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The Story of King David Part 1: Saul's Fall from Grace and David's Ascension

Black = The story

Red = The lesson

This story starts with God rejecting Saul as king of Israel, which happened because God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel as they were leaving Egypt. The problem is, Saul took their king Agag alive, as well as the best sheep, cattle, and everything else that was useful. Saul only destroyed what was noted as “weak and despised”.

What we value shouldn’t be based on how useful or pleasing it is, it should be based on what God thinks about it.

Saul even had the audacity to set up a monument to himself in Carmel after the horrible job he did! And when he was confronted by the prophet Samuel, he claimed that he did everything God commanded.

(Samuel): “Bet. Then why am I hearing the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle?”

(Saul): “Oh that! I saved these to sacrifice to the Lord, so even though I technically wasn’t ‘sposed to, I meant well so it’s all good dawg.”

Then Samuel proceeded to scream at him the Lord’s judgment on him, which was that God brought Saul up from nothing and made him into the first king of Israel, but then he had the AUDACITY to disobey direct orders to wipe an evil people off the face of the earth, so he would no longer be king.

This next line when Samuel replies to Saul goes so hard, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying him? To obey is better than sacrifice. Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Then Saul finally admits his wrong and that he gave into peer pressure from his soldiers to spare the best stuff and asks for forgiveness, but it’s too late now. God already chose a shepherd boy named David to succeed him, since his heart would be with the Lord. Samuel invites David’s father Jesse and his sons to a sacrifice to choose the next ruler. Samuel looks at each of the sons and judges them based on age and appearance, thinking that one of the better-looking and older ones will be the king, but God tells him not to judge based on outward features, but based on a person’s heart. God reveals that none of these men are to be king, so finally the youngest David is brought in. God tells Samuel to anoint him, which he does, much to the shock of everyone around him.

It wasn’t until later that David would take on the challenge that he’s most known for: killing Goliath. First he entered Saul’s service as a lyre player after the man became possessed by a demonic spirit, which would cause him to be tormented. David would play for him since the sound was the only thing that could calm him when he went into a spell. It was said that Saul liked David so much that he made him one of his armor-bearers in his army. After this, the Philistines, more enemies of Israel and a people with giants in their ranks, gathered at Sokoh in Judah to attack. They were on one hill while the Israelites were on another with a valley separating them. An interesting fact was that in the past, there were people who were much taller than people can be today. Some standing at 9 or more feet tall with seemingly no physical or mental repercussions, as many of these people functioned well in armies. Since the Israelites refused to come fight, a man named Goliath, one of the giants, was a part of the Philistine army and came down to the valley to taunt the Israelites and demand that they send their bravest man to fight him, and whoever won would win the battle and the opposing side had to surrender. The Israelites were terrified, however, because of Goliath and so there was a stalemate for 40 days. This is where David comes in. He was sent by his father to deliver food to his older brothers in the army, and once he got to the camp, he heard Goliath shouting and immediately wanted to fight him. It was on sight.

David didn’t just want to kill him for the wealth and the princess in marriage Saul was offering to whoever did the deed, but to bring honor to Israel and to God. He exemplifies how someone should do things for the glory of God, not just for earthly rewards.

When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard that David would fight Goliath, he actually had the nerve to call David conceited and wicked, and that he only came to lean back with some popcorn and watch the slaughter. So you know what David did? Turned away and kept talking to other people like a champ.

David showed how a Godly person should keep a cool head and not retaliate when provoked, but go about their day.

Eventually, Saul heard what David was saying and sent for him. David was pumped and ready to go, but Saul tried to discourage him.

(Saul): “Listen young boy, this fella’s 10 feet tall and weighs half a ton. Your scrawny self boutta get squashed.”

(David): “Brotha, I’ve killed lions and bears with ma bare hands after they made the mistake of coming after ma sheep. I got this.” He goes on to say, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Then Saul finally lets him go. He tries to give David some of his armor and sword, but David says, “Nah, I’ll win,” and decides to take only five smooth stones and a slingshot with him to battle. Then we finally get to the battle where Goliath is like, “Really? This ‘lil fella? Do I look like a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And to quote David, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” Then David strikes Goliath in the forehead with a stone, and it sank into his forehead, clearly directed by the Lord, and he collapsed. Dead. David proceeded to cut off his head with his own sword after, like a boss. He then took his head and weapons and put them in David’s own tent once the Israelites were finished chasing the Philistines away and plundering them. In the end, David got honor and glory, wealth, and Saul’s daughter’s hand in marriage for his obedience.

David perfectly exemplified how it’s God who controls everything, including which battles are won or lost. We have free will, but the Lord controls all the outcomes of our decisions. When David aligned his will with God’s will to defeat Goliath, he succeeded, even though he only had an ineffective weapon.

The first part of David’s story shows how God’s will is absolute, and that our wills have to align with His in order to lead successful and full lives. When we act in God’s will, we can accomplish anything and will be richly rewarded. This part also teaches us to not judge a book by its cover and to turn the other cheek (Except when God gives you the go-ahead to enact judgment on someone, like in the case of the Amalekites and Goliath.)

I hope I communicated all this well and that you got a lot out of reading this! I’ve never done something like this before, but I enjoyed making this and want to make more, so if you liked this, let me know!

Footnotes:

The Amalekites lived in the Negev desert. The Hitites, Jebusites, and Amorites lived in the hill country, while the Cananites lived near the Mediterranean sea and along the Jordan river. The Philstines also lived along the Mediterranean. They were all enemies of Israel.

The Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for 430 years. Then God sent several plagues on Egypt to convince them to let the Israelites go, which succeeded.

David was most likely a teenager at this point since he’s referred to as the youngest, but he’s old enough to fight off beasts when they attack his sheep. This source explains it best https://christianity.com/wiki/bible/how-old-was-david-when-he-killed-goliath.html

David had to be atleast 20 to join the army, so this took place a good while after he was first anointed to be king. And it doesn’t seem like Saul knew he was anointed since he never makes mention of it.

#bible study #bible scripture #bible #david #saul #samuel #goliath #old testament #christianity #christian blog #christian

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