonathan was an unrecognized blessing to his father in this.

Studies in I Samuel

A Grotesque Parody of Holy War

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, September 24, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
In the Gospel of Mark, we read the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand (Mark 6), but this occurs immediately after John the Baptist’s head was brought before Herod, at a banquet, and it was brought out on a platter. There are two kinds of kings, two kinds of rulers—those who feed the people and those who eat the people. There is no middle way.

THE TEXT:
“David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down hither to him . . .” (1 Sam. 22:1-23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
David escaped to Adullam, a place halfway between Gath and Bethlehem (v. 1). Those who were in various kinds of trouble gathered to him there, until he had a force of about 400 men (v. 2). David took the time to situate his aging parents in Moab (vv. 3-4), where his great-grandmother Ruth was from. The prophet Gad, apparently with him, tells him leave an unnamed stronghold, and to return to Judah (v. 5).

Saul hears about David’s whereabouts while he is holding open air court at Ramah (v. 6). He there upbraids his men for not being informants against Jonathan and against David (vv. 7-8). At this point Doeg reports on what he saw at Nob (vv. 9-10). Saul then summons Ahimelech and all the priests, and they come (vv. 11-12). Saul accuses Ahimelech of treason (v. 13), which Ahimelech ably denies (vv. 14-15). Saul then pronounces a death sentence (v. 16), and commands his men to kill the priests. They refuse, which was to their credit (v. 17).

He then gives the command to Doeg, and so he kills 85 priests (v. 18). He then attacks the priestly city of Nob, killing everyone and everything there (v. 19). Only one of the priests managed to escape, a man named Abiathar (v. 20), and he escaped with the ephod (1 Sam. 23:6). Abiathar told David of the slaughter of the priests (v. 21). David says that he was afraid of that—he had noticed Doeg there (v. 22). He invites Abiathar to stay with him (v. 23), which Abiathar does.

A MOTLEY START:
David eventually succeeds in establishing a powerful force, with an impressive array of mighty men (2 Sam. 23: 8-39). But initially the materials were not really promising. He gathers 400 men right away, but they are the ones in distress, in debt, or discontented. A bit later he has 600 men (1 Sam. 25:13). It looks as though David took all comers. For those who are curious, this place in Scripture is where the feature of Credenda magazine entitled the “Cave of Adullam” comes from—comments offered on life in the Israelite mainstream, and offered from our offices in the back of the cave.

When men come in distress, or in debt, or discontented, the basic problem can either be theirs or somebody else’s. Sometimes people get in distress themselves, and sometimes it is done to them. Sometimes people get into bad debt themselves, and other times it is done to them. Sometimes the discontent comes from within, and other times it is imposed. But even when it comes from without, the person to whom it is done must guard against internalizing it, against owning it somehow. As Thomas Watson said, it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. But sometimes men suffer wrong, and then, because they process it wrongly, begin to do wrong in their hearts. But as someone once wisely said, becoming bitter is like eating a box of rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.

So David’s forming army sounds like the problem that many church planters have—trying to build a fresh, joyful community out of a group of people who are still seething. Everyone who comes that first Sunday has a history. But as we learn here, God is not stumped by this kind of thing.

A GLORIOUS START:
We have noted before that the Spirit has come upon David, which means that he is blessed by God even though he has to live in a cave. Saul sits on a throne, abandoned by God. David sits on a rock outside his cave, accompanied by God. A new Israel starts to form around him, and though it looks like a bunch of losers, this is just the kind of situation God loves to work with. The Lord Jesus, as we know, is our prophet, priest, and king. Here with David, on the run from Saul, we have the prophet (Gad, v. 5), we have the priest (Abiathar, v. 23), and we have the king (David, v. 1). David has been finally exiled from Saul’s court, and we are just a few weeks into it—and already the shape of the future kingdom was beginning to appear. Abiathar stays with David for the rest of David’s life. Gad lives to see the Temple built, and even helped to regulate its worship (2 Chron. 29:25). Gad was also one of the chroniclers of David’s life (1 Chron. 29:29). All of this started to come together right away.

