1 Samuel 19-23 David and Jonathan sitting in a tree...

1 Samuel 19-23

David and Jonathan seem to be a couple.  Thought God frowned on the gays.

Saul continues to hate David and David is fearful of Saul.

It doesn't stop either of them from killing scores of Philistines during the chase.

My question is; What is this story trying to tell us?  David is not looking very "kingly" at this point.

1 Samuel 15-18 Davey and Goliath

1 Samuel 15-18

Just for fun

The LORD commands Samuel/Saul to lay waste to the Amalaks
"lay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."
But Saul once again proves to be a lousy king when he kills all of the humans but only most of the livestock, saving the best for an offering to the LORD. 
Samuel does have a great line here, saying "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.  Translation;  Be a good soldier and do what you're told.  Faith is better then action?
Samuel (once again) has to tell Saul he can't be king of the Israelites and sends him home to think about what he's done.  Saul of course feels horrible for not killing EVERYTHING and begs forgiveness.  It's not to come.


So now God wants Samuel to "choose" another king.  I found this amusing since God had obviously already chosen David, the youngest son of Jesse.  This is were things get very interesting and soap opera-ish!


Samuel meets with Jesse's six oldest son's but the LORD doesn't care for them.  They send for the young David and lo and behold, he's the one.  Samuel anoints him with oil and he is filled with the spirit of God, which means the spirit of God has departed from Saul, making him cranky.


Someone suggest that music will sooth him (is this where the saying 'music soothes the savage beast' comes from?) so they send for the best harp player in the land.  DAVID!  Saul loves David and asks him to stick around. David agrees.  Jonathan also loves David but that's a different story for a later time.


But, the Philistines come calling.  Their most bad-ass soldier, Goliath demands that the Israelites send out their best to face him in one on one combat.
David, who has since left Saul to feed his sheep, and who is now delivering food to his brothers, hears Goliath's taunts and decides he'll be the one to take the giant.  Laughter ensues.  


David, of course slays Goliath, cuts off his head and brings it back to Saul who doesn't seem to recognize him.  Some have pointed to this as an inconsistency in the story but  I think it's more an illustration that David has grown into his role as the future king and is ready to assume control.
The current king, Saul, is jealous and tries to bring David into the family by offering his daughters up for marriage.  Things will go down hill from there.


Another great parable.  Probably one of the best known to the common man.  How often has this story been retold in different forms?  What other civilizations have a version of this story?
The movie Achilles starts off with a David vs. Goliath moment but I don't know if that is actually in the Iliad or not.
Once again we get a humble man chosen by God and thrust into the leadership role.  Will David do better then Moses and Saul?

1 Samuel 12-14

1 Samuel 12-14

Samuel and God impress the Israelites with thunder and lightning.  They're back in the god business.

Samuel deems Saul unworthy of being king after he made a burnt offering to the LORD instead of rushing into battle.  This bit confuses me a little.  Why is Samuel so displeased?  Saul has not turned from God.

Still, Saul and his son Jonathan raise up an army to smite some more Philistines but seem to be the only ones with weapons.  The Israelites are rightly reluctant to follow and we know that Samuel doesn't seem to like Saul's skills as a commander.

Jonathan isn't to impressed either and goes off on his own.  He immediately shows skill with a sword (I would totally have him in my WOW guild!), and his servant is bad either.

The Israelites drive the Philistines back but God seems to get the credit.  Why is this?  Must be like football where the coach gets the credit for a victory and the player points to the sky and thanks God when HE just scored.

Anyway, Saul commands his people not to eat for the rest of the day after victory (Why?)  Jonathan doesn't here this order and eats honey and is therefore condemned.  The people recognize that Jonathan is a hero and shouldn't be blamed for his tasting of the honey and they save him.  I'm putting my money on God killing him somewhere down the road.

We end chapter 14 with Saul victorious over the Philistines.