THE PHILISTINES GATHER AN ARMY AGAINST ISRAEL. SAUL DISOBEYS THE LORD AT GILGAL. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GAIN A VICTORY OVER THE PHILISTINES. SAUL AGAIN DISOBEYS THE LORD, AND SAMUEL TELLS HIM THAT THE LORD WILL PUT HIM AWAY FROM BEING KING. THE LORD SENDS SAMUEL TO BETHLEHEM TO ANOINT DAVID.
AFTER Saul had been king two years, he chose three thousand men for soldiers. Saul himself was captain over two thousand of them, and his son Jonathan was captain over the other thousand. And Jonathan attacked some soldiers of the Philistines, who had come into the land of Israel. Then the Philistines gathered a great army, and came up with thousands of chariots and horsemen, and with so many soldiers that they could not be counted. When the people saw what a great host had come against them, they were afraid, and hid in caves, and thick bushes, among the rocks, and on the mountains, and in pits in the earth. Some of them fled over Jordan, into the land of Gilead, where the two and a half tribes lived. The few who were left, followed after Saul their king, but they trembled with fear. And Saul came to Gilgal, for Samuel had promised to meet him there, and had commanded him to wait till he should come, that Samuel might offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and afterward tell Saul what he should do. And Saul waited seven days; then, when Samuel came not, he grew impatient and said, Bring here a burnt offering to me; and he offered up the burnt offering himself. As soon as he had done it, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? Then Saul began to make excuse for offering up the sacrifice, and said that he was afraid to wait any longer, lest the Philistines should come against him. But Samuel said that he had done wickedly and disobeyed the Lord, and therefore the Lord would put him away from being king, and would choose another man in his place. Samuel did not mean that Saul would be put away at once; but that the Lord had determined to do it some time, and that it was as certain to be done as if it were done that very day.
And Saul numbered the people who were with him, and found there were about six hundred men; and he and Jonathan came to the city of Gibeah, but the Philistines were at Michmash. Now the Philistines had for a long time made the children of Israel their servants; neither would they let the men of Israel have swords, or spears, for fear they might rise up and fight against them. And the Philistines had sent all the smiths out of the land, lest they should make these things for the people. So when the day for the battle came, it was found that among the children of Israel no man had either a sword, or a spear, except Saul and Jonathan.
In those days soldiers wore armor made of iron, or brass. They carried shields also, made of strong boards covered with the skins of oxen. These they held up before them while they were in battle, that the arrows and darts of their enemies might not wound them. Jonathan, Saul's son, wore armor, and he had a soldier to carry his shield and spear for him, when he did not want to use them. This soldier was called his armor-bearer.
Now the Philistines had their camp near to the camp of the children of Israel. And Jonathan asked his armor-bearer to go with him over to the camp of the Philistines. For, he said, the Lord might help them, even Jonathan and his armor-bearer alone, to fight against all their great army; because the Lord could give the victory to whomever he chose, either to many or to few. And the armor-bearer said he would go. Then Jonathan told him, that this was the way they would know whether the Lord intended to help them, or not. They would go and stand where the Philistines could see them; if the Philistines should call out to them and tell them to wait, then, Jonathan said, they would go no further, for the Lord was not going to help them. But if the Philistines should say, Come up to us, they would go up; for the Lord would give them the victory.
And Jonathan and his armor-bearer went and stood at a place where the Philistines could see them. And the Philistines made sport of them, and said, See, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they were hidden: and they called out, Come up to us, and we will show you something. When Jonathan heard them say this, he told his armor-bearer to come, for the Lord would give the children of Israel the victory. Then Jonathan climbed up over the rocks, on his hands and feet, to reach the Philistines' camp, and his armor-bearer climbed after him. When they came to it, they fought with them and slew about twenty men. And the Lord made the earth shake under them, so that all the host of the Philistines were afraid and trembled. Now Saul and the men who were with him, did not know what Jonathan had done; but Saul's watchman looked out toward the camp of the Philistines, and seeing there was fighting in the camp, he told Saul of it. Then Saul counted over all his men, that he might know which of them had gone against the Philistines; and when he counted them, he found that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. And Saul and his men went over to join in the battle. Many of those also, who before had been afraid, and hid in the mountains, came after them; and the Lord helped the children of Israel, and the Philistines fled from them. Yet the men of Israel suffered on that day, for Saul commanded that no man should eat any food until the evening, because he wanted them to go on pursuing their enemies. So none of the people tasted of any food.