AN INESCAPABLE CHOICE:
The holy war which Saul refused to carry out against the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:9), and which cost him his dynasty, was a war which he then carried out against a priestly city of Israel (vv. 18-19). This was an ungodly action, but God was using it as the penultimate stage of His judgment against the house of Eli (1 Sam. 3:12-13).

The final stage of that judgment occurred when Solomon finally exiled Abiathar (1 Kings 2:26). So what we see here is a striking example of the “no neutrality” principle. You either gather or scatter (Luke 11:23). You either feed or devour. You will wage holy war (total war) on sin or on righteousness. An Israelite city could be the object of a holy war, but it had to be a city that had gone after other gods (Dt. 13:12-18). This was the great sin. What Saul would not do to the Amalekites, he was willing to do to a faithful city in Israel. Muddle and compromise are always seeking to carve out a third way. They want a neutral zone. They want a place to hide from decisive choices. But, as you have heard, not to decide is to decide. Not to decide decisively is to decide decisively. Dithering is deciding. Why? Because that is how God writes His stories.

Studies in I Samuel

Mercy Stands Taller

Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Sunday, September 18, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
David seeks to get away from Saul, but he cannot get away from his anointing. He can evade Saul, but he cannot evade the fact that a new Israel is going to start to form around him. David goes into the wilderness and finds a throne. Saul goes to his throne and finds a wilderness.

THE TEXT:
“Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? . . .” (1 Sam. 21:1-15).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
David continues on the run, and he comes to Nob, a priestly city (v. 1). The tabernacle had apparently been moved there after the destruction of Shiloh. They didn’t have the ark there, but they still put out the showbread. The showbread was also called the bread of the Presence—but the Presence wasn’t there anymore. A lot of things were dislocated. Ahimelech was concerned because David did not have the kind of entourage he should have had, and so David told him he was on a secret mission (v. 2).
David asks for five loaves of bread (v. 3). Ahimelech says he has no common bread, but that David can have the showbread if his young men have kept themselves from women—meaning they were dedicated to holy war (v. 4). David replies in the affirmative (v. 5), and so the priest gives him the showbread (v. 6). But Doeg the Edomite was there (v. 7). David then asks for weapons (v. 8), and so the priest gives him the sword of Goliath (v. 9). And so David then fled to Gath, where Achish was king (v. 10). But the servants of Achish recognized him, and repeated the words of the song that the women of Israel had sung, back at the beginning of all the trouble (v. 11). David was starting to hate that song. And so David came to be afraid of Achish (v. 12), and so pretended to be insane (v. 13). And Achish was fooled (v. 14), and delivers one of the great lines of Scripture (v. 15).

SOME BACKGROUND:
Ahimelech was the great-grandson of Eli, and the brother of Ahijah—the man who came into the priestly service of Saul after the departure of Samuel (1 Sam. 14:3). Jesus identifies this episode as happening in the “days” of Abiathar (Mark 2:26), the son of Ahimelech, who joined up with David later, and who served as high priest for David. Each one of these five loaves contained about three and a half pounds of flour (Lev. 24:5-9). David already had a group of men around him, but they were apparently a pretty rag tag bunch, which is what caused Ahimelech to wonder about the absence of a more regular detail. In an odd move, David receives the sword of Goliath and promptly flees to the city of Goliath.

ETHICAL FUSSINESS:
David uses deception twice in this chapter. Once was to mislead Ahimelech, giving him the protection of plausible deniability (which didn’t work), and the other instance was when he pretended to be mad in order to get away from Achish (which did work). We have previously seen that deception is an essential part of warfare, and pious evangelicals who object to this are slicing it way too fine. An example would be the (otherwise commendable) ESV Study Bible, which says of this place, “Though David normally acted as an upright man, the Bible does not hesitate to record honestly his instances of wrongdoing.” But what sense does this make? Do we want to say that it is not a sin to blow somebody up with a tank just so long as you never camouflage it? In this instance, David is using deceit as a way of avoiding direct conflict with Saul, and God bless him.

