DAVID, introduction.

David, the Great King of Israel.

David was a very important person in the characters of the Old Testament and because Jesus was called the Son of David his position also had an important effect in the New Testament. He was the great grandson of Ruth and Boaz and the youngest son of Jesse. He spent his early life as a shepherd on the hills close to Bethlehem, this exposed him to a time of physical and mental preparation for his future life, for God to prepare him as King David, "the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart," 1 Samuel 13:14. Chosen by God to lead His people, 1 Kings 8:16.

What do we know about the life of David?

His life was a strange mixture of good and bad, there are many records of his good actions and deeds, yet he had many situations which involving great sins, one example was to arranged for the death of Uriah the Hittite in a battle when he desired the wife of Uriah, 2 Samuel 11:1-17. Yet David was able to write many Psalms of worship, like Psalm 23. The life of David shows the human nature in all of us.

Generally David’s life was religious and in 1 Samuel 13:14 he was referred to as "a man after God’s own heart," this would only apply as long as he lived a life as required by God and kept His commandments. His life was far from perfect, the Bible does not ignore his failures but there is no record that David ever worship idols, it seems that he was loyal to the Lord in worship and witness.

David made a great contribution to the worship of God by Israel, including the planning and construction of the Temple, though he was not allowed to build it due to his sins.

Early life

The life of David can be divided into three periods,
1) The rise to power, 1 Samuel chapters 16-31
2) The triumphs of David, 2 Samuel chapters 1 to 10
3) The problems of David, 2 Samuel chapters 11 to 20.

David was the son of a farmer called Jesse. David was the youngest of eight sons. 1 Samuel 16:10,11.
His early life was as a shepherd which exposed him to the danger of the weather and animals. 1 Samuel 17:34-36.
David was chosen by God to be the king of Israel following the failures of king Saul. David was initially appointed quietly by the prophet Samuel. 1 Samuel 16:12,13.

The life of David under King Saul.

David is selected and secretly anointed.

Samuel is instructed by God to anoint a new king following the failure of Saul. He is instructed to go to the family of Jesse where God will show his choice. Samuel is afraid of Saul and the leadership of Bethlehem are concerned about the sudden appearance of Samuel, to cover his presence "I am come to sacrifice to the LORD." v5 as instructed by God.

Samuel now looks at the family of Jesse, he is only concerned with the physical appearance but God looks on their hearts, God rejects until each man until David is brought before Samuel. "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. "

The Spirit Departs from Saul.

Saul had rejected God and God’s Word due to his pride, self-will, disobedience and stubbornness. Because of this, the Spirit of God had left him and an evil spirit had now possessed him. From now the life of Saul reflects that he is not controlled by the Spirit of God. As Saul appears to have been a Believer he would not become demon-possessed but God may have used some spiritual agent in an attempt to make Saul turn back to Him. Note that Saul was not immediately removed from the position of king, God allows the periods of rage and insanity to show Saul that he has been rejected as king by God.

David comes unto the court of Saul as an Harpist.

The court of Saul realized that music calmed Saul during his rages so they looked for a harpist and found that David, who appears to have been made the armour bearer later, 1 Samuel 16:21; was able to play the lyre, similar to a small harp, very skillfully, he therefore became the personal harpist for King Saul, standing before him to refresh Saul’s mind as needed. His beautiful music playing was able to soothing and helped calm Saul, 1 Samuel 16:23. David remained in the court of King Saul for a period, then he returned to his fathers home and farm. 1 Samuel 17:15. It is recorded that "Saul loved David greatly,"

David and Goliath

Israel was regularly at war with the Philistine, the Philistines were a very powerful people from the southern coastal plain of Canaan. On this occasion the two armies were camped on either side of a long narrow hill rising from the valley of Elah, the two armies were about one mile apart. As part of this fight a giant soldier called Goliath from Gath came from the Philistine army, he challenged the Jews to settle the battle with a single fight with him. We are told that he was "six cubits and a span" about nine feet, nine inches tall, possibly a descendent of the sons of Anak, Joshua 11:22; Deuteronomy 3:11; Numbers 13:33. No Jewish soldiers were willing to fight the giant Goliath.

