The chapter begins by telling us about the death of a king we haven’t heard of since way back in 1st Samuel 11 and 12. Those chapters tell us that the threat posed by Nahash was one of the reasons why God’s people wanted a king in the first place. Sure enough, Saul’s first act as king is to defeat […]

Have you ever spent time with two different people in quick succession. Seeing the two of them in a short space of time highlights just how different they are. It’s not that you need to see the two people in the same day to realise they’re different, but seeing them side-by-side just highlights it. God has given us a contrast […]

Why does David do all this? The answer really is ‘covenant’. The word translated kindness in this chapter is the Hebrew word ‘hesed’. Which could be translated as ‘covenant love’ or ‘steadfast love’. 15 or 20 years before, Jonathan had made a covenant with David. Jonathan gladly accepted what Saul refused to accept – that David was God’s chosen king. […]