If you were standing at a crossroads, and a screaming woman ran by, and then about five minutes later, a lunatic with furious eyes and an axe ran up, demanding to know “which way she went,” I trust that all of you here would lie like a Christian. And none of this changes the fact that the lake of fire is reserved for liars (Rev. 21:8), that the ninth commandments prohibits the corruption of the courts (Ex. 20:16), and that we are commanded not to lie to one another because we have put off the old man (Col. 3:9). Kids, if your mom asks if you made your bed, and you reply that you did (even though you did not), you cannot fix it by appealing to the Hebrew midwives, or to the faithful deception that Rahab used. You should get swats a couple times—once for the lie, and the other time for the faulty hermeneutic.

THE SHOWBREAD:
Jesus refers to this incident, and He does so in a way that exonerates David (Matt. 12:1-8). The law of God, the Lord teaches, is not built out of two by fours. It is a case law system, the same kind of thing as our common law system, which means that the principles of justice must be understood, and they cannot be understood unless we are free men in Christ. Legalists are not qualified to be judges. Judges need to understand and love the law. This means that we must be the kind of men who understand that God wants mercy, and not sacrifice. Not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled, but this does not turn the Lord of mercy into a cross-eyed i-dotter.

The law made allowances within it, as can be seen by the priests who had to work in the Temple on the Sabbath. Ahimelech had to replace the twelve loaves every Sabbath, which meant that every Sabbath he had to bake bread. What Ahimelech could bake, David could eat—because of two principles. The first is the presence of one who is greater than the Temple. Which is greater, the bread of the Presence or the Presence itself? The second is the authority of mercy. Mercy does not negate authority; mercy has authority.

Do not confuse this. Mercy is not what happens when your standards fall apart. Laziness in discipline is not mercy. Mercy is what happens when your standards are outranked. Mercy stands taller than justice.

Studies in I Samuel

The Son of My Enemy

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, September 10, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
In the midst of court politics, and treachery, and intrigue, we find a shining and glorious example of covenant loyalty. Jonathan disappears from our narrative at this point, at least as a major character, but he departs in glory. One of the noblest sons of Scripture was the son, not of Eli, or Samuel, or David . . . but of Saul.

THE TEXT:
“And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? . . .” (1 Sam. 20:1-42).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
David is on the run, and he comes to Jonathan to ask what his offense is (v. 1). Jonathan does not believe it (v. 2), not because he believes his father incapable of murderous thoughts, but because he apparently believes in the binding force of the vow.
  But David points out that Saul now knows that Jonathan views David with grace, and will keep the information from him (v. 3). Jonathan says that he will do whatever David wants (v. 4). David proposes missing a new moon festival, hiding in a field until the third day of it (v. 5). If Saul misses him, the story is that David went to an annual sacrifice for his family (v. 6). If he takes it well, things are fine. If not, then he clearly wants to kill David (v. 7). David appeals to his covenant with Jonathan, and says that if he is guilty, then Jonathan should kill him (v. 8). Jonathan says no, if his father intends harm to David, he would tell him (v. 9). David asks how he will learn of Saul’s response (v. 10). Jonathan takes him out to the field (v. 11), and swears an oath to tell David if the news from his father is good or bad (vv. 12-13). Jonathan in returns asks for a vow of protection from David (vv. 14-15). So Jonathan made a covenant with David, with ill portent for David’s enemies (v. 16). Jonathan made David swear again, because he loved him (v. 17). Jonathan then sets up a system of signaling with his arrows (vv. 18-22). As far as the oath is concerned, the Lord will stay between them (v. 23).

And so David hid, and missed the first day of the feast (vv. 24-25). Saul assumed that David was ritually unclean (v. 26). When he was gone the second day, Saul asked Jonathan about the “son of Jesse” (v. 27). Jonathan replied with the agreed-upon story (vv. 28-29). Saul erupts with anger toward Jonathan (v. 30). Saul tells Jonathan that it must be Jonathan or David on the throne, and threatens David with death (v. 31). Jonathan asks why (v. 32). Saul threw a javelin at his son (v. 33), and Jonathan knew that his father was going to kill David. Jonathan left in fierce anger, fasting, because he was grieved for David and ashamed of his father (v. 34). Jonathan then communicated the bad news to David by the prearranged signal (vv. 35-40). David and Jonathan met, David bowed three times, and they wept together (v. 41). Jonathan blessed David, and then they parted (v. 42).

