1 and 2 Samuel present the transition of leadership from the judges to the kings and was written during a period that spanned 931–722 B.C. At the beginning of 1 Samuel, the Philistines are ruling. They had been afflicting the people of God for 40 years according to the book of Judges. At the end of 2 Samuel, King David is on his throne. The nation has passed from being harried and harassed by the pagans to a nation with a God-fearing king on the throne. The contrast is further seen in the change of priests who are leading the worship of God. Eli is the priest at the beginning of 1 Samuel but, by the end, there are faithful priests ordering the house of God. The message throughout is that heartfelt obedience is better than heartless sacrifice.

Oh Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the way that it tells us the story of our lives. It helps us to see the past and the future. It unmasks us, it heals us, it cuts us, and then it puts us back together. And Lord, I pray that you would use it today to help us to see the greatness of your kingdom, the marvels of your plan across all the ages.

Amen. First and second Samuel, we're going to take both of these books together. I'll tell you about that later, but Samuel represents the transition of leadership from the judges to the kings. It was written in about 1050 BC, and just to sort of, you know, calibrate a little bit, Abraham is at 2000 BC, David is at a thousand BC, Sennacherib invades the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC and Nebuchadnezzar invades Jerusalem in 586 BC. Isaiah is writing at 700 BC.

So we're at 1150 BC before David who is at a thousand BC. There are three parts to 1 and 2 Samuel. So the outline is really easy in a lot of ways. The first part is about Samuel, the second part is about Saul, and the third part is about David. So first and second Samuel contain the testimony of those three men's lives and all that happened during that timeframe.

Samuel was a contemporary of Samson. Samuel is the last judge of the judges, so he represents a transitional figure between the period of the judges and the period of the kings. And of course, we know in the days of the judges that every man did what was right in his own eyes. And at the beginning of 1 Samuel, you'll see how corrupt the people were. You'll see the results, sort of the state of things at that time.

You know, right out of the gate they won a king, and that really was a representation of the whole matter that was afflicting the people of God. So let's look at a couple of key verses. First of all, in chapter 13, verse 14, Samuel announces the end of Saul's reign. And so verse 14 says, But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

Okay, so in chapter 13 verse 14 where Samuel is announcing the end of Saul's reign, there are a number of things to really dial in on. First of all, notice the kind of leader God desires. He desires a man after his own heart. Now, you know, God in His Providence really gives every human being some level of leadership, whether you're a man or a woman, whether you have any official capacity in the church or a company or whatever, you're given responsibilities that require leadership. And this statement that the Lord has sought for Himself a man after his own heart is one of the most important things for all of us to realize that as we live as we lead this is the most important issue of all leadership and that is to have your heart before the Lord and to have a heart after God's own heart and that's what makes a good father that's what makes a good mother that's what made Boaz such a good boss That's what makes pastors what they ought to be.

That's what makes presidents presidents that please the Lord. But Saul lost it all because he did not keep what the Lord had commanded him. The second key verse is in chapter 15, verses 22 to 23, where it's revealed what is the true nature of rebellion. People soft pedal and play patty cake with the rebellion in their heart. They need to know what it really is.

If you have rebellion in your heart, don't call it something else. Verse 22, so Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. Verse 23 is so critical. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king. These words, rebellion and stubbornness, are idolatry and witchcraft. When you feel those things rising up in your soul, don't fake yourself out and call it something else. Don't legitimize it. It'll be the end of you, as it was the end of Saul.

Let's talk about some of the critical story line issues. This is the third item in your outline. As we consider these basic storyline issues, I think we should first point out that 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings are really one story. Originally they were called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Kings, okay? Samuel and Kings were together, and they were one volume until the writing of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and they continued to be thought of that way until about the 15th century A.D.

But just recognize 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, are one story that holds together, and try not to think of them as different. Now here are a few really important elements to understand about this story. The first is that it characterizes a new world arising out of the shambles of the days of the judges. Samuel and Kings is one single story of a world in shambles that is being rebuilt. It starts at the end of Judges, where every man is doing what's right in his own eyes.