David visit his brothers.

David, the young shepherd from Bethlehem, was sent by his father Jesse, with supplies for his three brothers who were part of Saul’s army. David arrived at the camp in time to see Goliath come into the valley and issue his morning challenge to the armies of Saul. David was angry at the Israelites not accepting the challenge, he believed that their behavior showed that they had no faith in promises of the nations covenant with God and His guarantee to fight for them if they trusted Him, David felt that this Philistine was insulting God. David knew that if anyone had been willing to go into battle in the name of God, then God would have given him victory. David was looking at the situation and all he could see was God. King Saul and his army only saw the giant soldier, Goliath, David saw the God of the armies of Israel, while the Israelites saw only the man Goliath and were afraid. David knew that the God who had protected him from danger when he was looking after the sheep would not now turn His back on him if he chose to fight for the people of God, he trusted God in complete faith.
1 Samuel 17:25-53.

David meets Goliath.

The giant, armed for the battle with sword and spear, laughed at the youth who has accepted the challenge and does not even wear armour of any sort, carrying just the shepherd’s rod, Goliath expressed contempt for David and said "I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!, cursing David in the name of his god." David, speaking as the servant of the Lord, replied, "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s"

All it took was a sling and a small stone, "the stone hit the Philistine in his forehead with such great force that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth."

As a result of this successful fight with Goliath David becomes a champion of the people. This makes King Saul become very jealous. 1 Samuel 18:1-9.

Jonathan, the son of King Saul.

Jonathan admires David for his bravery and a true friendship develops. It was following the fight with Goliath that the friendship with Jonathan develops,1 Samuel 18:1-5. It appears by his actions that Jonathan may have already realized who was to replace his father as king.

Saul’s Jealousy.

David’s success as a soldier soon caused problems, he became very popular with the people, even songs were being made up about his success, this now developed into fear and suspicion in the heart of Saul, 1 Samuel 18:9, 12, 15,29. Saul was becoming very jealous, eating away at him like cancer. In 1 Samuel 18:8. Saul saw that only his kingdom was not taken over by David.

This jealousy develops into physical action, 1 Samuel 18:10-12. In an attempt to get him killed in battle Saul promotes David to "fight the LORD’S battles." including a promise of his daughter Merab in marriage, 1 Samuel 17:25; 1 Samuel 18:17,18. But Saul dishonestly gave her to another man, 1 Samuel 18:19.

David’s Marriage.

King Saul had promised to give Merab, his oldest daughter, to David to be his wife, but then he broke his promise and gave her to another man. Later, Michal, the youngest daughter of Saul, told of her love for David, so in hatred for David, Saul demanded that David bring "an hundred foreskins of the Philistines" soldiers and bring him the evidence of their death as a marriage dowry. Saul was sure this demand would result in the death of David. However, God was with David and he actually killed two hundred Philistines. Michal became the wife of David as promised by Saul, but from now on after this event Saul was determined to kill David even more.

David Escapes from Saul.

The growing hatred of David by King Saul now threatens the life of David. For his own safety David has to keep out of King Saul’s way. Saul now resorted to force. He told Jonathan and all his servants that David must be killed, but Jonathan managed to persuade King Saul, his father, to accept David as a "friend," just for a short period. 1 Samuel 19:4-7. Unfortunately more fighting with the Philistines caused the hatred of Saul for David to returned and David had to run away and again go into hiding.

David becomes an Outlaw.

David has returned to his wife Michal at his home. King Saul now hunts David, Michal told David of the danger and helps him escape. It is interesting to note that both Jonathan and Michal were out to protect David from their father Saul by deception, Exodus 20:16.
Michal placed an image in the bed to make it look as if David was there, this initially fooled the messengers from Saul. It is interesting as to what this image was, why was there an image in the home of David? Was it an household idol, Genesis 31:19; 30-35 they were small, easily carried so would not a suitable replacement for David.