THE SON OF MY ENEMY:
We have already seen Saul declare David as his enemy (1 Sam. 19:17). But Jonathan believed the oath that Saul took in the name of the Lord (1 Sam. 19:6), and so refused to believe that he would violate something so sacred. The oath was “as the Lord liveth,” and all oath-breaking proceeds on the assumption that God is dead. In (perhaps) unintentional irony, Jonathan asks David to remember kindness with regard to Jonathan’s house, even when the Lord has cut off from the face of the earth every last one of David’s enemies (v. 15). In the next verse, he makes a covenant with David, the brunt of which is to fall on David’s enemies (v. 16). But Jonathan is about to discover that David’s principal enemy is his own father (vv. 30-31). But he, Jonathan, is now bound together with David in such a covenant as that he is completely identified with David. His father throws a javelin at him, calling him foolish for his wisdom and treacherous for his godly loyalty (v. 30). Saul has now inverted everything (Is. 5:20).

BELIEVING ALL THINGS:
The grace shown toward Saul is remarkable. David is a faithful follower of Saul, and refuses to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed, even when sorely provoked. Jonathan is willing to believe the best of his father for a long time. When your enemy is in the process of self-destructing, up to a point it is lawful to try to stop him. At some point, it is lawful to step away—both Jacob and David moved out of their “Laban’s range”. But don’t shove, and don’t gloat (Prov. 24:17-18).

FIERCE ANGER:
David anticipates great anger from Saul (v. 7), and he should know. When Saul hears that David is absent, his “anger was kindled” (v. 30). The focal point of his anger is Jonathan, who is now a stand-in for David, even to the point of Saul throwing a spear at him (v. 33). And Jonathan is now a proxy for David in another way. David has been grieved, and is long-suffering. But Jonathan rises from the table “in fierce anger,” that anger a function of grief and shame.

Anger is not a sin, but in a condition of sin it is exceedingly sinful. We are told to put away anger (Eph. 4:31). We are told that man’s anger does not serve God’s righteousness (Jas. 1:20). At the same time, we are commanded to be angry without sinning (Eph. 4:26). We are told to be slow to anger (Jas. 1:19), not impossible to anger. But even when we are angry righteously, we must not let the sun go down on that anger (Eph. 4:26). Like manna, righteous anger will rot overnight.

Do not think like children. Anger is evil when it is evil and holy when it is holy. It is by the anger of God the Father, poured out upon Jesus on the cross, that we are saved. If it were not for the anger of God exhibited there, it would have had to be exhibited elsewhere, and we would all be lost. Propitiation is the satisfying of the righteous anger of God, and Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

Studies in I Samuel

Saul Among the Prophets

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, September 03, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
Although Saul continues his reign for some time after the incidents in this chapter, this chapter does mark the formal textual end of his reign. Call this definitive foreshadowing, as well as some sort of formal closure. Put another way, for Saul this is all over but the shouting.

THE TEXT:
“And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself . . .” (1 Sam. 19:1-24).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
Saul’s hostility to David now comes completely out into the open (v. 1).
But Jonathan, who loved David, warned him about the immediate threat to his life (v. 2). Jonathan’s plan in response is to have David hide where he can overhear Jonathan remonstrate with his father (v. 3). This is what Jonathan did (vv. 4-5), and his father listened to him, swearing an oath in the name of God that David would not be killed (v. 6).

So Jonathan succeeded in bringing about a temporary reconciliation (v. 7), but this lasted only until the next great military achievement of David’s (v. 8). Again the evil spirit was upon Saul and David played his harp for him, and Saul tried to spear him (vv. 9-10). This may be the second incident referred to in the previous chapter, or it may be another time. Saul then sent assassins to kill David, and Michal warned him (v. 11). This is the occasion behind the writing of Psalm 59. She let him down through a window (v. 12), and then came up with a ruse to buy David some time (vv. 13-14). Saul told his men to bring David to him so that he might kill him (v. 15), and so the ruse was discovered (v. 16). Michal covered for herself successfully by saying that David had threatened to kill her (v. 17).