And you can see the breakdown of that right at the very beginning in 1 Samuel chapter 1. So it's a picture of a new world arising out of the ashes of the period of the judges. Here's what you need to know. When you do what's right in your own eyes, you end up in shambles. And it can take generations to restore the damage that's been done.

The second critical matter in the storyline is worship in transition. When we pick up 1 Samuel chapters 1 through 5, you see almost a complete demise of the structure of worship that Moses prescribed in the Law. It has been completely thrown aside. It's man-centered. It's man-manipulated worship, which has replaced biblically ordered worship that Moses prescribed.

You know, worship is one of those things that shows up what's wrong, and worship is the perfect expression of what happens when Everyone does what's right in his own eyes in worship. And what you see in the worship of God in these first chapters is self-aggrandizement, pragmatism, self-service, lifeless pomp. That's what you see. And the show goes on. The worship continues, the sacrifices are being made, the priests are working, but it's lifeless And it has no meaning.

It's absolutely worthless worship. And there's no genuine consecration. The leaders of the worship don't care a single thing about the message of the worship at all. They don't submit themselves to God. They're just trying to make a living.

And that's what you see. It's worship in transition. Now, it's also a transition of The location of worship. The location of worship changes in this book. Previously, worship was focused on the tabernacle, and now worship will be focused in the temple.

Worship moves from Shiloh to Jerusalem. By the way, you'll see this theme in Scripture. God does destroy his temple. He destroys places of worship regularly. He destroyed the tabernacle.

He destroyed worship in Shiloh. He finally destroyed worship in Jerusalem through the Babylonians and then again in 70 AD. God is not afraid to destroy your worship when it's fake. And that's what you see here. The worship moves from Shiloh to Jerusalem.

Shiloh to Jerusalem. It's interesting, when you get to the end of 2 Samuel, the scene is a scene of worship. And here's how it happens. 2 Samuel ends with a plague. David's pride got the best of him.

And he counted the people against the will of God. He took a census. And in 2 Samuel 24, David stops the plague that God brought upon the people. God began to destroy his people because of their disobedience, particularly David's disobedience. One man's disobedience led to many people's deaths, which is a terrifying thing to consider.

But how does David stop the plague? He stops the plague by buying the threshing floor of Aruna, and he sacrifices in that location. Now, why is that significant? Well, 2 Chronicles chapter 3 tells us that the threshing floor of Arunah is the exact location of the temple that Solomon built. So, 1 Samuel begins with completely corrupt worship, and it ends with the establishment of the new place of worship in Jerusalem in the exact location where Solomon is going to build the temple.

So worship is in transition. Also leadership is in transition. It's a transition from the judges to the kings. God replaces these judges with kings, and identifying the line of David in a very special way. There's a fourth transition, that is, a transition of social organization.

The organization of the people of God shifts from independent tribes to a unified kingdom. You know, when they just had tribes, there were no taxes, there was no army, there was no conscription, there was no drafting into the army. Life was sweet in a lot of ways. That all changed in this organizational transition. So Samuel and Kings, it represents a rebuilding time.

One author that I read called it the beginning of the new Israel because it comes at a low point in Israel's history, and there's a period of building. And then of course, we'll see another time of apostasy in the days of the prophets. But this is a time of building. Now, what does that have to do with us? Very often, we're in the very same situation.

We've rejected the ways of God. We're in a state of collapse. We're surrounded by disappointments, imperfections. We are confused. We get discouraged because our lives have been driven by doing what was right in our own eyes.

And what we learn from this situation is that God is kind and He's able to make a new world out of a world of disorder. He brings beauty for ashes. You know, as Christians we're always hoping for a better world. It's right to do that. It's right to think of your life in greater harmony with the Lord, greater conformity with the Word of God.

The true Christian wants to walk in the blessedness of the commands of God. And so I think this is the kind of situation that you see here. It brings to mind all of our hopes for a better world. And so this social organization in transition reminds us of that. Now let's talk about some historical matters.