David did not seek to defend himself or head a revolt against Saul but fled to Ramah to tell Samuel of all that had happened and they both went to Naioth.

1 Samuel 19:18-24;Psalm 59. Saul finds out where David is and sends people to capture him but God intervenes, protecting David. The protection on the life of David was so complete that three groups of men who were sent to destroy him were defeated by the Spirit of God. Instead of killing David, the soldiers joined the prophets. Saul, angry that his will was not being executed, now goes to Ramah, but was also disarmed by the Spirit and caught up in the praises of the prophets. The Spirit of God was so great in Ramah. Saul’s experience of praise did not have any affect on his heart, which was fixed on defying the will of God and destroying David.

Jonathan Protects David

David cannot understand why Saul is wanting to kill him, we see the hearts of three men as this story develops. David and Jonathan met in secret after David’s escape from Ramah, he has approached Jonathan for help, makes one more attempt to restore David into Saul’s grace. The friendship between the two is immediately obvious. David is very despondent, while Jonathan has faith that the Lord is in control. Jonathan tells David that he will keep him informed of his father Saul’s attitude toward him. It is possible that Jonathan did not know of the events and instruction of 1 Samuel 19:8-24.
Even though Jonathan had never talked about the future, it is obvious that he knew of the future of David, as well as the future of his own family, and the ultimate judgement by God, "no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth."

Two days later, in fierce anger, Saul demanded that David is hunted down and killed. After Saul’s rage against his son and an attempt to kill him for his defense of David, the young men met once more. Jonathan, though angered and grieved by his fathers attitude, once again risked his life to warn David. When they meet we see the character of friendship, the words of Jonathan to David, "the LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever." An addition to the earlier agreement in v14,15, "And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth." This relationship was much stronger because of their common love and trust in God.
David now fled southward towards Nob.

David the outlaw

David now has to hide from Saul for a long time, Saul saw the death of David as his priority. Later others are to join him and they become outlaws. This period of his life helped his character to develop in two different ways covering his concern for the oppressed and reliance upon God.
Saul now hunts for David and the later group of men but God is protecting David and his followers. We read of two occasions when Saul put himself into a situation which would have allowed David to kill him, but on both of these occasions David spared the life of Saul, showing the true character of David, 1 Samuel 24:1-15; 1 Samuel 26:1-20. A significant number of David’s Psalms were written during this period.

David in Nob

1 Samuel 21:1-15.
Somewhere along the journey to Nob David has collected a small band of men, 1 Samuel 21:4,5.
When David arrives at Nob, about a mile north of Jerusalem, there he goes to the tabernacle and he meets Ahimelech, the great grandson of Eli, who was acting as priest. Ahimelech is frightened by the presence of David, "why is he alone?"
Because there is a possible threat to his life David pretended to be on secret business for King Saul to explain his appearance. It is interesting to note that the Word of God faithfully records David’s action into deception to protect himself and not rely on God.

David is hungry and asks for food, he can see that Ahimelech has bread in his hand, but this is "hallowed bread only if the young men have kept themselves at least from women." The bread is Shewbread (or showbread, bread place before the face of the Lord in the ‘holy place’. Exodus 25:30; Exodus 26:35; Exodus 35:13; Leviticus 24:6; Leviticus 15:16 . This bread was replaced each Sabbath by the priest. David is now given the showbread which has been taken from the altar. See the remarks by Jesus on this event, Matt 12:3,4; Mark 2:25,26.

Unfortunately, also at the tabernacle was "Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul." David is unarmed and asks Ahimelech if there are any weapons, he is offered the "sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah," David takes this and in desperation, he sought shelter from the enemies of Israel, the Philistines, to Achish the king of Gath.

The deception by David to Ahimelech that he was on the king’s business later resulted in a terrible act by Saul on Ahimelech, his family and the priests at Nob, they were all murdered by Doeg as instructed by Saul. "The son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David, " He joined the men with David. 1 Samuel 22:9-23.

David moves into the Philistine territory.