David escaped to Samuel in Ramah, and so he and Samuel went and stayed nearby in Naioth (v. 18). Saul got word where they were (v 19), and so he sent men to capture David there (v. 20). But when they saw all the prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, they prophesied as well (v. 20). So Saul sent a second group, and the same thing happened, and then a third time as well (v. 21). And so Saul himself went, and he came to a great well and asked directions (v. 22). And so the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied all the way to Naioth (v. 23). And when he got there, he stripped off his clothes and prophesied naked before Samuel all day and night (v. 24). And so it was said, is Saul also among the prophets?

A LABAN STORY:
We have already seen that Saul is a Laban, only with the power to kill. He is a public sector Laban. But we should note more than just one similarity—i.e. that both Saul and Laban changed the terms of their agreements. Scripture points to this striking similarity, and does so in a way as to make the point unmistakable.

Jacob was faultless in his dealings with Laban (Gen. 31:36). David was faultless in his dealings with Saul (1 Sam. 19:4). Laban deceived Jacob by withholding the promised daughter (Gen. 29:25). Saul deceived David by withholding the promised daughter (1 Sam. 18:19). Jacob escaped from Laban (Gen. 31:17-21). David escaped from Saul (1 Sam. 19:12). Laban pursued Jacob (Gen. 31:22-23). Saul pursued David (1 Sam. 19:11,18-24).

Laban’s daughter deceived him (Gen. 31:33-35). Saul’s daughter deceived him (1 Sam. 19:13-16). Rachel lies about the teraphim (Gen. 31:33-35). Michal lies with the teraphim (1 Sam. 19:13-16). Laban wants to know why he was deceived, when the answer should have been obvious (Gen. 31:27). Saul wants to know why he was deceived, when the answer should have been obvious (1 Sam. 19:17). The writer of the book of Samuel is making the point very clear—he wants us to see Saul as a Laban.

THE SECOND BOOKEND:
We noted before that this chapter is the place where Saul’s reign comes to its formal closure. When he was young and humble, he came to Ramah (1 Sam. 9:6). When he was old and arrogant, he came to Ramah (1 Sam. 19:22). The first time he came to a well and asked for directions to Samuel (1 Sam. 9:11). The last time he came to a well and asked for directions to Samuel (1 Sam. 19:22).

When he was first anointed, he came to a company of prophets and prophesied among them (1 Sam. 10:5), showing that God was with him. “Is Saul among the prophets?” was a marveling statement (1 Sam. 10:12). When he had forfeited his anointing, and God had departed from him “Is Saul among the prophets?” became a comic statement (1 Sam. 19:24). The Spirit came upon him and he was vested with kingly authority (1 Sam. 11:6). When the Spirit came upon him here, he was divested of his robe (1 Sam. 19:24). All the similarities are meant to highlight the radical difference in the spiritual condition of Saul’s heart. The first time he had a humble heart and the last time he had a heart full of envy and murder.

DAVID’S BIG PROMOTION:
Throughout this story, David incurs Saul’s ire simply through his ongoing faithfulness to him. Just as Saul was unable to read the story he was in, David was enabled to read it accurately. Throughout this story, we can see how he trusts in God externally, and we can see how that trust looks from the inside as we read and sing the psalms. Samuel had been told not to look on the appearances, but to recognize that God looks on the heart. This is not just true of people; it is also true of situations. What was it when David finally had to flee from Saul’s court for good? What was that? It was his big promotion. Saul on the throne had lost it already. David in the wilderness was a kingly man already.

Our God speaks those things which are not as though they were.

Studies in I Samuel

A Form of Insanity

Expository – Who Is Sufficient?
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, August 27, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
Goliath was a very great giant, but envy is a greater giant still. Just as giants devour, so envy devours. Envy grows on unnatural food, and when a person gives way to temptation and eats this food, the results are perverse.