As you're reading this book, you know, I want you to be trying to think of what is happening in this whole stream. We've already covered some of those things. But, notice this. At the beginning of 1 Samuel, who's in charge? Who's ruling?

Well, you'll learn it when you read it. The Philistines. The Philistines are driving the boat. By the way, the Philistines will have been driving the boat for 40 years. That was what the whole conflict with Samson was all about.

You know, Samson tore down the Temple of Dagon. You know, he pushed the pillars and the whole building came down. But guess what? Philistia didn't come down. Philistia continued to harass the people of God, and they harassed the people of God for 40 years.

Their reign of terror continued on. At the beginning of 1 Samuel, the Philistines are the primary source of terror and difficulty in the lives of the people of God. At the end of 2 Samuel, there's King David on the throne. There's a big change. Now it took a long time.

It took 94 years. But there's a dramatic change. The nation is passed through a time of being harried and harassed by pagans to a nation with a good king on the throne. You know, God is like that. He restores.

He makes things better. Also notice, Eli is the priest at the beginning of 1 Samuel. And you see his corruption, his flaws, his rejection of God was so great that God took away any spiritual heritage from him forever and from his family. But Eli's the priest at the beginning of 1 Samuel, but at the end there's a succession of faithful priests before the house of God. So there's improvement in this whole story and it just tells us that God is faithful to his remnant.

Interestingly enough the book begins with the barren woman and the Philistines harassing the people of God and taking the ark to Philistia, and it ends with a king. So I think there definitely is improvement here. Now let's walk through these two volumes, 1 and 2 Samuel. I'd like you to just stop at some different places and then finally we'll end with some lessons from the book. There's kind of an abbreviated outline here in 1 Samuel.

In chapters 1-7, the focus is Samuel. In chapters 8-31, the focus is Saul. And in chapters 16-31, it's David. When you get to 2 Samuel, it's all about David. 2 Samuel is all about David.

Got that? Now, you'll notice there's overlap. From chapter 16 to chapter 31, you have both Saul and David in play. And there's this interplay, this conflict, character of the two men rises. You can see what they're really like.

You can see the one who trusts God and the one who doesn't. And they are pictures of something greater that I'll get to later, which I believe might be really the heart of the whole matter of this book. So Let's begin in chapters 1 through 7 and take a look at Samuel. Now, in chapter 1, verse 1 through chapter 3, verse 21, there's the transition of leadership from Eli to Samuel. And this transition begins with the prayer of a barren woman.

You know, when we were in Ruth, we had a widow who'd lost her children. Now we have a barren woman. Isn't that so much like God? He takes people in a low estate and He uses them out of the ordinariness of their life. And so you have Hannah who is barren.

Now this should remind us of women in the Bible. There are many women in the Bible that were used mightily of the Lord. You have Sarah, you have Rebecca, you have Rachel. All of them were barren without really any hope of passing on godly seed. And that's important because without a godly son there's no hope for the future.

And so this was Hannah's concern. And so she dedicates her son to be a Nazarite. In chapter 1 verse 10 we read, And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish, because of her barrenness. Verse 11, Then she made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant, and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head." And it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart.

Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought that she was drunk." This gives you an idea of how bad it was. You had people who were drunk coming into the temple and praying. Now she wasn't drunk, but Eli says to her in verse 14, how long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you.

What a sad state of affairs. Eli can't even distinguish between a godly and an ungodly person. And it's such a sad thing. Hannah's prayer in the next chapter is really critical and really beautiful. And I think this prayer is really worthy of memorization.

There are many prayers in the Bible that are helpful to us. This is a really marvelous prayer, and it has many themes, and I want to read the prayer here today. The most prominent feature of this prayer is her trust in God. She believes God is sovereign, sovereign down to the last detail of life. So let's read it.

And Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you, nor is there any rock like our God. Take no more so, talk, talk no more so very proudly.

Let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread and the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble. The Lord kills and makes alive.

He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set the world upon them.