Because it was not safe for David to remain in the land controlled by Saul he moved South East into the Philistine controlled area, to Gath, the home town of Goliath. He was immediately recognized, by the servants of the king of Gath, Achish. David is scared and pretends to be mad, which results in the king of Gath’s sending David safely away. Psalms 34 and 56 reflect this event.

David in the Cave of Adullam

David and his small company of followers shelter in a cave, the largest of the limestone caves which border the lowlands near Adullam, about ten miles southeast of Gath, there he is joined by his family and "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men." David’s father and mother were kept in safety by the king of Moab, a group of people which had connection to the family through Ruth, Ruth 1:4-18; Ruth 4:21,22.

David is still waiting for God to reveal his future, 1 Samuel 22:3b, as he waits for God from these caves of Abdullam, he does not become or act as a rebel against Saul, he was still willing to defend Israel against the Philistines.

David returns from Moab and at the advice of God through the prophet Gad he moved to hid in the forest of Hareth in Judah, a few miles southeast of Adullam, later he moved to Keilah. David and his men were to now spend many years of suffering and affliction, in constant flight and hiding from Saul, yet David at all times knew God’s faithful protection.

Saul destroys the priests.

We see the evil heart of Saul in this event, Saul is about to kill innocent priests and their families, evidence of his departure from the Lord. But we first find him sitting under a tamarisk tree complaining to his servants, his son was disloyal, his people did not care and David was full of conspiracy.
At this point Doeg, who had seen David at the Tabernacle, now sets out to make his position with king Saul of benefit to himself, he reports what he saw and how Ahimelech had helped David with food and a weapon. Saul sends a message to Ahimelech and the priest at NOB, that he want to see them. They are accused of conspiracy, plotting against the throne. Ahimelech accidentally defends David as he defends his actions, Ahimelech is saying that David had free access to Saul so how can he be an enemy? Ahimelech continued, "he knew of no conspiracy so was innocent," 1 Samuel 22:14,15.

Saul declares that Ahimelech and his family must die, the servants knew it was wrong to kill the priests of God and refused, Doeg, however, saw a possibility of a further reward and murders eighty-five priests and their families etc.,1 Samuel 22:16-20. Only Abiathar escapes to report the event to David. Saul had no right to punish the priests of God, though it does partially fulfill the prophecy of 1 Samuel 2:27-36 for the family of Eli.
The extent of Saul’s spiritual decline has become all too apparent to David, Saul’s deplorable murder of the priests of Nob now shows how far he is from God.

As priest, Abiathar has access to the ephod which allowed David to inquire of the Lord for all future actions and events.

The city of Keilah is rescued by David.

This event shows how David continued to protect and serve Israel during the time he was in exile. Keilah was about three miles south of Adullam, the Philistines regularly attacked it after the harvest and stole the grain from the people.

David first enquires of the Lord, "Shall I go and smite these Philistines? " to which he received the reply, "Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah." Unfortunately his men were afraid to attack the Philistines, so David asked again of the Lord and received confirmation, "I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand." They now knew that God was with them and attacked and slaughtered the Philistines.

Somehow Saul hears of this event and immediately thinks that God has delivered David into his hands, as he is now trapped in a walled city. Saul has assumed that God has provided the answer to his hatred of David, a warning not to assume that an apparent opportunity is a clear indication of the will of God.

Though David had rescued the people of Keilah, many of the inhabitants were loyal to Saul, so David again asked God, "is it safe?" And the LORD said, "They will deliver thee up." So David and his men departed the city of Keilah into the wilderness, this area is found near the Dead Sea, full of caves and water cut ravines, a safe home for David and his men.
It was in this area that the Jewish rebels hid from the Roman soldiers during the problems of 66-73 A.D. and 132-135 A.D.
Saul now try’s to find David but God protects him. Four fourteen years David is to remain in exile. They were years of suffering for David and his men, in constant running and hiding from Saul, but throughout David is to know God’s faithful protection.

Jonathan encourages David.