THE TEXT:
“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul . . .” (1 Sam. 18:1-30).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
Jonathan heard David’s report to Saul, and Jonathan loved him (v. 1).

As a result of David’s exploit, Saul did not let him return to his father’s house (v. 2). Jonathan makes a formal covenant with David because of his love for him (v. 3). He even went so far as to give David his robe and his weapons (v. 4). And David performed the missions given him by Saul, and he behaved wisely, accepted by all (v. 5). One day when they (Saul and David) were coming back from a battle with Philistines, they were met by singing women (v. 6). And they sang about Saul’s exploits and David’s, and David’s were greater (v. 7). Saul noticed this and was angry, and projected the end result being David on the throne (v. 8). Envy took completely over (v. 9). The next day, when Saul was afflicted by an evil spirit from the Lord, David was playing the harp for him, as before (v. 10). Saul tried to kill him with a spear, but David got away twice (v. 11).

Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, and not with Saul (v. 12). So Saul appointed him to a place in the army (v. 13). David continued to behave wisely, and the Lord was with him (v. 14). When Saul saw his wisdom, he continued to be afraid (v. 15). In the meantime, David was a point of agreement between Israel and Judah (v. 16). Saul offered Merab, his elder daughter, hoping that the Philistines would take David out (v. 17). David protests, based on his station in life (v. 18). But when the time came, Saul gave his daughter to another (v. 19). Saul is a Laban, changing the terms or, as we would say, the kind of man who moves the goalposts.

Michal, another daughter of Saul, loved David, and Saul thought he could work with that (v. 20). He would use his daughter to bait a Philistine trap (v. 21). He told his servants to flatter David (v. 22). They did so, but David protested that he was a poor man, not being able to afford the dowry of a king’s daughter (v. 23). Court politics are in full swing. The servants brought this response back to Saul (v. 24). So Saul said he would accept one hundred Philistine foreskins as a dowry, hoping that David would be slain getting them (v. 25). David was pleased with this, and there was still time (v. 26). And so David went and got double the bloody dowry (v. 27). And so Saul now saw two things—the Lord was with David, and Michal was with David (v. 28).

A FEW DETAILS:
We considered before that Jonathan was pushing fifty by the time he met David. This meant that Saul was probably pushing seventy, which may account for why he might not have thought fighting Goliath himself was a good idea. So perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on him for that. But at the same time, he was still going out to battle, both now and afterward. A more pressing question is why Jonathan didn’t fight the giant. We are not told, but the most likely explanation is that his father wouldn’t let him. Remember that David needed to get permission from the king to fight the giant on behalf of Israel, and that in order to perform his previous exploit, Jonathan had had to sneak off without telling his father.

David was far more of a threat to Jonathan’s royal interests than he was to Saul’s. And yet Jonathan loved him dearly, and Saul was possessed with envy.

AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD:
The demon that afflicted Saul was evil, as can be seen from the fruit. The spirit that afflicted Saul was from the Lord in the sense that all things are from Him. You have often heard me say that God draws straight with crooked lines. Another way of putting this is that God tells a good story with wicked characters. God sends a lying spirit in the days of Micaiah (1 Kings 22:22). God sends Satan to test Job (Job 1:12). And lest someone wave this off as “Old Testament stuff,” God gives unbelievers over to a powerful delusion (2 Thess. 2:11). God is not just in the story; He writes the story. And don’t try to tell Tolkien that his story would have been greatly improved if he had left Gollum out of it.

Recall that at the beginning of this book, we saw that it was about rising and falling—the house of Eli, the house of Samuel, the house of Saul, and, in a sense redeemed by grace, the house of David. In order to tell this kind of story, this kind of envy, this kind of spiritual oppression, must play a necessary role. Envy is one of Satan’s principal weapons—and is therefore one of God’s principal tools.

