The objective of the Book of 1 Samuel is to reveal the kind of leader for whom God is seeking to be the shepherd king of His people. The people had chosen Saul, who turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. God chose David, whom we have watched grow from a young shepherd boy into a mighty warrior. But God isn't looking for a mighty warrior. He's lo…

"So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together" (1 Samuel 31:6). On the same day David is routing the Amalekites and recovering his family and goods, winning a decisive victory over God's enemies (1 Samuel 30), God is using His enemies (the Philistines) to bring final judgment on Saul and those asso…

How can it cany any worse? All of us have asked this question when circumstances have overwhelmed us. Almost since our first meeting David in 1 Samuel 16, he has lived his life as a fugitive from Saul and the unrelenting object of Saul's wrath. And just when you think it can't get any worse, he loses everything.…

The 126th Psalm is the seventh of the Psalms of Ascent which were written to accompany God's people as they made their way to the temple for Sabbath worship. This particular Psalm celebrates the LORD turning the fortunes of His people in such a surprising manner that their new reality was like waking up from a dream. God turned the fortunes of His …

When the Lord does not answer Saul's inquiry, Saul seeks out a woman with a familiar spirit to conjure Samuel from the dead. This episode in our Bibles raises some questions about the legitimacy of the occult, the ability of this woman to bring up Samuel from the dead, and whether it is actual Samuel who appears or a demonic apparition.…

The running theme of 1 Samuel 28 is the silence of God. Saul is distressed to the point of a mental breakdown. The Lord is not responding to his inquiry about a coming battle with the Philistines. He has used every legitimate means in an attempt to get God's attention to no avail, so he turns to a woman who practices divination to conjure the proph…

From the time David slew Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, have had a front row seat to the valor, courage, and integrity of David as he lived as a fugitive from Saul. We have come to love him, to respect him, to expect nothing but honorable behavior from him. And yet in our study today we come to a very disturbing story which reveals the depravity of David …

The details recorded in 1 Samuel 26 are almost a mirror image of the event that took place in 1 Samuel 24. In both chapters, Saul is told where David is hiding, Saul is vulnerable to David's revenge, David spares Saul, and Saul seems to be repentant. But in between 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 is 1 Samuel 25; and the word of God to David through Abi…

In this sermon from 1 Samuel 25:29, Pastor Paul explores some "seed thoughts" from the Abigail's poetic phrase: "The soul of my Lord (David) is bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God." Abigail's expression here is covenant language, grounded in God's everlasting promise to His people to secure them for eternity.…

When the story of David and Nabal begins, David is prepared to repay with the violence the insult of Nabal by taking matters into his own hands, an action of vengeance that would have been a blot on his character for the rest of his life. God intervenes with preventive providence through Abigail to save Nabal and his men from David's violent vengea…

1 Samuel 25 introduces us to "a woman of good understanding" as an example to all of us of how to see God's unseen hand in the circumstances of our lives. Dale Ralph Davis says that "Abigail is the Lord's stop sign, mercifully placed in David's path." The Lord's providential intervention through Abigail restrains His chosen king from his own impuls…

Having considered in the previous message the details of Abigail's counsel to David in 1 Samuel 25:18-31, we come back to consider how it illustrates "answering a fool" in Proverbs 26:4-5. David responds to Abigail's counsel with three blessings and a surprise proposal.Pastor Paul Edwards

In a rather blunt and matter of fact way our narrator announces the death of Samuel. But God’s work in Israel did not end when Samuel died. God’s work never is dependent on only one man. In this sermon we reflect upon the life of the prophet Samuel.Pastor Paul Edwards

David and his men have been providing protection for Nabal and his possessions. When David sends his men to Nabal to request payment for services rendered, Nabal insults David. David's response reveals a surprising flaw in David's character which to this point in our studies of 1 Samuel we have never seen. There are lessons to be learned here about…