He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength no man will prevail." This is a declaration of trust. And some of the most remarkable statements about the sovereignty of God, particularly in verse 6 and 7. The Lord kills and makes alive, he brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and he makes rich. It's so important that we understand that, and this godly woman did.

But one of the problems that she had and everybody in her time had is that there was a famine of the Word of God. That the voice of God had gone out of the society. This is the most tragic thing that can happen in a culture where the voice of God is lost. And this is the purpose of the church. God has put us here to be his mouthpiece, to speak His word into the world.

In chapter 3 verse 1 it says, there is a famine of the word of God. At the same time, you do have Samuel who wanted to hear the word of God. In chapter 3 verse 10, Samuel says, speak Lord, for your servant is listening. In contrast, you have Eli and his sons. This is where you come to the corruption and worship, And there are three major sins of the sons of Eli.

First, they violated the requirements of worship that were communicated in Deuteronomy 18 verse 3 and Leviticus 7 verses 26 through 34. They wanted the worship to be their own way. They didn't want to worship the way that God prescribed their worship. This is a problem today. People want something fancier than God.

People are more interested in things that God hasn't prescribed. They'd rather do something different. And this is why you have entertainment driven churches. You know, this is why you have plays and videos and all kinds of stuff. People want to be entertained and you can draw those kind of people.

And that's exactly what the sons of Eli were doing. They violated the requirements of worship and they replaced those things with their own interesting modifications. Secondly, they greedily seized the raw meat from the people. They wanted to have the best meat. And rather than doing what the Lord told them to do, to boil off the fat, they wanted the fat for themselves.

They wanted the best, most succulent, tenderest meat. They just seized it from the people. See, the worship wasn't really about God. It was about them, about feeding their bellies. The third sin is that they used their positions for immorality and they were having intimate relations with the women who were coming to serve the worship of God in the tabernacle.

So those were Eli's sons. Eli himself, though, was judged severely because he would not restrain his sons. Here's something you should pay very careful attention here. Eli rebuked his sons. He told them not to do what they were doing, but he didn't restrain his sons.

Those are two really different things. When fathers just tell their children, do this, don't do that, they're just issuing declarations, But they don't walk with their children to go in the right direction, and they don't restrain them from evil, then they've made a terrible error. And God issues a severe judgment against Eli, and He says that God is going to depart from him and his family forever. There won't be any true worship in his family forever. They're going to be unbelievers.

They're going to be cast into hell. Because a father would not restrain his sons. Now, you know, many of you are very young and you have fathers who maybe want you to go in a different direction than what you want to go. Here's the question. Are you willing to let your father restrain you?

Because it's a duty of a father to restrain when necessary. And I think there are different ways that fathers restrain. That's a big giant subject. Some are more severe and some are really kind of like mild and normal every day. But it's a duty of fathers to not just tell their sons and their daughters what they want them to do, but to actually take them there and to restrain them.

Now this theme of the failure of fathers, you'll see it all throughout Samuel and Kings and Chronicles. You'll see the failure of fathers. And I believe it's there for a reason. And it's to demonstrate the frailties of fathers so that you wouldn't become bitter at your fathers because they fall short. God shows you what can happen to a father, and it's laid out before us.

Just to quote this matter of Eli and his judgment, chapter 3 verses 13 and 14, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. How about that? No one in Eli's family forever will have their sins atoned for. They will live in their sin, be defiled by their sin in this life, and then they will die in their sin and they will be cast into hell for all eternity.

Why? Because the father did not restrain his sons. It should be a terrifying reminder to fathers and to children, children who don't want to be restrained. Sometimes fathers don't restrain their children because their children are rebellious and they're afraid of what they're going to do. There might be fathers even in our church who are afraid of their children.

They're afraid to do what they're supposed to do because the children scare them too much. So anyway, this interplay between fathers and children is laid before us in these first chapters. This led to the defeat by the Philistines in chapter 4, verses 1 through 11. Their corrupt worship practices came out in a terrible military defeat, and that's recorded in chapter 4, the entire chapter, but they're defeated by the Philistines and verse 18 says this, Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck was broken and he died for the man was old and heavy and he judged Israel for 40 years. Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child due to be delivered.

