1 Samuel 28:3-25: Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft
Outline Saul’s sin The unforgivable sin Introduction One of the saddest characters in the bible is King Saul. He seemed so promising and started off well, but then revealed a heart that was not really concerned about God but himself. We are approaching the end of Saul’s life. The end of the book of Samuel is a little like a Quentin Tarrantino movie, it breaks off from one story to follow another, but the sequence of the stories are not chronological. For example, 1 Samuel 29 which records the account of David being rejected by the Philistine army, and...
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1 Samuel 25: A Wise Woman
Outline Nabal David Abigail Introduction Roger Ellsworth talks about three types of grace. Saving grace is when God takes a sinner out of their sin and brings them to saving faith in Christ. Restoring grace is when God takes a believer who has veered off the path into sin and returns them to obedience. And restraining grace, this is when God keeps a believer from heading into sin. In this chapter we see another example of God’s restraining grace, and how God uses a wise woman to shame proud men. God’s goodness to David comes in the form of...
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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 16: God’s ways are not our ways
Outline Samuel’s mourning David’s anointing Saul’s demon Introduction The overarching truth that we can write over this next chapter is, ‘God’s ways are not our ways.’ At several points we find ourselves confronted with a God who does things very differently to us. We come to the chapter of David’s anointing. We have been drawing out the end of Saul’s reign and finally come to the one God promised to choose. We will look at the three main characters and how God works in their lives, at Samuel’s mourning; David’s anointing and Saul’s demon.
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1 Samuel 15: Saul rejected
Outline Saul’s obedience Saul’s rejection Saul’s repentance Introduction Let me begin with a question. Why does chapter 14 end with a summary of Saul’s reign and then the story of Saul continue? If you were a literary critic this sort of thing would really get on your nerves, what is the purpose in this structure? Because Saul’s story has come to an end and the focus is moving off from him to David. Saul is no longer the central character to the plot but merely background for the rise of David. This chapter this comes in order to show...
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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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1 Samuel 12: Addressing Sin
Outline The remembrance of sin The exposure of sin The forgiveness of sin Introduction We all know what a party-pooper is, a kill joy, a wet-blanket. In the portion that we have before us Saul has just had his first victory and the nation is finally united under their new king. It is in the midst of this victory that Samuel stands up and ruins the mood. As unwelcome as an evangelistic sermon at a wedding or a funeral Samuel fulfilling his role as prophet speaks about the sins of the people and leads them in a covenant renewal....
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1 Samuel 11: Saul Established as King
Outline Kingdom threatened Kingdom delivered Kingdom renewed Introduction As we begin chapter 11 we need to appreciate that Saul was in a very similar position to Donald Trump today. Donald Trump has only been the president elect for a few days, and is untested and untrusted. We see at the end of the last chapter that Saul was in a similar position, v27, ‘But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.’ It appears as if the whole point of chapter 12 is...
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1 Samuel 10: King Saul
Outline Saul is given three signs Saul is given the Spirit Saul is given the Kingdom Introduction Don’t judge a book by its cover is the key lesson of Saul’s life. His good looks, His height, that fact of his apparent humility and even the fact that he appears to have the Spirit all warn us a king, a leader, a fighter, a follower of God is more and must be more than just these things. God is giving Israel the king they want and the king they deserve. God will use this king despite himself to accomplish His...
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1 Samuel 9: The Providence of God
Outline A handsome man A sovereign God Introduction Living by sight and not by faith is the perennial challenge for the Christian. We often live as if God as revealed in the Scriptures is not real. Living by sight will look different depending on when and where you live. If you are a tribal person living in animistic Africa before the age of modern science and medicine, living by sight means looks like forsaking trusting in God for health and fertility and turning to the witch doctor and your ancestors for blessing. You interpret the world not through the...
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1 Samuel 8: Demanding a King
Outline The desire for a king The burden of a king Introduction Many people struggle to read the OT and profit from it, but you can always learn something about God, Christ and yourselves from the OT. In the text that we have before us we are confronted with the stupidity and stubbornness of our sinfulness. Last week we saw Israel on one of her best days, she was repenting and prayerful, full of faith and humility. This is the opposite side of the coin, here we see Israel in her sins as she demands a king. Various characteristics...
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1 Samuel 7:5-17: ‘Ebenezer’
Outline Penitent prayer Deliverance prayer Answered prayer Introduction Living by faith and living by the flesh, these are the two themes of chapters 7 and 8. In chapter 7 we see Israel with a faithful judge and God blessing the nation with obedience as they follow the godly leadership of the judge; in the next chapter we have a dramatic contrast, Israel wants a king so that they can be ‘like all the nations,’ 8:5. Our attention is brought to God’s goodness to Israel as they live by faith by the repeated mention of prayer. A life of faith...
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1 Samuel 7:3: True Repentance
Outline God-directed obedience Wholehearted obedience Sacrificial obedience Inward obedience Loyal obedience Introduction The bible discusses two types of sorrow over sin. There is godly sorrow which leads to repentance, and there is worldly sorrow which ends in destruction, 2 Cor. 7:10, ‘ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.’ We can see these two different types of sorrow demonstrated in the denial of Christ by Peter and Judas. In the case of Peter we see a man who is sorrowful but who eventually returns in repentance to Christ, but...
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1 Samuel 4: ‘…having a form of godliness…’
Outline Emergency religion Pragmatic religion Idolatrous religion Introduction One commentator calls this section ‘rabbit foot theology’ because of the superstitious and unbiblical way in which the Israelites follow the living God in chapter 4. That about sums up the religion of the day. We are moving now into a new section where Samuel who has been introduced is put away for a few chapters and God takes the foreground. We have had several statements of God’s acting against the wicked and prophecies against the corrupt leaders of Israel, God is now going to act in fulfilment of those things....
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1 Samuel 3:1-21: Samuel the Prophet
Outline The judgement of no prophet The call of a prophet The ministry of a prophet Introduction What is the worst thing that could happen to you? If we ask this question of God and of an unbeliever we would get two different answers. The unbeliever would answer, ‘The worst things that could happen to me are my loss of freedom, restrictions on my speech, choices, desires.’ War, debilitating sickness, the death of a child, unfaithful spouses, poverty, these and other physical afflictions would likely rate highly on the list. But if you ask God what are the worst...
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1 Samuel 2:12-36: Eli
Outline Eli’s sons Eli’s rebuke Eli’s prophecy Introduction To the everyday worshipper in Israel the religious and political leadership of Israel looked hopelessly corrupt. Eli was a weak leader who had allowed his sons to pervert the worship of God and were next in line for succession. Things were looking bleak for the future. However, we have just had Hannah’s song, a song that speaks about God dealing with those who are sinful and exalt themselves, how He will cut off the proud and wicked. We would expect this chapter to open with a war against the Philistines, but...
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