Excerpts from 1 Samuel

This commentary on 1 Samuel continues Paul Palmer Sr’s refreshing writings on the Old Testament. Paul constantly brings Christ before us: we know that all the Scriptures speak of Him, by the Lord’s own statement to two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. The books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles take us through the history of Israel’s kings—often not a pretty picture. 1 Samuel ends the “judges” with the death of Samuel and brings before us the sad history of Israel demanding a king, rejecting God’s direct rule over them. God therefore gave them their first king—Saul; a man of the flesh and eventually rejected by God through disobedience. Although Samuel then anointed David as king in place of Saul, David is not seen on the throne in 1 Samuel, but as being trained by God through many difficult circumstances as the usurper continued to reign.