And when she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about that time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, Do not fear for you have borne a son. But she did not answer nor did she regard it and then she named the child Ichabod saying, the glory has departed from Israel because the ark of God has been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory has departed from Israel for the ark of God has been captured." Ichabod. The glory of the Lord has departed. The Philistines attacked.

The ark was taken by them and taken to Ashkelon. There's a really funny story about what happens in Ashkelon. The glory of the Lord has departed, but thankfully not forever. Eli died. Israel had lost 30, 000 troops in that battle.

And Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died in that battle. And the conclusion of it is that the glory of the Lord was departed. And the ark goes to to Ashkelon. It goes into the Temple of Dagon and the statue of Dagon falls to the ground. And the Philistines are pretty sure they don't really like the presence of God that much.

They want to get rid of it and so the Ark is returned to Beth Shemesh and there's like a revival there. In chapter 7 verse 12 you'll read about the elements of that revival and the Ebenezer stone, the stone of help that's erected there. Now we've just finished chapters 1 through 7 and it's about this transition. It's about Eli. It's about Samuel.

Now we come to the rise of Saul in chapter eight. So now we come to this transition and the transition happens because every man is so used to doing what's right in their own eyes. They want to be as cool and hip and powerful as the nations. They want to be like the nations. They don't want to be like this ragtag group, you know, that they perceive themselves to be.

And they say, give us a king. So let's read about it, chapter eight, verse six. They said, give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

Why did they request a king? Because they rejected God. They were just doing what their forefathers had done for 400 years in the days of the judges. They just wanted to do what was right in their own eyes. They just wanted to be as cool as the nations.

That was it. And Samuel was very well aware of this. Verse 8, According to all the works which they have done since that day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice, however you shall solemnly forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who is to reign over them." So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked them for a king. Now this part is really important about the king.

What's going to happen when you have a king? And, you know, if you read the newspaper, you'll know that we have all these problems right here. You know, we... We're not all that happy about what the kings do, but guess what? Kings are just doing what kings do.

You know, like if you leave a hunk of meat on the counter and your dog is in your house, that dog is gonna go get the meat. You know, you can beat that dog, but the dog is gonna do what dogs do, and kings are gonna do what kings do. So we shouldn't be too upset. When kings do bad things, we should just go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8 and reread verses 11 through 20, okay? We're going to do that now.

And he said, this will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. Okay, so he's going to take your sons and put them in the army. Verse 12, he'll appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties. He will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

In other words, they're to come work for the government. And they're going to come work for the government. And they're going to come work for the government. And they're going to come work for the government. To be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

In other words, your wives who had such a nice life in their homes, they get yanked out of that. They go from this place called home to the cubicle. Verse 14, and he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. And verse 15, he will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, your donkeys and put them to work.

He will take a tenth of your sheep and you will be his servants and you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you've chosen for yourselves and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, no, but we will have a king over us. So, don't be too upset about the king, because kings just do what God has prophesied that they'll do. They'll tax you to death. They'll yank your boys out and throw them in the military.

They'll take part of your labor. They'll take your daughters. They'll take whatever is not nailed down, and they'll un-nail whatever is nailed down. And that's what kings do. Welcome to fulfilled prophecy.

Okay, so then in chapter 9, Saul is chosen king. In chapter 10, Saul is anointed king. And then, from chapter 13, verse 1 to 15, 9, you get the reign of Saul. And it's in this period that Saul's true colors come out. He's given authority and we find out what kind of man he really is.

Authority tests a man. Saul in this range of chapters, Saul is rejected. In chapter 13 you see Saul's rebellion. In chapter 14 you see Jonathan's victory over the Philistines and how Saul takes credit for it. Jonathan says something that's reminiscent of all godly men.

In chapter 14 verse 6, Jonathan said, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. You got that? That's worth memorizing right there. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.