David has fled from the cave of Adullam into the forest of Hereth in Judah, Now Jonathan comes to the wilderness of Ziph, planning to meet his friend. This passage records the last time Jonathan and David meet. Jonathan is lead by God to where David is in the wilderness forest and he gives a promise that David would be the next king of Israel. He was heir to the throne but Jonathan was happy to stand aside for the king appointed by God. They then committed everything to God and separated.
Consider the thoughts of Phil 2:3-11, be subject to the Will of God.

Saul hunts David in the wilderness of Moan.

From Ziph, David was forced to move to the wildernesses of Maon, En Gedi and Paran, to avoid Saul’s forces. There were those who were faithful to him but David was betrayed by some.

The events in the wilderness of Moan were most dangerous for David. The Ziphiles inform Saul that David is hiding in the woods, they promise to betray David. They are instructed by Saul to locate the exact hiding place and then lead him to the hiding place. Saul manages to surround David and his men and gets very close to the capture David but God is still controlling the situation, Saul now receives a message that the Philistines have invaded the land, and is force to depart to defend the country and so leave David to escape.

The life of Saul is spared.

David and his men have now moved into the wilderness of Engedi, on hearing of this, Saul take three thousand, specially chosen, men to hunt for David.
Engedi was an oasis east of Hebron, located six hundred feet above the shore of the Dead Sea, the area is know for the very fertile vineyards, this has occurred because of a local fresh water spring. The area is of limestone so has many caves, therefore a good place for David and his men to hide in. Engedi is still an oasis in the desert but the vineyards have gone.

We again see the hand of God at work, Saul enters into a cave in which David and some of his men are hiding. The expression "cover his feet:" is an indication that he was using the cave as a toilet. The men with David felt that God had delivered their enemy into the hand of David, but David felt that "the LORD forbids that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed,", he knows that God originally appointed Saul and only God can remove him, instead he secretly cuts off a piece of Saul’s clothing, Saul may have taken off his cloak when he entered the cave. By this action David has shown the danger Saul had been in. When Saul leaves the cave David reveals himself to Saul, bowed down in honour to God’s anointed, then shows Saul the piece of clothing he had cut off, David could have killed Saul but he knew that it was wrong for him to harm the Lord’s anointed. David now points out that it proves he is not Saul’s enemy, he was happy to wait on the action of God and not take the matter into his own hand.
Saul now realized that David was no threat to him or his position as king. "Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil."
Saul now admits that David will one day be the king and asks David to preserve his family in the future. Although Saul appears to be sincere in his response, David was not convinced and so remained in hiding.

The death of Samuel

1 Samuel 25:1.
Samuel, the last of the judges and first of the prophets, was very popular, so all Israel mourned for Samuel, they sent representatives from the tribes to attend the funeral. Samuel was then buried at his home near Ramah. David must have felt that any earthly controlling restraint upon Saul had now been removed by the death of Samuel.
David never made any opposition or interfered with the government of Saul during these years. He never tried to create discontent of the people with the rule off Saul, or in any way challenge the God-given right of Saul to the throne. Twice David had an opportunity to kill Saul, but he refused to "touch God’s anointed," leaving any action in the hands of God.

David meets Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:2ff.
David and his men have now moved to the wilderness of Paran, on the Northeast of the Sinai Peninsula. While they are hiding they have taken on the job of guarding the flocks of a very rich business man called Nabal, a common practice even today. His name means "fool" and he lives up to his name. After protecting the flocks and possessions of Nabal for sometime, David felt that Nabal should make some attempt to pay for the service and sends ten men to collect their rightful wages on the day that Nabal has just sold the wool from his sheep, so would have the money.

Nabal not only refused to pay for the service of David and his men he also pretended not to even know of David and the service he has given, he referred to them as "servants" or slaves who have run away from their master. David’s men returned to their camp and reported what has happened. David is very angry and sets out with four hundred armed men to take their wages by force.