The 93rd Psalm begins with the indisputable declaration that "the Lord reigns." In our previous message we were considering the Psalmist's instruction in Psalm 96:10 that we "say among the heathen, 'The Lord reigns!" This Lord who reigns does so "on high" as an imposing figure with an unassailable rule impervious to the foolish and futile assaults …

God gives His people a mandate in Psalm 96:10, "Say among the heathen, The Lord reigns!" The heathen are the nations surrounding the people of God who worshipped idols of their own making rather than the Creator God who made everything. Who is this Lord who reigns and what does it mean when we say to the unbelieving people around us, "The Lord reig…

Grant Blackmer

Grant Blackmer

In the 120th Psalm, David cries out to God in response to the distress inflicted on him by the slander of his enemies. What's interesting about his distress is that the events he has in view occurred YEARS earlier. How do we overcome the pain inflicted by lying lips?Pastor Paul Edwards

Not unlike the prophet Isaiah (in Isaiah 6) who cursed himself because he dwelt among a people of unclean lips, David pronounces a curse upon himself in the closing verses of Psalm 120 because of the culture of lies which surrounds him. How does David choose to live in a culture of lies, and what can we learn from him about how to live in our own c…

In Psalm 63 David gives us insight into the psychological turmoil he is experiencing as a fugitive from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. It is David's unshakeable belief that regardless of his dire circumstances, God is HIS God, and will deliver him.Pastor Paul Edwards

As he continues his run from Saul, David is now a fugitive in the wilderness of Judah (! Samuel 22:5). It is in the wilderness that he writes the 63rd Psalm, providing for us God's word on where we should resort when our soul's are tormented to the point of despair.Pastor Paul Edwards

Is it ever appropriate for us to pray for bad things to happen to those who do bad things to us? If so, under what circumstances?Pastor Paul Edwards

In Psalm 54:3 David says that his enemies have "not set God before them." What does it mean to not set God before us, and in what ways are God's own people guilty of not setting God before us?Pastor Paul Edwards

David is a fugitive from Saul who has set David in his sites with the objective of killing him. Even the Ziphites - his own countrymen - have disclosed his hiding place to Saul. Earthly resources and human recourses have failed David. In the 54th Psalm David appeals to the name of God who, in the words of John Calvin - is "the saints' last asylum."…

David writes the 142nd Psalm as a response to his isolation in the Cave of Adullam when he was a fugitive from Saul in 1 Samuel 22. And even though his present circumstances would cause him to believe he was alone, abandoned, and forsaken, because of God's promises David knows that this journey of detours and dangers ends in God's bountiful blessin…

David escapes from the Philistines in 1 Samuel 22:1 to the Cave of Adullam where eventually his family and 400 other malcontents will join him. But before his family arrives, David is all alone in this cave with his thoughts and his fears. In Psalm 57, David gives us insight into his state of mind during this period of intense loneliness and danger…

By his own doing David finds himself a prisoner to the Philistine King Achish. By all accounts he ought to have been executed by Achish, but he is providentially delivered (1 Samuel 21:13-22:2). When he escapes, he takes refuge in the cave of Adullam. In a matter of time his family gets word of where he is and they make their way to him along with …

Psalm 56 reveals to us the actions of David when he was taken in Gath by Achish. He appeals to God for mercy, not primarily to be delivered FROM his undesirable circumstances, but for mercy IN his circumstances. The mercy of God is most precious to us when we experience it IN our troubles and misery.…

Psalm 59, written by David when he escaped from Saul's henchmen when they had his house surrounded, is a spiritual battlefield manual with insights into the nature of our enemy, our enemy's strategy and objectives, and clear instructions on the strategies we are to use to escape the enemy's grasp.Pastor Paul Edwards

David is the anointed king, but Saul is the reigning king. For years David has been waiting patiently for God to fulfill His promise to him while being unjustly pursued by Saul, fleeing for his life under continual distress. But now David is presented with an opportunity to seize the throne by force when Saul "happens" into a cave to relieve himsel…

In this continuation of our study in 1 Samuel 24, Saul responds to David's restraint in sparing his life.Pastor Paul Edwards