And they came to a wood where honey was dropping on the ground, from a nest in the trees where the wild bees had made it, and the men were hungry, yet they were afraid to eat. But Jonathan did not know what his father had said, and he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and dipped it into the honey-comb, and put the honey to his mouth. When Saul heard of it, he said, Thou shalt surely die, Jonathan; for he was angry, and would have slain Jonathan, because he had disobeyed his command. But the people asked, saying, Shall Jonathan die, who has caused us to gain this great victory? And they said that no harm should be done to him. So they saved Jonathan from being put to death.
After this, Samuel told Saul that the Lord remembered the wickedness of the Amalekites, in making war against the children of Israel when they were coming up out of Egypt, although the Israelites had done them no harm. And now, Samuel said, the Lord commanded Saul to go out against the Amalekites, and destroy them, and their cattle, and save nothing of their's alive. And Saul gathered together a great army of more than two hundred thousand men, and fought with the Amalekites, and overcame them and slew the people, but their king he let live. And the best of their sheep, of their oxen, of their lambs, and all that was good, Saul and the men of Israel saved alive; but what was poor and worth nothing, they put to death. And the Lord was displeased with Saul, and he said to Samuel, I repent of having made Saul king, for he has not obeyed my commandments.
After the battle, Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, I have done as the Lord commanded me. But Samuel heard the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen, which Saul had taken from the Amalekites, and he said, What meaneth, then, this bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen, which I hear? Then Saul began to make excuse and say, that the people had saved them alive to offer them up as sacrifices to the Lord. But Samuel asked Saul whether the Lord was better pleased to have sacrifices offered up to him, than he was to have his commands obeyed. It was better to obey than to offer up sacrifices, Samuel said. For to go on doing as the Lord had commanded them not to do, was as wicked as to worship idols. Then Samuel told Saul again, that because he had disobeyed the Lord, the Lord would put him away from being king.
And God told Samuel that he should go to the city of Bethlehem, to a man named Jesse, and should anoint one of Jesse's sons to be king. But Samuel answered, How can I go? for if Saul hear of it he will kill me. Then the Lord said, that Samuel should take an heifer to offer up as a sacrifice there, and should ask Jesse to come to the sacrifice. Afterward, the Lord told him, he would show him what he should do. And Samuel did as he was commanded. He came to Bethlehem and made ready his sacrifice, and invited Jesse and his sons to come to it. When they came, Samuel thought that Jesse's oldest son was the one whom the Lord had chosen for king. But the Lord told him he was not the one. Then Jesse called another; but the Lord did not choose him. And Jesse caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said, The Lord has chosen none of these.
Then Samuel asked, Are these all thy children? Jesse answered, There is yet one left, the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep. Samuel said, Send and bring him. And they sent and brought him. Now he had been out in the field, and when he came in and stood before them, his cheeks were red and his face was beautiful to look at. And the Lord said to Samuel, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took oil and poured it on his head, and anointed him before all his brethren. So the Lord chose David, for that was his name, to be king over Israel. Yet he was not to be king at once, or for a long while afterward, but when the Lord should put Saul away from being king.
And after David was anointed, the Lord sent his Holy Spirit into David's heart, to make him good and wise; but he took his Spirit away from Saul.
We have read of the angels—those good spirits that serve God. The Bible tells us there are evil spirits, also, that serve Satan. And now one of these went into Saul and troubled him. And Saul's servants told him that he should look for a man who could play well on the harp, and when the evil spirit troubled him, that man, they said, should come and play before him, for then the evil spirit would go from him. So Saul said to his servants, Get for me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. And one of them answered that he had seen such a man. He was the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. It was David of whom he spoke; for David knew well how to play on the harp.
Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and told him to send David, his son, who kept the sheep. Then Jesse took an ass, and loaded it with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David as a present to Saul, but he did not let Saul know how Samuel had anointed David to be king. So David came to Saul, and stayed with him and waited on him, for he pleased him well. And when the evil spirit troubled Saul, David took a harp, and played with his hand and made sweet music that comforted him; and the evil spirit went from him. But after a while, David left Saul's house and returned to his own home. And Saul had many other servants, and he forgot David.