Abigail, Nabal’s wife, hears of the events and realized how stupid Nabal had been and she knew how much protection David and his men had provided. "Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. " She goes out to meet David and his men but does not tell her foolish husband Nabal of her action to save him.
She meets David and prostrates herself before him. She confesses the wrong done, offers the reward due and is able to persuade David not to spill blood, she admits Nabal’s sin and asks for forgiveness, reminding David that God is in control, "seeing the LORD hath with holden thee from coming to shed blood."
While Abigail is caring for the safety of Nabal and his possessions, he is getting drunk. The next day when he was sober Abigail tells him what she has done to save him "his heart died within him, and he became as a stone," possibly a stroke. The divine judgement by God on his life, ten days later he dies. Consider "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Rom 12:19.

David later offered the widow Abigail a marriage proposal, which she accepts, 1 Samuel 25:39-42. David also took another wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel; The beginning of his harem in violation of the instruction of God in Deuteronomy 17:17. Compare 2 Samuel 3:2-5

The life of Saul is again spared.

1 Samuel 26:1-26. The story in 1 Samuel 24 is very different, showing that this is a different occasion. The Ziphites tell Saul a second time where David was hiding. Saul again leads his soldiers into the wilderness looking for David and his men. As Saul and his men are sleeping David and his nephew Abishai secretly enter the camp of Saul, as a sign of his authority, a spear was stuck into the ground by the head of Saul as he slept, his position was obvious, Abishai wanted to kill him but David still refused to attack the Lord’s anointed, he would not assassinate God’s choice of king. David knows that God is in control of the situation and at His time will remove Saul when He wants David to become the king. David therefore takes the spear and a water jug to show how much danger Saul had been in. 1 Samuel 26:12 tells us that God was controlling the situation completely.

David crossed the valley then shouts to wake up the camp and Saul, he taunts Abner, the leader of the king’s guards, he holds up the spear and jug as proof of poor guards and again proves David’s attitude to Saul. David demands the answers to three questions, "why are you still hunting me?" was his first question. David offered to make an atoning offering if he had sinned against him. The third question was "Have evil men told lies against David?" They should be punished. David felt that he was being made "to serve other gods" by being forced out of his nation, The true God was not worshipped outside Israel.
As before Saul confesses that he has sinned against David, "come back" was the invitation, but David still does not trust Saul. The spear and jug are returned and David asked Saul to value his life as much as David values the life of Saul. This is the last meeting between Saul and David, Saul now knows that David will be king in his place.

David returns to the area of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 27:1-12.
Because he does not trust Saul, David now seeks refuge outside Israel, he goes to Achish, to the king of Gath. This time in the nation of the Philistines was to his advantage later when he was king. David asked for a town for him and his six hundred men to live in, perhaps to protect is men from the pagan worship. Hi was given Ziglag, about thirteen miles northwest of Beersheba.
David used Ziglag as a base to raid various enemies of Israel such as the Amalekites, he made sure that king of Gath, Achish did not realize what he was up to in these desert raids. He was so successful that Achish had full trust in David.

Saul and the Witch of En-dor.

1 Samuel 28:1-25.
This event shows how far Saul had moved away from God, a very dark time in his reign. The Philistines are preparing to attack, instead of turning to God Saul turns to spiritism, total absence of any sign of humility or interest in repentance before God.

The situation.

The Philistines armies have chariots and these are a great advantage in flat lands like the valley of Jezereel. this also cuts Saul off from the help of the northern tribes of Israel. David was not only in the Philistine army but was also the guard of king Achish, (v1,2). Verse 2 records the answer by David to the king concerning the coming battle, it can be taken a number of ways, he did not commit himself against the battle with Israel, if he had done so it would have meant his immediate death, he has to wait on God to provide the answers for the situation. Samuel is dead and Saul now has no one to turn to for advice, except God. Saul has removed mediums and spiritualists from Israel, see Deuteronomy 18:9-13; Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31.

The Philistines were in their camp at Shunem, (today this is Solem) a city in the Jezreel valley, Israelite army was fives miles to the south at Mount Gilboa. V5 tells us that Saul was very scared, he "trembled greatly." No Samuel, so Saul enquired of the Lord on his own, but received no response, as a result Saul turns to the medium in an attempt to contact the dead Samuel for guidance.

