2 Samuel 1: David and the Amalekite
Outline The Amalekite David Introduction Two worlds colliding: that is what we are seeing when we see the Amalekite and David acting towards the same event, the death of Saul. The Amalekite is a picture for us of our opportunistic selves, and David portrays a man whose heart is gripped with a fervour for the glory of God. The book of 2 Samuel continues on the heels of 1 Samuel. The judgement of God has fallen upon Saul and Israel. The Philistine army has conquered and settled in Israel, Saul has committed suicide and Israel is without a king....
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1 Samuel 31: Suicide
Outline God’s plan Saul’s sin Introduction Today we are going to be looking at one of the more underappreciated gifts, the gift of encouragement/exhortation. Romans 12:8 reads, ‘the one who exhorts, in his exhortation.’ The Greek word here occurs 107 times in the NT and has been translated in various ways, beseech, comfort, desire, pray, entreat, console. The word for exhortation in this text is literally paraklese, this may sound familiar to you because when Jesus promises the Holy Spirit He promises the Parakletos. This means the one called alongside. The Latin translation of this is cum forte, the...
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1 Samuel 23: The Poor Man’s Provisions
Outline Prayer People Providence Introduction James gives the following advice to the people of God when they are undergoing trials, ‘Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation.’ James is trying to help the man who has nothing or has had everything taken from him realise the riches that he does in fact have. We know that David has lost much; he has even described himself as the poor man, Ps. 34:6. David is still in dire straits, experiencing harassment and losses. This chapter notes for us however, the many blessings that David receives despite his poverty and trials....
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1 Samuel 20: David and Jonathan
Outline David’s anxiety Jonathan’s friendship Introduction ‘We can be surrounded by the evidences of God’s love towards us; we can be exhilarated in our hearts by a sense of His presence, His mercy, His forgiveness and His gracious promises for the future; and suddenly we falter, doubts arise, we are tempted to fear the future and we start to behave as if we had never known the Lord and had never been convinced of the reality of His grace towards us in the past.’1 Does this sound familiar to you? You can be going along well, rejoicing in God,...
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1 Samuel 18-19: The Rise and Fall of Israel’s Monarch
Outline David’s 9 lives Saul’s envy God’s protection Introduction The next two chapters read like an action sequence from a movie. We have the star and the villain, both are contending for the throne of Israel, one is rising one is falling. As we watch this unfolding drama, there is a ubiquitous and unseen character who is in every seen, God. He is sovereignly overruling, and providentially protecting the King whose line will one day birth the Messiah of the world. This little contest is a microcosm of the timeless battle between the seed of the serpent and the...
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1 Samuel 14: The Faith of Saul and Jonathan
Outline Genuine faith Religious faith Introduction These last few chapters have been summarising the reign of Saul. If we merely read the last verses of this chapter v47-52, you could imagine an historian speaking of the golden era of Saul’s reign, how he fought enemies on every side, how he fought valiantly and hard. But the purpose of the biblical narrative is not merely to report on political successes but to interpret the various actions in light of covenant faithfulness. The last event we looked at was chapter 13 where Jonathan again overcame a Philistine garrison but the great...
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1 Samuel 13: Saul Sins Away the Kingdom
Outline Jonathan Saul Samuel Introduction Which is worse to lose all your earthly possessions, lose your health, your reputation and all things earthly, or to sin against God? One of the repetitive features of the OT narratives is that no matter how serious the problems were the characters of the Bible were facing, you will find that God sees sin as more serious than any other catastrophe that can happen to us. Sin is what brings the judgement of God upon us, sin is what makes God our enemy who is stronger than any earthly trouble we could face....
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