WHO CAN STAND AGAINST ENVY?
Consider Proverbs 27:4. Envy feeds off of every true refutation of it. Saul plainly sees that David is wise, and he clearly sees that the Lord is with David. This is the principial refutation of every form of envy. What should kill envy dead? The answer would be the realization that God Almighty is with that other person, and is blessing him. But what does envy actually do? Saul sees that the Lord is with David (vv. 12, 14-15, 28-29), and he eyes him suspiciously. He interprets the story as though he has the right to appoint who the protagonist is.

Not only so, but the more the envy grows, the more the envier shrinks. Watching Saul here is like watching a slow-motion helicopter crash. Envy is a form of insanity, a way of disconnecting yourself from an ability to read the story you are in. Envy is unable to read the feedback loop. If the Lord is with David, what must a man do to be with the Lord? He must do what Jonathan gloriously did, and love David as he loved his own soul.

And of course, the only thing that can kill the giant Envy is the smooth stone thrown by the son of David. That smooth stone is the cross of Jesus Christ.

Studies in I Samuel

David the Giant Killer

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, August 20, 2011

INTRODUCTION:
Although the sin of our first parents had placed us under bondage to the serpent, God very quickly gave us a promise that we would be avenged upon that serpent. He thus established the antithesis and promised a Messiah in the same place. This running battle is seen throughout Scripture, and the obligation to pursue giant-killing is an important part of it.

THE TEXT:
“Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines . . .” (1 Sam. 17:1-58).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
This is a longer chapter, so as we summarize we will cut our pieces of meat a little larger.
The Philistine army invaded and camped in territory of Judah, and Saul and his men gathered against them (vv. 1-2). A valley separated the armies (v. 3). There was a champion of the Philistines named Goliath who was huge (vv. 4-7). He came out and challenged any one of the Israelites to single combat, a fight that would settle everything. His words made Saul and all Israel “greatly afraid” (vv. 8-11). David was the eighth of eight sons of Jesse. The three oldest were in Saul’s army, and David had returned from his stint at Saul’s court (vv. 12-15). Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days (v. 16). Jesse then sent David with some supplies and told him to get news from his brothers (vv. 17-18).

There was fighting with the Philistines, but nothing decisive—more like skirmishes (vv. 19-20). But they mostly put on armor and formed up in battle array to do some trash-talking (v. 21). David came with the supplies, and as he was visiting with his brothers, Goliath came out (vv. 22-23). David heard the taunts, but the Israelites were afraid, and David heard the talk about what would be done for the champion who killed Goliath (vv. 24-27). Eliab, the oldest, didn’t like the way David’s thoughts were going (v. 28), and charged him with impudence. But David ignored him, and went right on (vv. 29-30).

David’s talk came to Saul’s ears, and David was summoned (v. 31). David volunteers to fight (v. 32). Saul says that David is too young to fight such an experienced warrior (v. 33). David tells the story of how he killed both a lion and a bear as a shepherd, and he says he will do the same to Goliath (vv. 34-37). Saul then gives his blessing (v. 37b). David tries out Saul’s armor, but rejects it as untested (vv. 38-39).

So David went out with his staff, five stones, and his sling (v. 40). Goliath comes out with his armor-bearer (v. 41). Goliath despises David, curses him by his gods, and threatens him (vv. 42-44). David replied, countering the Philistine’s weapons with the name of God (v. 45). He declares that God will deliver Goliath up, he will lose his head, and everyone will know that God does not fight conventional battles (vv. 46-47). And so they approached each other, and David ran toward him, slinging the stone as he went (vv. 48-49). David struck him without a sword (v. 50). David ran to cut off his head with his own sword, and the Philistine army fled (v. 51). And the Israelites pursued them, striking them down, and taking spoil (vv. 52-53). David kept Goliath’s armor (v. 54). Saul wanted Abner to find out who David was (vv. 55-56). And so Abner brought David to Saul, Goliath’s head in his hand (v. 57), and Saul found out he was the son of Jesse (v. 58).