Saul disguised himself and under darkness travelled to En-dor. He assured her she would not be punished, Exodus 22:18, his request was for her to bring Samuel from the dead.

She carried out her normal tricks of her trade but was very surprised when an old man appears, who Saul immediately identified as Samuel, v14 and bowed before him. Some people believe it was all part of her tricking and have doubted that this was actually Samuel but the witch was surprised, obviously not expecting the situation and immediately realized who Saul was. The message given by the figure was obviously from God and the writer identified and recorded that the figure was Samuel. Note that men from the dead also appeared with Christ at His transfiguration, Matt 17:3, this action is of no problem to God.
Samuel reminds Saul that the kingdom has already been taken from him because of his disobedience in the Amalekite war, and that the Philistines will win and Saul and his sons will die in the battle. The message did not tell Saul what to do, the basic message was "It is too late, your fate is sealed."
The future for Saul is now clear, judgement was about to be carried out. He returns to Mount Gilboa.

David is rejected by the Philistines.

The events of chapter 29 must have occurred before chapter 28 as the Philistines were in Aphek and then went to Jezreel.
We now see that God delivered David from having to fight against Israel, the various armies of Philistines march in front of the leaders, David and his men follow after king Achish and his men. "The lords of the Philistines," were concerned by the presence of David and his men, David and his men could turn on them during the battle to please Saul, so they demanded that David and his men are not involved in the battle but sent back to Ziglag. King Achish is full of apology as he sends them home, David puts on an act of anger and disappointment as his response to this instruction, but it was what he wanted, God has released David from a serious situation by using the suspicion of the Philistine leaders.

David rescues the people of Ziglag.

Saul had failed to obey the instructions of God to destroy the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:2,3; 1 Samuel 10-19 and so they have a problem for the Israelites since then. While the Philistine armies and David were at Aphek the Amalekites attacked Ziglag, took the wives and the children of David’s men and both of David’s wives were taken. The women and children were being taken for slavery, then the Amalakites burnt the city.

The men were very angry with David, they blamed him for the situation and had considered stoning him. However, David turned to the Lord for guidance, the response from God was "go after them and get them back."

Six hundred men set off after them, but when they reach the brook Besor, two hundred were exhausted and had to stop, the remaining four hundred carried on after the Amalakites.

VII. Saul’s Downfall in the War with the Philistines (1 Samuel 28:1-31:13)

After the death of Samuel and the flight of David, the evil and badness increased with this terrible king.

Saul’s life ended in unbelief. His history shows the inevitable heart-hardening that results from regularly refusing God’s offers of grace and the fatal consequences of self-will and an unrepentant heart. It is a serious action to harm a relationship with God and to resist the Holy Spirit. With the death of Saul, the triumph of the Philistines was now complete. Saul’s body was put on display in the houses for the idols of the Philistines. The bodies of Saul and his sons were later recovered and buried by Jabesh. Saul, who was the people’s choice, ended in ruin and shame. Israel’s future is now centered upon David the king, "after God’s own heart," David the son of Jesse.

David as a King.

Following the death of Saul David is made king by the tribe of Judah. He reigns for seven years from Hebron. 2 Samuel 5:1-5.
On the death of Ishbosheth, who was the son of Saul and had taken over at his death, David becomes king of all Israel. 2 Samuel 5:3.

Major Events in the reign of David.

The capture of Jerusalem which then becomes the capital. 2 Samuel 5:7.
The Ark of the Covenant is brought to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicle 15:1-29.
Enlarging of the kingdom due to various military action. 2 Samuel 8 to 10.
The terrible sin against Uriah the Hittite. 2 Samuel 11 and 12.
Absalom, a son of David, tries to take over as king. 2 Samuel 15 to 18.
David makes preparation for the building of the Temple. 1 Chronicles 22:5,14; 1 Chronicles 29:2.

David’s Death.

Solomon his son is appointed as the new king.
1 Kings 1:11-39.
David gives Solomon instructions for his future. 1 Kings 2:1-9.
David dies. 1 Chronicles 29:26-28.