In other words, God doesn't need very many to do His will. Chapter 15, we find Saul's rebellion regarding Agag. God told Saul to exterminate and he didn't do it. He kept Agag alive and all kinds of stuff. Saul is justifying himself.

He's rebellious, but he's acting like an obedient son even though he isn't. And so, when we finally get to chapter 15 verse 10, all the way to the end of the book. This is the transition of leadership from Saul to David. Up from chapter 15 verse 9, the focus was Saul. Now from chapter 16 forward, you have David and Saul jockeying back and forth.

And in chapter 16 there's the gathering of Jesse's sons and that famous statement, man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. That's so important to understand. So David serves in Saul's court. In chapter 17, David defeats Goliath. And just a note here about this.

What's the point of David defeating Goliath? David defeating Goliath is not the message that you should just be more courageous and go fight the Giants. That's not the message. The message is this. God Almighty will defeat the giants.

He'll do it by many or by few. How about just a few stones? And He'll defeat the giants of the land by just a few stones. So that's an illustration of what Jonathan said earlier. In chapters 24 to 26, David is regularly escaping from Saul's hands.

You know, in chapter 24, you have this story of David sparing Saul's life. You see the tenderness of David. You see how he really is a man after God's own heart. In chapter 28 Saul is worried and he consults the witch of Endor. Then chapter 31, Saul is wounded and he commits suicide.

That's where life in the flesh gets you. Okay, then we come to 2 Samuel, and of course 2 Samuel is all about David. Now there's no break in the narrative between 1 and 2 Samuel, no break at all. Just keep on reading. You're not reading a different book, you're just reading a narrative that keeps on flowing.

And 2 Samuel focuses on David's triumphs, trials, and transgressions. Those three things. Triumphs, trials, and transgressions. David reigned 40 years in Israel. By the way, David's reign takes place exactly halfway between Abraham and Christ.

Abraham 2000 BC, David 1000 BC, The Lord Jesus Christ, the first century. Now, you can see the triumphs of David in these first ten chapters. In chapter one, David mourns the death of Saul. You would think David would say, good riddance, I'm so glad to get him off my back. Not true.

David mourns, he grieves. In chapter 2, he's made king over Israel. In chapter 3, there's a civil war. And Abner joins David, but Abner is murdered by Joab. In chapter 4 you have the story of Ish-besheth, Saul's son who was killed.

David was kind to him. In chapter 5, David moves the capital to Jerusalem in chapter 6. David attempts to move the ark. Remember the story of Uzzah? They were wanting to move the ark.

They're not obeying the Lord and how to move the ark and Uzzah touches the ark and dies. It's really a story to show us how important it is to listen to God and the details. And We think our ways are holier than God, but they're not and God uses us as an example In chapter 7 it's a pivotal one where we find God's covenant to build the house of God Chapter 7 verse 12 when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son.

If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." These are the words that Nathan spoke to David. And you have this remarkable picture of chastisement and the love of God toward David.

And so then, in this next section, we see the trials and the tribulations of David, chapters 11 through 24. And in chapter 11 we see the the sin with Bathsheba, David's two great sins, adultery and murder. If you read the Sermon on the Mount, you'll see the Lord Jesus Christ. The very first things he deals with is murder and adultery. These were the sins that David was entrapped by.

In chapter 12, Nathan faced David, and he says, you are the man. You know how important it is to have a friend, a prophet, someone who will say, you are the man, and to stop the poison. In chapter 13, David's daughter, Tamar, is raped by Amnon, and Amnon is murdered by Absalom. There's a broken relationship between David and Absalom. It's a terrible situation.

In chapter 15, Absalom rebels against David. In chapter 16, Ziba deceives David and Shimei curses David. In chapter 17, Absalom's advisors, Ahithophel and Hushai, enter into a conspiracy to destroy David. David's son, Absalom, enters in with Ahithophel, the great traitor. People's names are connected with great events.

Who is the great traitor in American history during the Revolutionary War? Benedict Arnold. Ahithophel is the Benedict Arnold in the days of the kings. You know, God will have it so that there will be conspiracies and there will be traitors. And you know, as you go through life you'll probably experience some traitors in your life.

