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David's army may have been fighting successfully on foreign soil, but David was losing a battle with temptation at home. After an afternoon nap, David was walking on the roof of his palace when from that height he spotted a beautiful woman bathing, probably in the courtyard of a house at a lower elevation. David inquired about the woman and learned that she was the wife of one of his officers, Uriah the Hittite. Undeterred by her marital status, David sent messengers to summon this woman.
Once the city was secure, David took up residence in the stronghold, and because the place had been conquered by David’s men and David resided there, the place was called, “the city of David.” Jerusalem’s fortifications were repaired and extended and after establishing his new capital David became greater and greater because God was with him.
In the face of the Philistine invasion, he needed divine counsel but God had departed from him. Samuel raised another question and asked, “Why then do you ask me since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?” (1 Samuel 28:16, ESV) Samuel then spoke ominous prophetic words to the king as he announced that by the coming battle the kingdom would be torn from Saul’s hand and given to David.
Saul was moved to tears by the words of David and acknowledged that David had been more righteous than he. Saul recognized for the moment that David must not have considered him as an enemy, else he would have slain him in the cave. Saul prayed God's blessing on David since he had refrained from killing the king.
David continued to advance toward Goliath. The giant had probably never faced such bravado before. David explained that he was coming in the name of the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. David went on to boast that he would decapitate Goliath and give the bodies of the Philistines to the birds and beasts.
Apparently after the sacrifice, Samuel retired to the house of Jesse to partake in the sacrificial meal. As each of Jesse’s sons entered the room, Samuel evaluated them, and when he saw Jesse’s firstborn, Eliab, he believed that he was “the LORD's anointed.” God directed the prophet not to look on the outward appearance because God looks on the heart.
Samuel forcefully rejected Saul’s contention that religious intention justifies selective obedience. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” No amount of religious practice can substitute for doing what God commands, and external religious observance must reflect internal faith and piety.
However, when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. When they sought the Lord, it was revealed that Saul was hiding by the baggage. The people hastened to bring Saul from his hiding place and when Saul stood among the people he was head and shoulders taller than any of his countrymen. Physically, Saul was definitely qualified to be the kind of king Israel wanted.
You would think that a list like this would result in withdrawing the request because ultimately all Israelites would be servants of the crown. Samuel even warned the people that they would cry to God for relief because of the king that they were now demanding and in that day the Lord would not respond to their prayer. In spite of the very negative portrayal of kingship, the people insisted that a king should rule over them as they did in the surrounding nations.
Three times in the darkness Samuel heard the voice of God but mistook it for the voice of Eli. The narrator excuses this mistake by saying that Samuel did not yet know God nor did he have any experience receiving a word from God. Three times he hurried to the side of the old man. Finally, Eli recognized that God was calling the boy. He instructed his protege to respond to any further calls by saying, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears."
She approached God reverently as can be seen in her threefold reference to herself as a handmaid of the Lord. Hannah vowed that if the Lord gave her a son, she would dedicate him all the days of his life as a Nazarite. While she was praying before the Lord, Eli, the high priest observed her from a distance.
It can be difficult to believe that God is always working, especially in suffering and loss. This concluding genealogy indicates the purpose and meaning of the entire Book of Ruth. The author aims to demonstrate that David came from solid Israelite stock even though he had Moabite blood in his veins.
Early the next morning Boaz went to the city gate. During this time in many cities, the gate complex was the center of social life, and legal judgments were often rendered there. Before Boaz would be able to perform his role as the kinsman-redeemer of Naomi and Ruth, a legal proceeding would be required.
As Ruth approached the house, Naomi inquired as to whether or not the initiative had been successful. Naomi’s question meant are you one dishonored by rejection or one protected as a wife? Ruth then told her mother-in-law all that had taken place and the generous gift of the barley signaled Boaz’s favorable disposition toward the two women.
Ruth was industrious, and she was certainly not afraid to work. She politely requested consent from her mother-in-law to go out into the fields where the barley was being harvested. Perhaps there she would find a land owner that would allow her to follow behind the harvesters picking up the stalks that they might leave behind lying on the ground.
As they drew near, the women of Bethlehem thought they recognized Naomi, and she instructed them to call her Mara, which means bitter. Naomi blamed her misfortune on the Lord. When she left Bethlehem, Naomi had been living a full life. She had a husband and two sons. God, however, it seemed had brought her back empty and witnessed against her.
The Philistine lords took note of the attraction that Samson had for Delilah. They promised to pay her eleven hundred pieces of silver if she could discover the secret of Samson’s strength. Their intention was to overpower Samson and then torment him, and the Philistines would stop at nothing.
Manoah panicked believing that he and his wife would die because they had seen God. His wife reasoned that if God had intended to kill them he would not have accepted the sacrifice. As promised, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The Lord blessed him, and the Spirit began to stir in him.
God delights in teaching his people absolute dependence on him. The Lord spoke to Gideon on the eve of battle and told him that his army was too large. If the battle was won with such a large force, the Israelites might attribute victory to their own power.
Gideon begins to realize that the one with whom he was speaking was no ordinary person, so he raised a question about the wisdom of God’s choice. Gideon saw his family as being the least in the tribe of Manasseh, and he was the youngest in his family. He felt that he lacked both influence and maturity.