Mike Edwards

The Ziphites have disclosed to Saul the hiding place of David which initiates one of the most intense scenes in all of the book of 1 Samuel that ends with David and his men surrounded, destined for certain death at the hands of Saul and his men. But there is an unseen providence at work which is protecting David and preventing Saul from accomplishi…

Identifying with David is dangerous. It has already cost the priests at Nob their lives, and now the people of Keilah are threatened by Saul for harboring the fugitive he seeks. But our of the evil of Saul's actions at Nob, God has provided David with the gift of an intercessor in Abiathar. Christians also know that identifying with Christ is dange…

In the character and behavior of Saul there are types and shadows of antichrist. In the character and behavior of David there are types and shadows of Christ. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the details of the events leading up to the escape of Abiathar and the safety he found in David.Pastor Paul Edwards

God is not the author evil. God, however, controls the effects of human evil so that they serve his ultimate purposes. There are four scenes in 1 Samuel 22 which serve to show us the ways in which God is sovereign over human evil.Pastor Paul Edwards

1 Samuel 22:1-5 is an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth expressed by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 1 that "God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty." David continues his run from Saul, only now he is no longer alone. Everyone in Israel who was discontented, in debt, and distressed have jo…

In our desperation we often find ourselves making foolish decisions that put us in precarious situations. David's fear has caused him to flee from Saul to the last place on earth he thinks Saul will think to look for him: in the enemy territory of the Philistines. But soon after arriving in Gath, he is recognized by the soldiers of the king of Gath…

Of the three evidences of genuine regeneration given by the author (love, faith, and hope), he doubles down on hope. What is this hope? What does it mean that "God swore by himself"? What are the "two immutable (unchangeable) things" God swore by?Pastor Paul Edwards

There are 5 experiences listed in Hebrews 6:4-5 which are often mistaken for evidences of regeneration when in reality they are the experiences of many who come into the church and under gospel influence but do not necessarily come to saving faith in Christ. But in Hebrews 6:9-12 there are three EVIDENCES of genuine regeneration which manifest them…

To this point in our study of 1 Samuel, all of our encounters with David have been positive. We have seen him display valor, courage, and loyalty. He is seemingly an infallible hero. But when David comes to the priest at Nob our impression of his character is one of disappointment. David, it turns out, is as frail a human sinner as the rest of us. …

Only the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives meaning to our suffering.Pastor Paul Edwards

Chapter 20 closes with the bitter scene of the parting of Jonathan and David. David will remain a fugitive from Saul, yet Jonathan's final words to him are "Go in peace." How can Jonathan wish David peace when he knows full well his father's intentions to kill David if he ever finds him? How can we have peace in circumstances that cause us anxiety …

David is hiding in the field while Jonathan is taking the measure of Saul's attitude toward David. Over the course of a three-day festival, the covenant between Jonathan and David (made in 18:1-4 and reaffirmed in 20:8) will be tested, its cost will be levied, and where loyalties lie will be exposed.…

Hebrews 6:4-6 is the most often cited text by those who seek to make a case that believers can fall away from the faith and lose their salvation. But a careful reading of the text makes it clear that the author of Hebrews does not have genuine believers in view at all. An important and essential to key to the interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-9 is to u…

What are you afraid of? David's fears are in the context of his immediate present circumstances. Jonathan's fears are in his concern for the future welfare of his family. Regardless of the source of our fears and anxiety, they are a condition of life in a fallen world. This issue isn't THAT we are afraid, but HOW our fears find their resolution in …

Is it possible for a believer to fall away and be finally lost? Many have used Hebrews 4:4-6 to make the case that it is. But who is being addressed in these verses? What does the context of these verses reveal about what it means to "fall away" and the impossibility of being "renewed again unto repentance"?…

Where do you turn when there is no where to turn? This is David's predicament. He is a fugitive now, fleeing and hiding from the plots of Saul to take his life. David finds the resolution of his anxiety in the covenant of the Lord, grounded in the steadfast love of the Lord in spite of his perilous circumstances.…