As we consider all this, we should remember that the book of Samuel was not originally structured the way we do it, with chapter breaks. Here is a chiasm which helps frame this section.
a.    Samuel leaves Ramah to anoint David (16:1-13).
     b.    David plays the harp effectively for Saul (16:14-23)
          c.    David kills Goliath (17:1-58)
               d.    David celebrated at court (18:1-6)
          c’    Saul jealous over the Goliath triumph (18:7-30)
     b’    David plays the harp ineffectively for Saul (19:1-17)
a’    David flees to Samuel at Ramah (19:18-20:42)

A MISCELLANY:
This is one of the most famous stories in the Bible, and consequently, many of us have a mental image of it taken more from bits and pieces from things we have heard or from Bible story books—instead of from what is actually said. David rejects Saul’s armor as untested, and not as too big (v. 39). Of course, the greatest faith here was David’s, but it was an act of faith on Saul’s part also (v. 37). This was a single combat that put all of Israel’s army at stake, and Saul gave his blessing to it. And last, it is not often recognized that the five smooth stones are the five points of Calvinism. Joke.

But the slingshot here is not something that a ten-year-old boy would use to plink at bottles on a fence. This was a bona fide weapon of war (Judg. 20:16), and the stones would be about the size of a modern softball. And of course, we should consider the size of Goliath. He was over nine feet tall, and his mail weighed 126 pounds. The Anakim (giants) had been exiled by Joshua to Gaza, Ashdod and Gath (Josh. 11:21-23), and Goliath was likely descended from them.

DAVID THE GIANT-KILLER:
David comes into this story as a glorious type of Christ. Goliath was a giant, but he was also a serpent, a dragon. The Hebrew word for his armor means scales, which made him a gigantic reptile, like a dragon, and David topples him with a wound to the head (Gen. 3:15). David fights him with the same weapons that he would use in fighting wild beasts. When he is done, he takes Goliath’s armor and places it in his tent (v. 54).
This is precisely what Jesus does when He came upon the strong man. He attacks, like David did. He is victorious, like David was. He strips the armor (panoply), as David did. He partakes of the spoil after battle (Luke 11:22). Jesus is the greatest of all giant-killers. He gives victory to His people . . . and He awakens the envy of any who would be great in Israel on their own terms.

Studies in I Samuel

Strike Three

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, August 06, 2011

I Samuel Chapter 15

INTRODUCTION:
Saul falls away from his position of favor with the Lord in a series of three falls. In chapter 13, he did not wait for Samuel to sacrifice, as he had been instructed to. In chapter 14, he makes a rash vow concerning the battle, and doubles down with a self-maledictory oath. And here, in chapter 15, he falls the third time, and for good, when he rebels against the express command of the Lord.

THE TEXT:
“Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass . . .” (1 Sam. 15:1-35).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:

Studies in I Samuel

Bramble and Bright

Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, July 30, 2011

I Samuel 14

INTRODUCTION:
We have seen how Saul stumbled by trying to sacrifice before Samuel’s arrival. In this chapter, we see his second great sin, this time involving his son—a very noble son—Jonathan. The tragedy here is that Jonathan, who would have made a wonderful king, is excluded from that throne by the sin of his father.

THE TEXT:
“Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men . . .” (1 Sam. 14:1-52).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:

Studies in I Samuel

Saul’s Slide Begins

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, July 23, 2011

I Samuel 13

INTRODUCTION:

God is the Lord of all things—and this means that He is Lord of both the inside and the outside of a man. Sin loves to divide them in two, and yet God does not permit it. True faith begins on the inside, but does not rest content until the outside is brought under. If you start with the outside of the cup, what you almost always wind up with is a clean outside and putrid contents. As we seek to live as consistent Christians, we must take into account the example of King Saul.

>Studies in I Samuel

>Not Where They Should Have Been

Expository – Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, July 02, 2011 8:21 am

INTRODUCTION:

God is sovereign and God is gracious, and this means that God takes you from where you are, and not from where you should have been. If we were standing around where we should have been, we wouldn’t need salvation. If we need salvation, we are not where we should have been. A godly response to this is always the same—cry out to the Lord. Trust in Him. Follow Him.

THE TEXT:

“And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day . . .” (1 Sam. 12:1-25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT: