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One-sentence summary: The Lord rejects Saul as king and anoints a young man from Bethlehem named David, and David defeats a Philistine giant named Goliath.
Samuel tells Saul that the Lord sent him to anoint him king over His people, Israel, and that now he must listen to the Lord's words to him. The Lord says He will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel when he came out of Egypt. He tells Saul to attack and kill all of the Amalekites, including the animals. He tells the Kenites to remove themselves from them since they were kind to Israel when they came up out of Egypt, and Saul attacks and takes the king alive. He kills all the people, but he spares the king and the best of the livestock and is "unwilling to utterly destroy them." The word of the Lord comes to Samuel, and the Lord says He regrets choosing Saul, since he has turned back from following Him and has not obeyed His commands. It grieves Samuel, and he cries out to the Lord all night. He rises early to meet Saul, and it is told him that Saul has set up a monument for himself and gone to Gilgal. Samuel goes to him there, and Saul blesses him and says he has obeyed God. However, Samuel basically says, "Then why do I hear the sound of animals?" Saul says he saved them to sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel silences him and tells him what the Lord told him the previous night. "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?" He says the Lord told him explicitly to utterly destroy the Amalekites and asks why he did not obey but took the spoil? Saul says he has obeyed and blames it on the people, saying they took it to sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel asks if the Lord delights in sacrifice more than obeying his voice. "To obey is better than sacrifice... 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." Saul admits he has sinned because he feared the people and listened to them. He asks Samuel to return with him, but Samuel says he will not. As Samuel goes to leave, Saul seizes the edge of his robe, and it tears, and Samuel says that the Lord has torn the kingdom from Saul that day and given it to a neighbor that is "better than him." And he says that the Lord is not a man that He should relent. Saul admits he has sinned but asks Samuel to go with him to worship the Lord. So Samuel goes with him, and he worships. Then, Samuel tells him to bring the king of the Amalekites to him, and Samuel hacks up the king in pieces in front of the Lord in Gilgal. Then, they depart, and Samuel does not go to see Saul again until the day of his death, but he mourns for him, and the Lord regrets making him king.
The Lord asks Samuel how long he will mourn for Saul and tells him to fill his horn and go to Jesse the Bethlemite, because he has chosen a king among his sons. Samuel responds that if Saul hears, he will kill him, so the Lord tells him to bring a cow and say that he is going to sacrifice with Jesse. Once Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, he tells the town he has come peacefully to sacrifice, and he consecrates Jesse and his sons and invites them. He looks at one of his sons and thinks it must be him who will be king, as he is tall and handsome. But the Lord says not to look on the outside, for "the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Jesse shows him seven sons, but the Lord has not chosen them, says Samuel. Jesse says he has one more son, David, tending the sheep. He is a good-looking boy, and the Lord tells Saul to anoint him as future king, and he does. And the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him from that day forward. The Spirit of the Lord departs from Saul, and a distressing spirit from God troubles him. His servants recognize it, and they ask for him to seek out a skillful harp player to soothe him when the spirit comes on him. And it happens to be David, who is called "a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person, and the Lord is with him." So he sends for Jesse, and he sends David with gifts to Saul. And Saul "[loves] him greatly," and David becomes his armor bearer and asks Jesse to let him stay. So David plays a harp to soothe Saul when the spirit comes on him, and when he does, the spirit leaves him.
The Philistines gather against Israel, and Saul and Israel prepare for war, with each side on a mountain with a valley between them. "A champion" from the Philistines, a giant named Goliath, wearing heavy armor and carrying a javelin and with a huge spear comes out against the Israelites. He cries out to Israel's armies, "Why have you come out to line out for battle?... Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight me and kill me, we will be your servants." If not, however, Israel must serve the Philistines. And he says, "I defy the armies of Israel this day!"
When Saul and Israel hear this, "they are dismayed and greatly afraid." David is feeding his father's sheep in Bethlehem, and Goliath appears for forty days before Israel. Jesse tells David to take food to his three oldest brothers who are with Saul at the battle and to bring back news to him. David greets his brothers, and he sees Goliath and hears his words. And all Israel flees and is afraid. They tell David the news, and he says "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies of the living God?" And David hears that Saul will give his daughter and much treasure to the one who defeats him. When one of David's brothers hears him talking, he accuses him of having come because of pride. David says, "What have I done now?" David's words about Goliath are reported to Saul, and he sends for him. David says no one should fear Goliath and that he will go and fight, but Saul says he is not able and is only a youth, and that Goliath has been a man of war from his youth. But David says he has fought lions and bears as a shepherd and killed them, and he says Goliath is no different. He says the Lord who delivered him will deliver him again, so Saul tells him to go and the Lord be with him. Saul clothes him in his armor, but David cannot walk as it is too heavy and not his. He takes it off, takes his staff, chooses five smooth stones, and puts them in his pouch, holding his sling. He draws near the Philistines, and when Goliath sees him, he hates him and says "Am I a dog that you have come to me with sticks?" He also curses him by his gods and says he will give his flesh to the animals. David responds, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied." He tells him the Lord will deliver him and that he will strike him and take his head and give his flesh to the animals so all the earth may know there is a God in Israel and that the Lord does not save with sword and spear. "The battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands." David takes out a stone and slings it and strikes Goliath in his forehead so that it sinks into his forehead, and he falls to the earth. So David defeats him. David takes Goliath's sword and kills him and cuts off his head. When the Philistines see this, they flee. Then, Israel pursues them and plunders their tents. David takes Goliath's head and brings it to Jerusalem. When Saul sees David going out, he says to the commander of the army, "Whose son is this youth?" And he is brought before Saul with Goliath's head, and it is told him that he is Jesse's son. (It seems unclear if this story happened before or after the harp-playing incident.)
Thoughts/discussion questions:
We don't need self-confidence. We need confidence in God! Humility is key!