Don't worry about it. This is the way that God works in the world. In chapter 18, Absalom is dead. And you can read it in chapter 18, verses 31 through 33. I'll read it now.

Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, There is good news, my Lord the King. The Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you." So David is expecting good news. And the king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? So the Cushite answered, May the enemies of my Lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do harm, be like that young man. Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

And as he went, he said thus, Oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, if only I had died in your place. Oh, Absalom, my son, my son." This is a love of a father to his son, even though he was rebellious. And so there are, In chapter 19, David is restored to his throne after this conspiracy. In chapter 20, Sheba revolts against David. In chapter 21, there's a three-year famine.

The Gibeonites take vengeance on the house of Saul. In chapter 22, you'll read a song of deliverance, which is also recorded in Psalm 18. And then in chapter 23 are David's last words. And I would just encourage you to read them. They're very beautiful.

And then in chapter 24, David takes a census. And God announces that He's going to punish him. And God gives him three choices. And David takes the choice of being judged by God and God brings a famine. God brings a plague on the people and tens of thousands die.

But David believed that he would rather be in the hands of God's judgment than anyone else's. He believed God's justice was perfect and that God would do what was right. So He chose God to be His judge. Let's talk about some lessons here finally. I'm gonna give you several of them.

Lesson number one comes out of the early chapters of 1 Samuel. Beware of the desire to be like the nations around you. Beware of the desire to be like the nations around you. People want modern and better systems. They want a new way.

They want to turn over a new leaf. And the new king was Israel's way. It boils down to a fundamental flaw in the human soul. We think that the world offers a better alternative and we want to look like the world. We want to operate like the world and have the favor of this world.

We want to have the systems of the world so that we can compete with the world. And it's always the wrong turn when you turn to the world. Number two, when God wants to rescue people, He starts with a baby. When God wants to rescue people, He starts with a baby. In this series of surveys of the Bible, you're going to hear me say that several times.

You've already heard me say it a couple of times. When God wanted to rescue His people out of bondage in Egypt, He starts with a baby, put in a basket in the bulrushes. When God wants to save the world of their sins, he starts with a baby. A baby born in a manger in Bethlehem. These babies are types of the baby Jesus Christ.

So when you read about a baby in the Old Testament, Ask yourself, how is this a type of Christ, the baby born in a manger? Number three Worship matters And The failure to worship God exclusively and correctly and faithfully causes heartache and destruction. The superstition of the worship of Hophni and Phineas, the using the ark as a talisman, as we see, resulted in 34, 000 killed. Man-made worship is always bad for man. Worship matters.

And For some reason, man's ways and God's ways are always... They form a crossroads in worship. Because man wants a certain thing, but God has prescribed something different. And man always has to decide whether he wants God or whether he wants more of himself in worship to create worship after his own image. God has ordained that worship would be the preaching of the Word of God, the singing, the prayers, the Lord's Supper, the fellowship of the Saints.

That's what we should do. We should be satisfied with that and not try to invent something new that is more interesting than God. And then, number four, God grants His people's requests to teach them lessons. Have you ever wondered why in the world would God grant their request for a king? Well, he did it to teach them a lesson, and I'll get to that in just a minute.

Number five. Consequences of holiness. Samuel, not one word fell to the ground that he spoke. Saul, suicide. David, his kingdom endures.

Eli's line dead. Saul's line dead. Samuel's line, His words do not fall to the ground. David's line, he has an everlasting kingdom. These are the consequences of holiness and sin.

Number six, reflect on the types that are in Samuel because there are several of them. Now, there are at least five different kinds of types in the Bible. There are institutional types. There are institutions that bear witness to Christ. There are ceremonial types, various aspects of the ceremonial law, the showbread, the light, the oil.

These are all ceremonial law types in the worship of God. There are historical types like the crossing of the Red Sea. There are natural types, you know, things that happen in nature or animals, like Balaam is a type. Balaam's donkey is also a type. And then there are personal types.

Now, first and second, Samuel emphasized the personal types. David is a type of Christ. Samuel is a type of Christ. He's a prophet and a priest and a king and a judge. David is a type.

He was born in Bethlehem. He's a king who's a forerunner to King Jesus. You can read about him in Romans 1-3 and Revelation 22-16. Number seven. Each Christian is given a kingdom.

There are opportunities, there are responsibilities, there are enemies, there are temptations. What do you do in your kingdom? Imitate Christ. Number eight. All earthly kings fall short.

I think this is one of the really significant lessons that we learn from 1 and 2 Samuel. You know it's easy to see the brokenness of the fall in leaders and kings. You know when you're in a transition like this, hey Don't be devastated when leaders fall. Don't be disappointed when they disappoint you and you see some flaw in their life. You're going to see some flaw in their life.

This is the way it is. Trust in God. He's the one who raises up kings and kingdoms and he brings them down. I think the message is honor the King, but trust in Christ. He's faithful.

He's the compassionate high priest. He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's the true and living bread. He's the light of the world. He's the true light that enlightens every man.

Christ is the light. Christ is the good King. And when you see a king in his flaws, think of Jesus Christ and His perfection. Let every king remind you of Christ in all of His perfections. Saul represents the flesh.

David represents the Spirit. And both of them are pictures of each individual believer. You know, you can meet yourself in 1 and 2 Samuel, in the tug of war between the flesh and the Spirit. You can meet yourself on the battlefield of Saul. You can meet yourself in the tabernacle with the sons of Eli.

You can meet yourself in Eli. You can meet yourself in David when he's walking in the top of the roof, when he should have been at war, and he didn't have anything to do, and he fell into sin. You can meet yourself in a lot of different places. You meet the blessings of the Spirit and the ruin of the flesh. Saul and David represent two principles of the heart, the Spirit and the flesh.

Samuel, he's the voice of God to both Saul and David. You know there's a story that Harry Ironside used to tell of the life of a pastor in California, and his little girl was about eight years old, and she came home one day and she said, Daddy, I want to get some ball-bearing skates. All the other children have ball-bearing skates. I want to get ball-bearing skates. That's what I want.

He said, Dear, you know, you have a pair of skates and by the way, you know, I'm a pastor and we don't have money for ball-bearing skates. And so she said, Daddy, my skates are not ball-bearing skates. They're roller-bearing skates. They won't go as fast as the others. Her father said, you know, I'm afraid you'll have to make do with what you have.

We just can't afford them right now. But she wouldn't let it lie. And that night when her daddy came home from work, she said, Daddy, I want those ball-bearing skates. And she handed him a letter saying, I want those ball-bearing skates. And, Daddy, would you buy me some ball-bearing skates?

And So he scraped up the money somehow to get the ball bearing skates and he gave them to her and she was delighted. And she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him and kissed him and she put on the ball bearing skates and she started out the gate and down the sidewalk around the corner. And this is a true story. And that was the last time they ever saw her well and alive. She went around the corner.

The skates, you know, took her too fast and she slipped. She hit her head on the sidewalk, and she entered into a coma. She died in the hospital before the night was out. And so this pastor in California said this, he said, since then, when I want something of God, and it seems as though he's not willing that I should have it, but I keep crying out for it, the Spirit of God reminds me, are you asking for ball-bearing skates? Now, This is what Israel wanted in a king.

They wanted something that everyone else had. And God gave it to them. But it caused enormous trauma in their lives. We have to be careful what we ask for. Do we want the world?

Well, we might get it, and we might experience the things that Saul did and the children of Israel. I want to close with a passage of scripture that I think brings together the whole message of 1 and 2 Samuel. It's the war between the flesh and the spirit, the desire to want to be like the world, the desire to want to do what you want to do when you want to do it, and that is the source of all the trouble in everybody's life in 1 and 2 Samuel. It's Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 26, and I'll close with this. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And These are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murderers, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such there is no law, and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. So 1 and 2 Samuel tell us about the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. It shows us the consequences of both, and it encourages us to be filled with the Spirit.